Coronavirus: Manchester United and Manchester City join forces to donate £100,000 to local food banks

Manchester City and Manchester United have joined forces to donate a combined sum of £100,000 to local food banks in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.

Each club will donate £50,000 to the Trussell Trust’s 19 food bank centres in the Greater Manchester area in order to help vulnerable communities affected by the outbreak.

The gesture follows co-operation between United and City fans’ food bank campaigns, whose match day collections outside Old Trafford and the Etihad have been interrupted by the suspension of the football season.

In a joint statement, City and United said: “We are proud of the role our supporters play in helping local food banks and recognise the increased strain likely to be placed on these charities by the impact of coronavirus.

“At a time of challenge for our community, we are pleased to come together with our fans to help vulnerable members of society in a City United.”

Rachel Macklin, senior operations manager of the Trussell Trust, said: “As the coronavirus pandemic develops, more people than ever may need help from food banks across our network.

“This situation presents a huge additional pressure on already overstretched resources. We may start to see a reduction in food donations and volunteers may become unavailable if they are in the at-risk categories or are self-isolating.

“We’re working closely with our network to understand each food bank’s situation, offer guidance, and work out how we can best support them.

“We know we won’t be able to do this alone, so we are truly grateful for the support Manchester United and Manchester City are showing local food banks.”