Crawley Town, Lewes, Hastings United, Seaford Town and Westfield join Rashford child poverty campaign

Crawley Town FC say they will be fully supporting the #EndChildFoodPoverty campaign being driven by Manchester United star Marcus Rashford and pledge to offer meals to those children in need over the course of the October half term break.
Crawley Town are providing free lunches to children in need of them / Picture: GettyCrawley Town are providing free lunches to children in need of them / Picture: Getty
Crawley Town are providing free lunches to children in need of them / Picture: Getty

The club said: "To highlight the issue at hand, 14% of parents and 10% of children have experienced food insecurity over the last 6 months with 32% of families have lost income as a result of Covid-19. Subsequently, demand for food banks this winter is predicted to be 61% higher than last.

"The support shown by the local community for its football club over the course of the pandemic has been unprecedented. We now want to start giving something back.

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"Running from the 26th-30th October, orders can be made for the following day by emailing [email protected], with collection then taking place between 11am and 12noon the following day. I.e. order by 6pm Sunday for a Monday pickup.

"Meals will consist of a choice of sandwich, packet of crisps and a hearty soup. Any allergies must be acknowledged in the order email. Collection will take place from the main reception at The People's Pension Stadium, with an order confirmation email being needed in order to collect."

A number of other Sussex clubs are also setting up provision of free meals for children in half-term - among them Hastings United, Seaford Town and Westfield.

General Manager Tom Allman said: "I'm delighted that as a club, we are able to start giving something back to the local community that has had us at heart throughout the pandemic.

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"The campaign has had great traction thanks to Marcus Rashford, and I'm just pleased we can join in and help the cause. As we are well aware, the effects of the pandemic have been damning, but no child should have to pay the price for such unprecedented times and go hungry this half term.

"We're lucky that Catering Manager, Rhona Kaye, is fully on-board with supporting the campaign and is equally as proud to be, hopefully, making a small difference."

The club added: "No politics. Just ensuring no children go hungry. #EndChildFoodPoverty."