Man City and Utd fan foodbank groups team up to urge clubs for help

Manchester City and Manchester United fans have teamed up to ask the two Premier League clubs for “immediate and direct financial support” to Greater Manchester's foodbanks following the coronavirus pandemic.

City and United branches of the Fans Supporting Foodbanks initiative, started in Liverpool five years ago, have started up this season to help and the City group have taken 1,250kg of food from seven collections before men's and women's games in recent months.

The two clubs both regularly help out in their local communities. It is understood that they are aware of the request from the local foodbanks, but are still assessing how they can provide the most help.

However, with the scale of the ongoing uncertainty around coronavirus and with Liverpool having shown what can be done by donating £40,000 already, the City and United fan groups have written an open letter to the Manchester clubs to urge them to help.

Here is the letter in full

Dear Manchester City and Manchester United,

We are writing to you on behalf of MCFC Fans Foodbank Support and MUFC Fans' Foodbank, two members of the Fans Supporting Foodbanks initiative who co-operate to support the most vulnerable people in Manchester with pre-match collections at the Etihad and Old Trafford.

There are 18 foodbanks in Greater Manchester, and together they provided more than 110,000 food parcels in the first six months of the current financial year. Of those, more than 40,000 went to feed children who would otherwise have gone to bed hungry. What's more, foodbank usage in Greater Manchester grew by 23% last year – higher than the national average.

Add into the mix the ongoing pandemic crisis, and you have a situation where foodbanks are already bearing an even greater strain than usual. This will have an outsized effect on children, the elderly, the disabled, young families and those suffering from in-work poverty – a group which includes many NHS workers who are right now on the frontlines fighting the effects of COVID-19.

It is not an exaggeration to say that the situation is dire. It is not alarmist to say that it is about to get a lot worse.

Both Manchester clubs were born out of these local communities which are now struggling so much. For more than a century, we have supported our teams through thick, thin, and often thinner - we are a part of our football clubs, and the clubs are part of us.

We are aware of the great charity work that both clubs carry out as a matter of course through City In The Community and the Manchester United Foundation. So many causes are supported, and we applaud the fantastic work that is already being done.

However, these are extraordinary times, and we are calling for Manchester City and Manchester United to offer immediate and direct financial support to Greater Manchester's foodbanks to help them through this time of crisis.

Last weekend, Liverpool led the way by providing a large cash injection to the city's foodbanks to help combat the emerging crisis. We ask that City and United demonstrate the same desire and determination to help.

The principle of the Fans Supporting Foodbank initiative is 'Hunger Doesn't Wear Club Colours', because hunger is not specific to any one team, and tribalism solves nothing.

It's solidarity, not charity, and we hope that everyone from across the divide, Blue and Red, can work together – and with other clubs across Greater Manchester – to provide the help our communities desperately need.

Football has a unique power, and if our two Manchester giants can take the lead and work together to support Greater Manchester's foodbanks, you will save lives.

Yours sincerely,

MCFC Fans Foodbank Support and MUFC Fans' Foodbank