Nottingham Forest have helped ensure vital supplies have got to those in need during the current coronavirus lockdown.
The Reds donated 1,000 carrier bags and 500 food containers to homeless charity Framework to help them distribute food and necessary items around various homeless hostels across the city.
Framework help to support the homeless and deliver housing, health, employment, support and care services to people with a diverse range of needs.
Forest have supported the charity before, including donating leftover food when their match against Reading was postponed earlier in the season.
“It’s fantastic," Framework communications manager Neil Skinner said of the donation.
“Forest have been very generous.
“We’ve worked with Forest for a couple of years now and they’ve helped us out in many different ways - be it financially, access to players and all sorts of things.
“It’s a real community club, and this is another example of that.
“The coronavirus is a massive and unprecedented challenge for us. We work with a lot of people who are isolated and vulnerable. We’re quite concerned about them and how they’re going to cope in the next few weeks.
“We feel responsible to do what we can, and that’s what we’re doing. But we can’t do it alone. It’s a team effort.
“One of the things we do is deliver food, but obviously you need something to deliver it in. It was really handy that Forest have got that huge supply and were able to help.
“Their support is vitally important on a practical level. But it’s also a huge boost on an emotional level.
“It’s great to know there’s a lot of people out there who care about this and care about people who will be isolated, alone and afraid over the next few weeks.
“It’s good to know. And it’s good to know we’ve got people like Forest in our corner."
The club have played an integral role in the community amid the current pandemic, doing their bit off the pitch while football games have been suspended.
They have reached out to Rushcliffe Borough Council to see if there are any community initiatives they can help with, and have offered support to local food bank charity Hope Nottingham.
They have also held discussions with local supermarkets and the NHS, offering use of their resources.
“Football has a huge role to play in people’s lives, and people look to football clubs because of that; because they are really important to them,” director Jonny Owen has said.
“These are extraordinary times. We can’t play football, but football clubs can still play an important role in the community.”
