slamic Relief teams up with top UK football clubs to tackle food poverty during the summer holidays

Over the month of August Islamic Relief UK will work with numerous professional football clubs to support families struggling to buy food during the cost of living crisis. The aim is to supply a total of 2,500 food parcels to those in need.

The participating clubs are Celtic FC, West Ham United FC, Leicester City FC, Aston Villa FC, and Salford FC. Their generosity will go a long way to help their local communities.

The summer holidays are a time of particular need for many families struggling with the cost of living crisis, as they lose access to the free school meals programme that would normally have supported them during term time. Some local councils in the UK do normally provide vouchers for those families in the holidays, however according to recent research by BBC News, this support has dropped. 67 of 92 councils have kept the support the same or cut it, despite high inflation, meaning families can afford 17.3% less compared to last year.

Many people have been hit hard by the cost of living crisis, including low-income families, those suffering from domestic abuse, the homeless, asylum seekers and refugees who were already struggling to feed themselves, and many prioritising eating or heating as they struggle to pay their bills. According to the Department of Education, 23.8% of children enrolled in state school rely on free school dinners. If all those children lose access to this food over the summer holidays the consequences could be disastrous.

Tufail Hussain, Director of Islamic Relief UK said: “We are proud to be working with these iconic football clubs throughout the summer holidays who are doing their bit to provide for their local communities.

“The summer holidays should be a time of enjoyment and relaxation for young people in the UK, instead they are having to deal with hunger and the stress it causes themselves and their parents. The cost-of-living crisis in the UK is continuing to wreak havoc on families as many go hungry and are unable to pay their bills. This should simply not be the case in the UK.

“Islamic Relief UK is calling on the UK government to urgently work at every level to strengthen the social security system and ensure that benefit payments are, at least, enough for people to afford essential household goods and adequately feed themselves.”