Football fans from Liverpool delivered 1,000 PPE facemasks for key workers in North East care homes.
The masks were collected by Fans Supporting Foodbanks, a Merseyside based poverty fighting organisation of Liverpool and Everton football fans, and dropped off at NUFC Fans Foodbank's collection point on Strawberry Place, next to St James' Park.
The visors, which will be distributed to care homes across the North East, were donated by the Merseyside PPE Hub partnership, a collaboration spearheaded by Lydiate learning Trust in Wavertree Liverpool, comprising of staff from specialist Technology College Dynes High School and Childwall Sport and Science Academy, both in Merseyside.
Fans supporting foodbanks co-founder Dave Kelly said: “ Fans Supporting Foodbanks have always promoted harmony and aimed to be inclusive. Our ethos is to adopt a collaborative approach with other fan groups and in life generally.
"So when fan groups from various regions asked us how they could order coronavirus PPE from our Merseyside Hub partnership, it became clear that the demand for PPE is a national one and we felt it our duty to respond."
Speaking outside St James’ Park as the visors were unloaded, NUFC Fans Foodbank co founder Steve Hastie said: “Having sought the advice of Dr Joe Cosgrove - a fellow Newcastle United supporter as well as an NHS frontline doctor at the Freeman Hospital - we took the decision that the community would be best served if we placed the visors in local care homes wherever possible, therefore they became our priority”.
He added: “Over a dozen care homes across Tyneside will therefore benefit from this kind donation, including St Cuthbert’s Care and The Alan Shearer Centre, The Careline Lifestyles Group who have homes stretching from Bishop Auckland and Hartlepool in the south of the region to Morpeth in the north, St Joseph’s on our own doorstep on Westmoreland Road and the Hollie Hill Care Home in Stanley."
Fellow co founder Colin Whittle said: “Once again football fans are supporting their community in ever more innovative ways during this crisis and we are grateful to our friends from the Spirit of Shankly and The Blue Union for remembering about us”.
Writing on Twitter, NUFC Fans Foodbank co-founder Bill Corcoran borrowed a phrase from Liverpool legend Bill Shankly to thank his Scouse colleagues.
Bill tweeted: "They say football is not a matter of life and death .. but when our friends from @SFoodbanks and @IanByrneMP deliver PPE to ourselves on Tyneside for distribution to local care homes it really is. Thank you all who made, planned and transported. We’ll remember this always."
St James’ Park was the first drop off on what was going to be a busy Saturday for the team from Liverpool, which made further drop offs in Huddersfield, Leeds, London and Manchester. Anyone wishing to make a cash donation to the Newcastle West End Foodbank can do so at: https://newcastlewestend.charitycheckout.co.uk/cp/4f56c/fundraiser#!/
