A successful community fundraising meal was held at St James Park on Sunday to help tackle food poverty and social isolation in the Exeter area.
The event, hosted by Exeter City Supporters’ Trust, and run by national charity FoodCycle saw more than 60 guests turn up to St James Park to enjoy a three-course vegetarian meal cooked by volunteers using surplus food donated by Darts Farm, Darts Fresh, Lidl and Riverford.
FoodCycle, who run projects all across the country, contacted the Supporters’ Trust about the possibility of hosting a one-off fundraising meal at St James Park to help support a weekly project they run on Tuesday evenings at Wonford Learning Centre.
The event at SJP was a huge success raising more than £600, with the help of a raffle and kind donations from guests, as well as helping to get the charity’s name out there for volunteers.
Speaking about the event, and the support that Exeter City Football Club gives to charitable organisations in Exeter, local MP Ben Bradshaw, who was in attendance, said: “It is an excellent initiative to reduce food waste but also to help tackle food poverty. There are a worrying number of people, even in a city as successful as Exeter, going hungry and their children going without enough to eat. So, it is fantastic to see the Trust support and event like this, it really is.
“We are very lucky in Exeter in that we have got lots and lots of great organisations, both charitable and statutory, working together to help tackle some of the social problems that we have seen increasing in recent years, whether that be homelessness or food poverty. And it is fantastic to see our local football club doing its bit in this as well.
“Exeter City has a long tradition and culture of being a community-based club. It is geographically in the city centre which I think is wonderful, but it is also very engaged in the city, community, charity work and other initiatives which make it such a fantastic asset for Exeter.”