Stadium becomes food sorting and distribution centre

Warwickshire County Cricket Club’s official charity, the Edgbaston Foundation, has struck a partnership with local charity Thrive Together Birmingham to use Edgbaston Stadium as a food sorting and distribution centre that will support local foodbanks and community groups.

With the car park at Edgbaston Stadium already donated to the Department of Health and Social Care to be a COVID-19 drive-through test centre, Thrive Together Birmingham will store non-perishable food in Edgbaston’s exhibition hall and it will work with volunteers to sort, repackage and distribute the items to organisations which are supporting those in need.

No food donations can be made on-site at Edgbaston, with the nearby St. Mary and Saint Ambrose Church, on Raglan Road, acting as a collection centre between 11am and 3.30pm every Friday.

Ravi Masih, head of community engagement at Warwickshire CCC and lead of the Edgbaston Foundation, said: “Since we moved into the forced stadium closure, club staff have been committed to doing all that we can to make a difference in our local community by providing free use of our stadium and grounds, fundraising for important causes, and through volunteering.

“We’re thrilled that we can build on our community response during this period by working with such a fantastic charity, in Thrive Together Birmingham, to support those in need.”

Fred Rattley CEO of Thrive Together Birmingham, said: ‘‘We are delighted that the Edgbaston Foundation have partnered with Thrive Together Birmingham to collect much-needed food to help the Brum Together coalition of organisations providing emergency food to people who are most impacted by COVID-19.”

As a further part of Warwickshire CCC’s community response, its staff have committed to raising funds for Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham Charity and the NSPCC’s Childline service in Birmingham through the 2.6 Challenge.

More than 30 staff are taking part in the challenge and have collectively pledged to cover Warwickshire’s founding year of 1882, in kilometres, before the end of May. Visit https://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/Team/Bears4 to support the team and donate.

Further fundraising is also being achieved through sales of a charity t-shirt, which features an adapted version of Warwickshire’s iconic Bear & Ragged Staff logo that has been designed by First Team Coach Jim Troughton.