A FOOTBALL club is showing its support for one of the county's foodbanks, wearing the charity's logo during matches.

Newtown Sports Under-11 Colts are lending their support to Malvern Hills Foodbank, promoting the charity on the team’s new kit for the 2020-21 season.

The team’s manager, Simon Emson, said: “In order to make football as affordable as we can, so that it’s open to as many people as possible, we normally look to fund our playing kit through sponsorship rather than relying on parents.

"On this occasion, we have been fortunate enough to receive a very generous donation that allows us to instead use our shirts to show our support for a good cause and I was keen that it be a local community scheme that we could actively support as well as promote.

"With the current economic uncertainty affecting so many people, the Malvern Hills Foodbank was an immediate consideration.”

The team plans to arrange monthly food collections throughout the season to help the foodbank, which has faced unprecedented levels of demand during the coronavirus pandemic.

Peter Buchanan, chairman of Malvern Hills Foodbank, added, “The people of Malvern and surrounding areas (including Upton, Powick and Colwall) have been very generous and although we would love to become a society which does not need Foodbanks, while they are needed, we hope to ensure that no one in our area goes to bed hungry.

"We are very grateful that Newtown Sports Colts are supporting us and wish them a very successful season."

Earlier this year, the Malvern Hills Foodbank thanked the public for all their support during the pandemic.

In Worcester, during the first three weeks of April 2020, Worcester Foodbank fed 884 people, already surpassing the 645 hungry mouths fed during the entire month of April last year.