A Macclesfield children's football club is encouraging players and parents to donate to a local foodbank this Christmas.

Next month, Tytherington Juniors FC will host a donation point for Silklife Foodbank.

The George Street foodbank, which opened in 2010, served 4000 people last year.

Matt O'Brien, who is Club Secretary / Under 7s Manager for the club, announced the partnership.

"We are so proud to confirm that Tytherington Juniors will be partnering with the Silklife Foodbank Silklife Foodbank Macclesfield this Christmas," he said.

"The idea was brought to the committee by TJFC parent Ian Kennedy (who has players in both the U8 & u10s), we think it is a fantastic charity and one that we felt compelled to try and support.

"We will be collecting donations before the training sessions on Tuesday 14th of December at All Hallows Catholic College, Brooklands Ave, Macclesfield SK11 8LB.

"We will have a stall set up between 5pm - 8pm to receive the donations.

"Please bring along any non-perishable items to contribute.

"Every little helps, and collectively we can make a huge difference.

"We are also able to accept cash donations on the evening."

Silklife Foodbank was established in December 2010 in response to Macclesfield's growing need for on-the-spot emergency food boxes.

Each foodbox provides 4-5 days of nutritional non-perishable food for those in our neighbourhood who have fallen on hard times and are temporarily unable to provide for themselves, often through no fault of their own.

Things you can donate include but are not limited to; Milk (UHT or powdered), tinned meat / fish, sugar, fruit juice (carton), pasta sauces, sponge pudding (tinned), tomatoes (tinned), cereals, rice pudding (tinned), tea bags / instant coffee, instant mashed potato, rice / pasta, tinned fruit, jam / honey, biscuits/snack bars, shampoo, conditioner, toothbrush, small, unwrapped Christmas gifts.

Items you can't donate are fresh or perishable food, and alcohol.

Macclesfield Nub News contacted Silklife Foodbank for comment.

Manager, Dan Blackman of the Silklife Foodbank is delighted with the collaboration:

"The team at Silklife Foodbank are excited by the enthusiasm shown by the Tytherington F.C Juniors in supporting their local community by organising a Festive food collection.

"It really does make me smile when I hear of parents encouraging their children to give.

"Giving is a huge part of character building and this initiative is a fantastic opportunity for young sports stars to exercise their giving muscles.

"It is understandable, that the Silkife Foodbank has had to scale up significantly this past year to meet the ever-increasing number of referrals for emergency food parcels in our locality.

"The team currently responds to an average of 175 referrals per month and distributes approximately 900kg of food and toiletries each week.

"Your collection of food and finances will help the team at Silklife to continue supporting those facing a hunger crisis over the Christmas period and into 2022. Thank you."

It is the latest community initiative for Tytherington Juniors, which have provided youth football in our town since 1987.

They recently installed a community defibrillator at their Rugby Drive Playing Fields ground.

You can follow both the Macclesfield grassroots football club and Silklife Foodbank on Facebook.

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