“RATHER than waiting for a general election campaign in 2024, actions of solidarity have to take place now,” says City of Liverpool FC director Peter Furmedge.

“Class solidarity at street level, at grassroots level, is going to be crucial over the next four or five years.”

Furmedge was speaking to the Morning Star about the food union being set up by the club’s community arm, City of Liverpool FC in the Community, and plans to open up a food pantry in Liverpool.

The initiative would add to existing pantries in the city such as those at St George’s Church in Everton, and the Florrie Food Union which tackles food poverty in south Liverpool.

There is an obvious link between a food union and a food bank, but food unions are set up in the hope that people will not reach a point where they need to go to a food bank for emergency supplies.

“The Florrie Food Union allows people on low incomes regular access to groceries, toiletries and clothing,” says Anne Lundon, CEO of The Florence Institute, commonly known as The Florrie.

“We are not a food bank, we do not means test, we support people through times of hardship because more and more people are finding it harder to cope.

“The Florrie Food Union is not set up to manage dependence, our approach is to focus on supporting people to help each other in the long term instead of trying to help them patch things up.”

The idea behind a food union is that a family or an individual will pay a certain amount per week to be able to shop at a store which provides a certain amount of food, household goods and toiletries at no extra cost, or sells them at a heavily discounted price.

A union will generally buy in food wholesale as well as receiving stock through donations, passing on the savings to those in the community in need of such a service. People or families who are not aware of the food union, but may need it, can be referred by other community organisations. 

“It’ll be an affordable food store based on a membership scheme, with membership referred by local agencies including the COLFC Community scheme,” says Furmedge.

“We see it as another tool in the armoury of addressing food poverty, but also wider social inclusion.

“As well as providing food, groceries, household goods and sanitary products, this gives our community scheme another base, and will be a way to keep people who are in need close to us.

“It allows us to be able to reach out to them and provide them with things they need, when they need them and be aware of issues as and when they arise, rather than waiting for them to become a real crisis.”

The opening of a food pantry and the setting up of a food union will tie in with schemes COLFC Community runs on the football side of things, such as Football for Everyone, as well as the City of Liverpool FC youth and junior sides.

“While it’s a pantry project on the face of it, behind it is will also be a project that enables to tie all those loose threads together, with the refugee families and other families we are engaging with through junior football in particular,” adds Furmedge.

“It will enable us to respond better, quicker and to raise issues. The pantry project will also have the support of local councillors. One of the referral methods will be through local council surgeries, and hopefully through local children’s centres as well.

“So it will begin to bind things together, rather than the club acting in isolation.”

The pantry is due to open in early March with support from Progressive Lifestyle Solutions and Liverpool Independent Co-operatives, as well as Bread and Roses — a community pantry based in Gainsborough.

Rather than just providing its members with their weekly shop, the pantry will also work to provide the most nutritious food, with set meal options available. There are also plans further down the line to provide slow cookers, allowing members to cook low-cost healthy meals in their own homes.

The club are hoping to arrange a matchday collection to support the food union and pantry, which is well on the way to being set up in the first or second week of March on Smithdown Road.

City of Liverpool play Droylsden Saturday at 3pm, and Everton in the Liverpool Senior Cup on Tuesday evening at 7.45pm.

Both games are home at the Berry Street Garage stadium and priced at £8 for adults, £4 for concessions and free for u16s.