Middlesex FA is delighted to announce that our new Charity Partner is Ealing Foodbank.

Over recent years we have worked closely with St Luke’s Hospice since our move to Rectory Park, and have been delighted with the support we received from the Middlesex Football community during this time. Whether that be supporting our Northolt to Nice challenge, that saw MFA staff cycling the distance from Rectory Park to the Allianz Riviera Stadium in Nice ahead of the Women’s World Cup in 2019, or putting a couple of coins in our collection buckets at County Cup Finals, we were able to provide important funds to aid their work.

The time has come for us to focus on a new Charity and as with everything we do, we want to provide a benefit to our community. With that in mind we are very aware of the current financial climate, and the strains many families find themselves under. More and more people are finding themselves in the situation where they may need to engage with a local foodbank, and in Ealing Foodbank, we are partnering with the largest Trussell Trust organisation in London during the 2021/22 Financial Year.

In 2022 alone, the dedicated team at Ealing Foodbank served more than 39,000 people, with around half of those being aged 16 or younger, which shows just how many of those using the foodbank are families who have school aged children. To put those numbers into perspective, there are fewer people participating in organised football across our 9 Boroughs, than accessing this service in Ealing alone.

Having been the largest Trussell Trust in London during the 2012/22 financial year, they have gone on to see a further increase in demand in the following financial year. They surpassed the number of clients served in the previous financial year on 16th January 2023 meaning they are on course to see their busiest year on record. Their incredible team of around 300 volunteers work tirelessly to ensure their warehouse, and client centres are running smoothly, as well as a number of these volunteers holding specific roles that help the foodbank to operate.

Ealing Foodbank offers not only food to their users across their 8-foodbank session every week, but also the opportunity to engage with advice services at their centres. Across their 7 locations they host debt advisors from Crosslight, legal advisers and representatives from the London Borough of Ealing’s Local Welfare Assistance scheme.

On this new partnership, Middlesex FA CEO, Kayleigh Saunders said: “We are delighted to announce Ealing Foodbank as our new Charity Partner. Part of the reason for Middlesex FA moving to Rectory Park was for us to modernise and really build a relationship with our local community. This is an area of our work that we are proud to have seen develop over the past 4 years, and we are now looking to take this one step further."

“By working with Ealing Foodbank, this provides us and the wider community with a way to engage outside of football. Football is for everyone, and so is Rectory Park, we hope that we can work with Ealing Foodbank to provide another safe space that people can use to get the vital support they need.”

On partnering with Middlesex FA, Interim Manager for Ealing Foodbank, Jeremy Hyde said: "We are delighted to have been chosen by Middlesex FA to be their charity partner for the next few years.

"Building up a long term relationship with such an important organisation in our community will be really helpful as we seek to serve those who don't have enough food to eat in our community.

"Many Foodbank users are surprised that their situations have changed dramatically as they never thought they would need a Foodbank. However, due to the generosity of the wider Ealing public, we are able to provide emergency food parcels for nearly 40,000 people last year."

We look forward to working closely with our new Charity Partner moving forward and are excited to be able to support such a vital service within our community. You can help to support them through donations, whether monetary or food, their shopping list for the most needed supplies can be found here.

You can also support them through attending any of our County Cup Finals over the coming months, where we will have collection boxes on the day, you will also help to support their work by purchasing your tickets in advance, with further details to be shared as we move towards the first of our Cup Finals on 16th March. If you are visiting Rectory Park for a booking or to watch a game, there will also be collections you can contribute to on site throughout the season.

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