For our latest case study, we head to East Anglia to speak to MAN v FAT Norwich coach Dan Church about their foodbank collections.
Why did you choose to donate to a foodbank?
At MAN v FAT Norwich, we are committed to supporting our community and assisting those in need. Our yearly foodbank donations allow us to make a meaningful difference for individuals and families facing food insecurity.
How did you organise the donation?
Organising the donation was done over several steps:-
- Planning: Identify a local foodbank and the types of food / donations they accept. Set a timeline for the collections as well as a time to drop off the donations. Typically, this will be the final four MAN v FAT Football sessions prior to the festive shutdown.
- Comms: Communicate the plan to the club. Include collection / donation windows as well as list of items that are able to be collected. If required, request support from the lads who may want to get involved in helping.
- Collection: During the collection window, bring a suitable storage container to collect any items donated. This will be brought to the session each week over the course of the four collection weeks. A message will go into the broadcast group reminding players we will be collecting at the session each week.
- Drop Off: Once the collection window has ended, we will sort through the donations ensuring everything is in good condition ahead of delivering the items to the local foodbank / drop off zone.
- Thanks: After the items have been donated, we will thank the lads for their kind contributions and share a photo of the handover of the items.
How did you get the players involved?
We first made the lads aware of the issue that is faced through food poverty by sharing stats around the local community, and highlighting the significant impact these donations bring to the local community.
We also make it as simple as possible to donate by taking the necessary steps in our planning stage to maximise the collections we can receive.
It is also important to keep the lads up to date with how things are going, reminding them through WhatsApp so that the foodbank drive keeps at the top of peoples minds.
What were (if any) the issues in organising?
The first time you set this up will always be more challenging than subsequent years. Whilst largely successful, keeping the awareness up takes continuous communication. It’s also important to make people aware that they should only donate what they can afford to safely donate and to not feel pressured by other peoples donations.
