Ipswich Town supports charity to hand out food parcels

Kieran McKenna and Sam Morsy were only too happy to help out

Ipswich Town Football Club is supporting a charity to hand out food parcels "to help those who need it", the club's manager said.

Families in Need (FIND) sends out between 120 and 150 food parcels a week to families in Ipswich and surrounding areas.

The League One club encouraged supporters to get behind the charity and players and staff have been helping sort and pack parcels.

"As a club it’s important we offer that support as much as we can," manager Kieran McKenna said.

Kieran McKenna helped to sort out the food

FIND spends more than £1,000 every week, mainly from public donations, to buy food for its packages.

It also receives donations from supermarkets across Ipswich.

The charity finds accommodation for people in need and pays for them to stay in guest houses while they find somewhere permanent - and also provides furniture.

McKenna said: "It’s a really important charity that the club are behind.

"It's a charity that does a lot of important work in the community."

He said Ipswich Town was a "community club", adding: "The people who we represent are very important to us and we need to help those who need it.

"We’re in a privileged position to work for the football club and it's a proud duty and responsibility to help out with these sorts of causes when we can," the 36-year-old manager said.

FIND said it offers "a lifeline to people in Ipswich and the surrounding areas who are experiencing poverty and despair"

Midfielder Sam Morsy said it was a "fantastic organisation, we’re all happy to help".

Players and staff have been to FIND's offices in Ipswich to help its volunteers and the 31-year-old said it was "important to show we’re not just saying [the club will help] - we’re doing it as well".

He added: "There’s a lot of stories that we hear about [the cost of living], sometime you can be in your bubble and not realise that this exists.

"When you look at this great foundation and how much food they go through weekly it makes you realise the sort of problem we face."

FIND founder Maureen Reynel said the need for the charity had increased every year

Maureen Reynel, who founded the charity in 1990, said it was "great" the club were involved.

As well as players and staff contributing their time, she said the club had given her 500 tickets to hand out to those the charity supports.

"People are struggling more, we've got to learn to care about one another," she said.