Feed Up Warm Up's weekly Stevenage drop-in is on the move, as the town's football stadium is set to open its doors for clients to get food, clothing and support.
The charity, formed in 2018, is to move its Stevenage operation from the St Andrew & St George Church to the club's brand new North Stand, Stevenage FC has announced.
Volunteers setting up clothing stands for the Feed Up Warm Up drop-in in Stevenage. (Image: Matt Powell)
The drop-in - which supports the homeless and others in need - currently runs every Tuesday from 6pm to 8.30pm. From March 22, it will be running from its new location every Monday between 5pm and 7pm.
Club chairman Phil Wallace said in the club's announcement: "Frankly I got fed up looking at this great £2 million facility we had built standing empty.
"It took me five years to circumnavigate all kinds of obstacles to build it and it is a privilege to use it for the good of the community once a week.
"The Feed Up, Warm Up charity has a great reputation for providing food and temporary shelter to those most in need and when I read they needed a facility in Stevenage, I made contact.
"The venue is fantastic and I am delighted that it will bring something to look forward to once a week for those in our community that need help."
The football club has a strong track record of being involved in helping the community's most vulnerable. When the coronavirus pandemic hit last year, it teamed up with Stevenage Community Trust and the town's foodbank to help deliver food in lockdown.
Shane Cole, Feed Up Warm Up project founder, said: “We would like to thank Stevenage Football Club for agreeing to let us use their facilities for our programme. Having the new venue for our Stevenage drop-in will enable the project to work at its full capacity again and will give us the space to continue assisting our clients.
"We welcome Stevenage Football Club on board with the project and look forward to working with them to help us reach out to more people in need of our help.”
Feed Up Warm Up's Hitchin drop-in will remain at Our Lady's Church in Nightingale Road from 6pm to 8.30pm every Wednesday.
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