Local businesses pitch in charity football match to raise funds for Hackney food bank. Pic: Cornelia Falknäs

A charity football tournament raised over £1,000 for the Hackney FoodBank on October 7.  

The 6 team tournament in Haggerston Park organised by Hackney Foodbank and Papi Restaurant was the first of its kind for the food bank, and part of their efforts to up fundraising to meet the increased demand on foodbanks in Hackney.  

Jenna Fansa, the head of communications and fundraising at Hackney Foodbank, told Eastlondonlines: “Since 2022, the number of people we support at the foodbank has more than doubled.  

“We’re currently supporting around 655 people each week, and that’s a really big increase from previous years.  

“There was a week in the summer when we fed more than 1,000 people in a week, which is the first time in the charity’s history that we’ve ever done that.” 

Charlie Carr, the co-founder Papi Restaurant in London Fields, and part of the initiative for the tournament said: “[…]our staff team love football and we came up with the idea of this tournament as a way to get together for some friendly competition while raising vital funds to ensure no-one in our community goes hungry.” 

Apart from Hackney foodbank and Papi, six other local businesses took part: Auld Hag, Mother, Sune, The Baring, The Haggerston and 40FT Brewery.  

The local restaurants De Nadas and Finks were also present on the night, selling hot snacks as part of the fundraising.  

The ticket price was a donation of at least £10, and additionally, the participating teams shared online donation links on their social media.

Fansa told Eastlondonlines: “We’re still waiting for the final tally, but the event raised over £1,000. It really was such a special community event and one we’d definitely like to run again next year.”

The teams represented at the charity football match. Pic: Cornelia Falknäs

The foodbank is preparing for a further increase in demand as Christmas approaches. Fansa said: “Our data expert in the team is predicting that we might have a week in Christmas where we’re supporting around 1,500 people.  

“So it’s quite alarming the increase that we’re seeing, and the reasons for it are multiple.  

“Rents in Hackney are very high. It’s not unusual for people to be spending £2,000 a month on rent, and if you’re a single-parent household, working a normal job, so to speak, that becomes quite tricky to afford.  

“We know from the Joseph Rowntree Foundation that Universal Credit is typically falling very far short of what’s needed for people to cover the basics. Food prices have increased so that’s having an impact too, and fuel prices have gone up really steeply in the last five years. So it’s been a kind of perfect storm, if you like.” 

Auld Hag was named the winning team after beating Papi FC in the final.  

Papi Restaurant’s Carr said on the night: “I came here to raise money for the food bank and take trophies – I’ve done the most important thing. The work that the foodbank does is really vital and it’s an issue that is on the rise at the moment in Hackney and all over England, so while the football was great I think the real reason we’re here is the food bank.”