Football Fans Donate Thousands to Mayor's Charity Appeal
H&F Mayor Mercy and Chelsea Pensioners team up for collection at Stamford Bridge
Hammersmith & Fulham Mayor, Cllr Mercy Umeh joined a group of Chelsea pensioners and an army of volunteers at Stamford Bridge earlier this month to help raise funds for the Mayor's charity appeal.
Supporters of Chelsea and Crystal Palace attending the London Derby responded generously, donating a total of £2,421 to a bucket collection held outside Stamford Bridge.
H&F Mind, the mental health charity, and H&F Foodbank will split the proceeds equally.
Cllr Umeh was helped by a team of volunteers, from both charities and from H&F Council as well as the Chelsea Pensioners.
"The generosity of fans at the match was amazing, and I'd like to thank everyone who helped raise this sum for two great local causes," said Cllr Umeh.
"Having the Chelsea Pensioners with us was a particular boost: the dedication of all at the Royal Hospital Chelsea towards helping charitable causes deserves far more recognition."
H&F Foodbank is an independent charity founded in 2010, to meet the need of local people experiencing food poverty.
Since launching, they have provided enough food to prepare over 200,000 meals and grown from one Foodbank Centre – into three.
As well as emergency food parcels, they also work with partners to try and solve some of the underlying causes of poverty. The generosity of the public ensures that they are able to continue to meet growing need.
Meanwhile, H&F Mind is a local mental health charity that seeks to enhance and protect the mental health of the residents of Hammersmith & Fulham.
The charity has had a local presence in the borough for nearly 30 years, and helps more than 2,000 people per year.
Charity collections are held around Stamford Bridge at every home game, and both fans and residents are given the chance to vote on which causes they would like to see benefit.
Fans now have the opportunity to vote on which charities they would like to see collecting at Stamford Bridge on matchdays.
The next game available for charities is the visit of Middlesbrough on Monday 8 May, with more than 20 community charities entering the final poll of the season.
Polling will close at midday on Wednesday 26 April.
April 21, 2017