Derby County Community Trust will be renewing its support for the Derby Food 4 Thought Alliance in the run up to Christmas.

The partnership between the two charities was forged at the very beginning of the Covid pandemic, when Pride Park Stadium became a main drop off point for donations in the city.

Work has continued between the two organisations to support a number of residents in the city since 2020, and this Christmas, supporters are encouraged to take part in Derby Food 4 Thought Alliance’s Reverse Advent Calendar campaign, where they ‘collect’ an item of tinned or dried food per day for 25 days. The result is a full food parcel, which will be distribute in the run up to Christmas.

Collections will take place at Pride Park Stadium on 6th December (12-3pm) and 7th December (4-6pm). The donation hub will be situated in Harrison's Hub at Pride Park Stadium, located in the stadium’s North West Corner.

Supporters are encouraged to begin the ‘advent calendar’ on Monday 13th November, to collect 25 items by Thursday 7th December. A full list of items to collect can be found here.

Full food parcels which are brought to the donation points at Pride Park Stadium will qualify for two complimentary tickets to the Lincoln City fixture on 21st December, gifted by Derby County Football Club. Please note, these are limited and will be distributed on a first come first served basis.

Last Christmas, because of the generosity of local people and organisations, DF4TA was able to distribute over 2,000 food parcels to households across Derby, making a huge difference to those in need. DF4TA was established in March 2020 to help those who were struggling during the Covid-19 pandemic.

All items received through the Reverse Advent Calendars will be split evenly between the city's 13 food banks, adding to the 7,647 food parcels already donated between May and August this year. 

Councillor Paul Hezelgrave, Cabinet Member for Cost of Living, Equalities and Customer Inclusion said:

The Derby Food 4 Thought Alliance is a lifeline for many as we move into the winter months. We know that many families who are already struggling because of the cost-of-living crisis face additional pressures in the run up to Christmas, so I’m really pleased that we’re able to offer additional support. I’d encourage everyone who can to get involved with this year’s reverse advent calendar and support those in need this Christmas.

Paul Brookhouse, Senior Manager, Derby Food 4 Thought Alliance said: 

Support through the Reverse Advent Calendar makes a huge difference to us at this time of the year as demand typically increases and is made worse still by the current cost of living crisis. Please do what you can to help – your help is so appreciated by us and those that we support.

Simon Carnall, Head of Community, Derby County Community Trust said:

We are thrilled to be supporting the Reverse Advent Calendar again this year after the resounding success of the previous two years that we’ve worked with the Derby Food 4 Thought Alliance on the campaign.

It’s the perfect way to support our local food banks by encouraging fans to donate throughout the festive season, and the amount of food we collect makes such a difference to families. We can’t wait to reopen our collection point on 6 and 7 December and see if we can collect more donations than ever before.

Parcels can also be donated at Morrison's (Meteor Centre) and Asda (Sinfin) during opening hours, but the Derby County ticket offer applies to donations made at Harrison's Hub on 6th and 7th December only.