Southampton: Saints chefs making 1,000 meals a week for community

SOUTHAMPTON, ENGLAND - DECEMBER 04: General view of the stadium prior to the Premier League match between Southampton FC and Norwich City at St Mary's Stadium on December 04, 2019 in Southampton, United Kingdom. (Photo by Bryn Lennon/Getty Images)
SOUTHAMPTON, ENGLAND - DECEMBER 04: General view of the stadium prior to the Premier League match between Southampton FC and Norwich City at St Mary's Stadium on December 04, 2019 in Southampton, United Kingdom. (Photo by Bryn Lennon/Getty Images)

Southampton are putting their facilities to fantastic use despite no football being played at their stadium or training ground currently.

The club’s chefs are still cooking, but instead of feeding hospitality guests on a matchday or the first-team players, they are providing 1,000 meals per week to those who have been hit hardest by the Coronavirus.

Workers may be stuck with no work during time because of social distancing measures, and may not be able to do their jobs from home.

This is where the club are stepping in and easing the strain on budgets by providing food free of cost.

The strain that this pandemic is causing has also hit football hard, but it’s good to see that those in need are being looked after first.

The package on Saints’ work was produced by BBC Breakfast and also talks about the crucial roles that the Saints Foundation and charity FareShare have in distributing the food too.

Fans are really the most important part of a football club and are the ones that keep it ticking over with their financial and emotional investment in it.

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Saints helping those in the city where they have such an important role in bringing people together will only strengthen that bond with supporters and others who aren’t fans.

As mentioned before though, this time is affecting football clubs because they are also businesses.

Potential measures were announced in a statement by the Premier League on Sunday that could ease the situation and also help local areas.

It said that £125m will be handed down to the EFL and the National League to aid football clubs with access to less income and ensure that they have a future once life returns to normal.

Subject to meetings with officials from clubs and player representatives too, players will be taking a 30% wage cut for 12 months with the aim of reducing the burden on their own places of work.

£20m will also be given to the NHS to aid the fight against the Coronavirus on the frontline, whilst the importance of messages on health spread by clubs during the outbreak was emphasised.