West Ham United co-owner funds new delivery van for Newham Foodbank
Irons Supporting Foodbanks founder John Ratomski with the new Newham Foodbank delivery van. Picture: West Ham United - Credit: Archant
Newham Foodbank has a new delivery van thanks to a generous donation from a West Ham United co-owner.
Joint-chairman David Sullivan provided £18,000 to fund the van, which will allow the foodbank - working in partnership with the Irons Supporting Foodbanks fan group - to collect donations and deliver food and clothing to homeless centres in the borough.
John Ratomski from Irons Supporting Foodbanks said: “Having their own vehicle is a game changer for the foodbank.
“Without their own transport they were severely restricted in moving food around their various food supply centres in Newham.
“Having their own van also now allows them to set up and collect from more supermarkets.”
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The donation comes after Mr Sullivan contributed £3,500 to cover the donations that Irons Supporting Foodbanks would have collected at the final five home games of the 2019/20 season, which were played without fans present due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Newham Foodbank trustee Adeola Osunbade said: “Words cannot express our gratitude.
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“The Sullivan family took time out to visit one of our centres, listened, observed and came back to meet our long-time need for a van to enable us to reach more and serve more of our community members in need of food parcels, especially during this period.”
First-team players Mark Noble and Declan Rice have made their own donations to Newham Foodbank.
Mr Sullivan previously also donated £1,500 to the Merseyside PPE Hub, which provided around 1,300 protective visors to east London and Essex hospitals and care homes.
The new van features the logos and contact details of the foodbank and charitable supporter group.
Since hitting the road, it has delivered 10 boxes of new t-shirts and hoodies to homeless charities Amy’s Space and Lola’s.
It has also distributed excess stocks of sugar, rice pudding and mushy peas to the North West Foodbank Network.
The West Ham United Foundation continues to deliver its holiday hunger programme, which provides free healthy meals alongside sport to school pupils who are most vulnerable.
This programme ran during the October half-term and will continue next month and over the Christmas holiday period.
