I am delighted to be able to donate a Charity Cheque of £500 to the St Helens Foodbank after taking joint first place in the 2017 Betfred Media Tipping Competition. Super League sponsor Betfred donated the first prize of £1000 which was shared with Gareth Walker of the Daily Mirror after a full season of tipping couldn’t see us separated.
With so many local worthy local charities, I wanted to ensure that the money helped as many of our local community as possible, and so decided to donate the cheque to the St Helens Foodbank based at the Hope Centre on Atherton Street.
It provides three days’ nutritionally balanced emergency food and support to local people who are referred to the Foodbank in crisis. They are part of a nationwide network of Foodbanks, supported by The Trussell Trust, working to combat poverty and hunger across the UK. In the past 12 months the St Helens Foodbank has given out over six thousand three-day emergency food supplies.
If you’d like to make any food donations then the Hope Centre Foodbank is open Monday-Friday 9:30-4:00pm. Items such as Cereal, Milk, Sugar, Rice, Pasta, Tinned food (vegetables, potatoes, fish meat) and Fruit Juices, as well as other items such toiletries and nappies are greatfully received.
Janice McLeod from St Helens Foodbank on receiving the cheque told us just what a difference the Foodbank can make to someone’s life,
“I can tell you by the people who come to Foodbank, the difference a bag of food and a kind word makes so much difference to their lives going out and gives them a little bit of hope, so this is wonderful, thankyou”
Lastly, my thanks go to Mark Pearson and Betfred for sponsoring the competition over the last season – your support for Rugby League as a whole has been fantastic.