A football competition organised by Chester MP Chris Matheson has raised £1,000 towards food poverty projects in Cheshire West and Chester this Christmas.
The six-a-side ‘Football for Foodbanks’ tournament took place on Saturday (December 2), with fifteen teams going head to head at The Cheshire County Sports Club on Plas Newton Lane.
Teams including Brio Leisure, Cheshire West and Chester Council, Storyhouse and Muir Housing took part.
The final was between Health Box, a community interest company based in Ellesmere Port , and Dandy’s Top Soil based near Chester. In a hard-won match, Health Box came out on top, winning by just 1-0.
Chris said: “This competition brought together housing associations, businesses, council services, leisure and tourism groups, and sports and recreational teams to have fun and raise money towards tackling poverty locally. Like in wider society, it’s amazing what we can do when we all work together.”
Chris was joined in his team, the aptly named MP FC, by Justin Madders (MP for Ellesmere Port and Neston) , Alison McGovern (MP for Wirral South), Ian Lucas (MP for Wrexham) and Cllr Ben Powell from Blacon amongst others.
Chris concluded: “I’d like to thank my colleagues from Westminster and everyone that took part. I’d especially like to pay tribute to Kevin Jones from The Cheshire County Sports Club for his help and support.
“With figures released this week highlighting that one fifth of the UK population are now living in poverty, it is clear that we need to work together and tackle the issues of poverty for our friends, neighbours and communities in Chester and the wider area.”
