Manchester United and Manchester City have donated a combined £100,000 to support food banks in Greater Manchester to meet increased demand due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Each club is donating £50,000 to The Trussell Trust. The donations will help local food banks increase capacity and compensate for the temporary loss of food donations on matchdays through the MCFC Fans Foodbank Support and MUFC Fans Foodbank.
These groups usually collect supplies outside Old Trafford and The Etihad before home games but this has been interrupted by the suspension of football due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The donations come alongside ongoing work by the Manchester United Foundation and City in the Community, as part of a wider response to the coronavirus outbreak.
In a joint statement, Manchester City and Manchester United said: "We are proud of the role our supporters play in helping local food banks and recognise the increased strain likely to be placed on these charities by the impact of coronavirus.
"At a time of challenge for our community, we are pleased to come together with our fans to help vulnerable members of society in a City United."
The Trussell Trust support a network of over 1,200 food bank centres, including 19 in the Greater Manchester area which will be the beneficiaries of this donation.
"As the coronavirus pandemic develops, more people than ever may need help from food banks across our network," said Rachel Macklin, operations manager at Trussell Trust.
"This situation presents a huge additional pressure on already overstretched resources. We may start to see a reduction in food donations and volunteers may become unavailable if they are in the at-risk categories or are self-isolating.
"We're working closely with our network to understand each food bank's situation, offer guidance, and work out how we can best support them. We know we won't be able to do this alone, so we are truly grateful for the support Manchester United and Manchester City are showing local food banks.
"On behalf of food banks in our network in Manchester we thank you so much."
SH221B
990
Manchester is neither Red nor Blue, CITY of Manchester is UNITED.
Muiruri Chris
479
In times of crisis, all humans should come together and help each other, be it hunger, be it sickness, we all have to come together and support each other. This is the true meaning of christianity. Thank you manchester city and united for putting your rivalries aside and supporting the manchester community
Jsmooth
447
Love to see both MAN coming together and unite as MEN for a great cause. ❤️💙
Ruecklpz
395
First of it kind I believe, coming together as one to fight for a common goal. Manchester is Manchester, united we are against COVID-19 pandemic. The mixture of red and blue colors always results in a very fruitful color, check it out.
AbhishekGupte
362
A great gesture by both the club's for getting together and supporting in this crisis period. This shows about the bothclub's in Manchester that divided by football but united by covid- 19. A great thing to do for the people in Manchester.
Zipblmnru
259
letssay is A UNITED CITY
jezabdnpyz
220
Manchester Is Red 🔴 And Blue 🔵 Now.., To Gather Strength To Fight Against A Greater Enemy~~~ COVID 19. Together We Will Win This Battle. Manchester We Stand 🔴🔵 Together As One. 🔵🔴
iceyez
213
Manchester is RED with a little bit of blue
Vuuekms
145
this is Manchester though they are rivals in fields but they are brother ...what ever they do good they do it together...
MadaniAbass
121
wooaw. What a great collaboration. Manchester is one. Manchester becomes two when they are on the field. United for #real
Duycilmr
94
A City United 😀😀👍