First-teamers deliver the goods
A superb effort from supporters was highlighted this week when Dons first-teamers delivered items to the Wimbledon Foodbank.
Coach Simon Bassey was joined by Barry Fuller, Jack Midson and Sammy Moore at High Path in Wimbledon this afternoon to support an initiative led by Dons Trust Board member Zoe Linkson.
The Dons Trust has been collecting items donated by fans at the last two home matches and Zoe described it as a “fantastic response” from supporters.
. Simon also talks about a busy Christmas schedule for the Wimbledon players in his interview.Community ClubA video interview with Zoe and Simon Bassey is now available on our You Tube channel by clicking on
Zoe said: “We have managed to collect a quarter of a tonne (250 kilograms) of food to bring here after just two games. That is amazing and I must say a big thank-you to supporters who made donations. This will have a roll-on effect by helping families in Wimbledon that are struggling at this time of year.”
Simon Bassey said: “In a similar way to our club there are a lot of volunteers that work here and in two years they have managed to feed 4,000 people. That is an average home gate for us so that’s a lot of people. We have two more home games coming up over Christmas and if any supporters have any tins or non-perishable items that they are not going to use then please bring them along.”
Wimbledon Foodbank Manager, Marcus Bennett, said: “The whole thing started seven or eight years ago when a vicar in Salisbury was feeding people out of his kitchen and he thought that there must be a better way. That led to delivering food parcels and it was such a good idea that it became nationwide. We started two years ago and we’ve now fed over 4,000 people with 32 tonnes of food.
“Events such as today really help. I remember the trials starting on Wimbledon Common for the club many years ago and I like the fact that the club has done so well since.”
Based in High Path, the Wimbledon Foodbank provides three-day emergency food parcels of nutritionally balanced non-perishables to those people in crisis who are referred by more than 100 charities, churches and schools from within Merton.
The charity is stocked entirely from donations from local businesses, churches, schools and neighbours.
Anyone wishing to make a further contribution can do so at our home games against Southend (Thursday, 26 December) and Plymouth (Sunday, 29 December) at the Dons Trust stall.
The full shopping list of items that supporters may donate is as follows:
Milk (UHT or powdered)
Sugar (500g)
Fruit Juice (cartons)
Soup
Pasta sauces
Sponge Pudding (tinned)
Tomatoes (tinned)
Cereals
Rice Pudding (tinned)
Tea Bags
Instant Coffee
Instant mash potato
Tinned meat/fish
Tinned fruit
Jam
Biscuits
Snack bars