Man City fans told how their boycott donations can make a difference

Manchester City fans have been told how their donations from the Community Shield boycott can help the local community.

The 1894 City supporter group urged Blues to take a stand against a 5.30pm Sunday kick-off at Wembley for the first game of next season, encouraging them to donate through MCFC Fans Foodbank Support instead. The FA brought the game forward to 4pm on Sunday August 6 after City raised concerns about the times, but that has not been enough to dissuade the fan groups from staying away.

Whatever good in the future from taking a stand against the lack of consideration shown to fans, those helping the foodbank have already made a positive difference to the local community in Manchester. More than £6,000 has already been raised for Manchester Central Foodbank through the fundraising page, and with a commitment to spend it on food that will go a long way towards helping the foodbank make up for the shortfall the charity faces.

"We spend on average about £3,000 a month on food purchases to top up the items we haven't got donated or if we haven't got sufficient donations," explained Suzy Keen, operations manager at Manchester Central Foodbank.

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"We have said we will spend it on food purchases because I think that's where people want it to go. We get less donations in the summer, we get more around Christmas and the harvest but summer months are harder so it's coming at the right time for us.

"Going off £6,500 because that is how much has been raised with gift aid, that could fund 552 single-person parcels - so about three months of one-person parcels, or as another example it could fund about eight-and-a-half months of our tuna