Lewes Athletic Club members run in support of local Foodbank

On Tuesdsay February 7, Lewes Athletic Club will become one of more than 500 running clubs across the UK participating in the first ever national Food Bank Run.

Recent reports from The Trussell Trust and other charities suggest that donations to food banks have actually gone down, even as the cost-of-living crisis has created a soar in demand from families in need. As a result, many of the country’s food banks are now running short of supplies.In response, Sarah Donaghy, of Hampshire-based Fareham Running Club, came up with the idea of organising a national Food Bank Run. She floated it on Facebook last October and it soon went viral.

The idea is simple: on a designated day in February, instead of doing their usual weekly training run, club runners run to their local food bank and help to fill it up with donations that they have brought with them. February was chosen because it’s a particularly desperate time of year for many families, as Christmas charity peters out and the bills start flooding in.

In Sarah’s words, Food Bank Run is all about “the running community helping the local community”.

So this Tuesday, for Lewes AC’s inaugural Food Bank Run, the members of the club will be ringing the changes on their usual monthly “pub run” by running from The Dorset (on Malling Street) to the Landport Food Bank (just off Eridge Green), all carrying something to donate, whether it’s a tube of toothpaste, a couple of tins of baked beans or a backpack full of assorted food and toiletries.

“We pride ourselves on being a community club,” says Mark Pappenheim, one of the Lewes AC coaches, “and the Food Bank Run is such a brilliant community initiative that it was obviously something we’d want to be involved with. The response amongst our members has been hugely positive – and, while of course we all wish we lived in a society where food banks weren’t needed, it’s heartening to think that, simply by going for a run, we can do at least something to help those in our community who are struggling to survive.”

Lewes AC is now hoping to make the Food Bank Run a regular fixture in its calendar, which also includes twice-yearly running courses for adult beginners. “So, if you’d like to join Lewes AC’s next Food Bank Run but you’re not yet a runner, there’s still time to sign up for our spring beginners course, starting in March, and we’ll get you running your first 5k by the end of May!” For details see lewesac.co.uk/beginners