On Saturday Erith Town host Punjab United in a South East Counties Football League Premier Division fixture.

Although the league points matter, the match has greater importance to the hungry of Erith where there is one of a number of foodbanks in the borough of Bexley.

When Mark Deveney took over as chairman of Erith Town his first ambition was to get them back to Erith as they were ground-sharing with VCD Athletic in Crayford. That challenge was achieved with a return to their ground in Erith at the start of the season.

However, the aim is to be a community football club and to engage with the people of Erith. They already some junior teams and now they want to help some of the local dwellers who have hit hardship.

Supporters who bring non-perishable foods (minimum 4 items per person please) to the collection point at the turnstile will gain free entry to the match. Suggestions of the type of food deemed suitable are biscuits, noodles, pasta sauce, tins of fish, long life milk and fruit juice.

Deveney has expanded on this saying “When Erith Town returned to Erith Stadium, it was always our intention to reach out into the local community and see what we as a club could do.

“We already have a charity partner in ‘For Jimmy’ so it made logical sense to see of there was any way we could do something on a more practical level for local people.”

He continued “I made contact with Bexley Foodbank a while ago to see if we could help in anyway in the run up to this Christmas. It was just by coincidence that we found out that the distribution centre for Bexley Foodbank was only 200m up the road in Avenue Road, so it was a total no-brainer to see if we can get involved.

“Being a small local football club, it is vital that we use our standing within the community to help raise the profile of causes that directly help people like ‘For Jimmy’ and ‘Bexley Foodbank’

“Any awareness and actual funds/food we can help generate will have a positive impact locally, so we aim to make these, and all our partnerships within the community, long term initiatives.

“I hope locally people support this and that it helps to make a genuine difference.”