Fans Supporting Foodbanks collects food and everyday essentials ahead of football matches at Anfield and Goodison Park. It is distributed across a network of community pantries in Liverpool and to the Charles Thompson Mission in Birkenhead, for the Sunday Breakfast Club there. To date, this community has, with its partners, supported over 120,000 families. The difference made is huge. The team is helping roll out the initiative in Scotland and Northern Ireland, so even more families can benefit.
This lino-cut illustration, by artist Dan Howden shows the connection with football and the strong sense of social solidarity in the community.
Dan Howden explains:
"I tried to ensure both elements of the charity were represented. On one hand, you have the sport, the fans, and their contribution to think of; and on the other, the team and volunteers who make it possible and those in the community who rely upon the initiative. So, with that in mind, I felt an aerial composition would best depict the entire community. Then I thought latterly to situate the stadium amongst the boxes and crates of donations, as though it were a display somebody had made at one of the pantries. I use a reductive jigsaw approach to linocut where I make each individual object within a composition its own block, be that an arm, a pitch, or a tin of tomatoes, in this instance. One by one, I then proceed to roll and print these, piecing them back together on the paper, and crossing my fingers that they all align back up. It's an incredibly time-consuming process, but I really love the detail, colours, and complexity you can inject into prints this way".
Find out more about Fans Supporting Foodbanks.