Record foodbank deliveries and support for thousands of kids highlight Burnley FC’s charity’s growing impact

Distributed to people in need across Burnley, Pendle, the Ribble Valley and West Yorkshire, the food bank has been in operation since the end of 2018.

The latest figures make up part of a full set of statistics, featured in the 2021 annual Impact Report published this week by BFCitC, which outline the significant impact of the charity on the local community.

The report reveals that last year over 8,500 food parcels were delivered free of charge to residents in need, providing enough food for almost 20,000 people. Some 7,000 children received meals via the foodbank and the charity also made 1,500 pet food deliveries to people struggling to meet the costs of looking after their pets.

As well as delivering food parcels, BFCitC also provides breakfast for 2,000 children at 17 local schools, in partnership with local food businesses Warburtons, Kellogg’s and Clayton Park.

Sara Ward, CEO of BFCitC, said: “People are struggling to feed themselves and their families and so in many cases our foodbank has been the lifeline that has prevented adults and children from going hungry.

“As household bills and food prices escalate, the situation is set to worsen significantly unfortunately. We are anticipating even greater demand for our foodbank, which does the amazing work that it does through the combined efforts of volunteers, local businesses, our own team and the Burnley Together organisation.”

The Burnley FC in the Community 2021 Impact Report also highlights the profoundly positive impact that the charity’s many social and educational initiatives have had on the lives of local children and young people. According to the report, more than 1,500 youngsters have been involved in Premier League programmes delivered by the BFCitC team, designed to boost mental and physical health through sports and education.

One of the charity’s most pioneering initiatives is the Schools Mental Wellbeing project, which, through in-school group and one-to-one sessions with mental health professionals, has helped almost 4,000 students in the local area to combat mental health problems such as anxiety, negative thoughts and low mood.

The BFCitC 2021 Impact Report, containing further information and evaluations for these and other BFCitC schemes is available to read here.

Local businesses interested in getting involved with the foodbank or any of the charity’s programmes should contact Burnley FC in the Community’s partnership executive Ben Bottomley at [email protected]