Premier League star shows his premier league class at Britain’s busiest foodbank
Sports Writer CLUTCHING toiletry bags which cost more than many of us earn in a week, it’s easy to criticise modern-day Premier League stars as being insulated from reality.
And although this may have been just a couple of hours out of Isaac Hayden’s working week, it was undoubtedly one of the most important.
He is a dedicated professional, and attempting to help Newcastle United claim another three points this weekend against Stoke City is at the forefront of his mind.
But standing in the city’s West End Food Bank, Britain’s busiest, for a couple of hours on Thursday afternoon handing out food parcels and providing the smallest bit of assistance to the volunteers who do this on a daily basis, takes on a significance far beyond football.
People have been forced to turn to food banks in order to feed their families; the Government and local authorities have failed them. Many are employed, yet their paltry wages simply do not even cover the very basics.
Young children even accompany parents in order to translate for them when they should be in school, the need is so pressing. It really is quite startling to witness.
“It is eye-opening. You see the different spectrums that people live under,” Hayden, who first visited this food bank at the Church of the Venerable Bede on the West Road last year, explained as he handed out food parcels to the 150 different families who require them on a daily basis in the west end of Newcastle.
“Obviously, only a mile down the road is St James’ Park and four miles up there is Ponteland, and it’s a completely different story.”
It is often suggested that the power of football fans can be harnessed to help a team succeed on the field, but what we have witnessed on Tyneside over the past 18 months is something far more fundamental and momentous than that.
The NUFC Fans Food Bank – which performs collections before every home match, as well as in its store in the Grainger Market – has been a game-changer for the West End Food Bank.
Newcastle supporters have been so generous in their donations that the West End Food Bank is now among the most successful in the country.
“To be involved in this and to see this is eye-opening, and it certainly humbles you,” the midfielder adds.
“I think it’s important to get involved in community work and find out a bit more about these things.” There should not be food banks in 2017, but the reality is that the people in these communities have been failed by those in authority. Thankfully, the scores of volunteers who give up their time to collect and distribute the food, as well as the thousands of fans and people who donate, help to feed more than 1,000 people every week. They have not been left alone. On a Tuesday and Wednesday in another site in Benwell, hot meals are also provided on top of the parcels which families are able to take home. Last year, 40% of the food had to be transported up in vans from London twice a week because the donations were too few and far between in Newcastle. Yet now the vast majority of donations come from the North East – with Warburtons, Greggs and M&S among the most generous local companies. But United fans have made the biggest difference of all. Each Newcastle home match last season delivered roughly one tonne of food donations and £100 in cash from supporters. This season, donations have reduced by about three-quarters food-wise, though the monetary Isaac Hayden funds have held up well. It is essential that the charitable nature shown so far by Magpies fans continues – and grows.
“The amount that’s been given is amazing. Long may it continue. If we can improve it even more, then brilliant. Things like this are important, and the club and the players can really help out,” Hayden added, stressing that the United squad themselves could still do more.
“The fans up here are second to none. They’re not only good supporters, but they help each other out. It’s just a good community. They’re just good people up here, really friendly, really happy generally, and people are walking through here with a smile on their face.
“You might sit there and think ‘how can you have a smile?’ It just makes you think when you’ve had a bad game or bad day or whatever, you have to think that these people are still smiling in the situations that they’re in.
“You can’t go to a place like this and walk out and not think about it. It’s just something that touches your heart.
“To see and speak to people gives you a lasting impression.
“It’s definitely something that I can hopefully help with in the future.
“It’s a long way from my home [in Brentwood, Essex].
“I said that last year. It’s a big change for myself. But it’s something that I’ve relished and got on with and I’ve definitely grown as a