This week, I was delighted to be able to deliver Hinckley Rugby Club’s first ever donation to the Hinckley Area Food Bank. In total, we had collected 7.2 Kg of non-perishable goods … by no means an insignificant donation and more than many of the other regular collection points in the area generated. That is in addition to a large donation of bread rolls previously donated that were left over after the bouncy castle event recently held at the Club.

I was told it usually took quite a few weeks before a new collection point yielded any donations so to generate so much in the first week was quite something. As John Tilley said recently, Rugby people are by nature a generous lot!

That got me thinking. If HRFC can generate so much so soon with very little publicity and before the season has really started, what could we achieve in the months ahead. Could we manage a tonne by Christmas? I believe we can and I’m hoping the Club will take up the challenge of generating ‘A Tonne for Christmas’.

There are 18 weeks to Christmas. To make that the target, the Club would need to generate 55 kg of food donations each week. That’s a tough ask but if everyone donated a tin of carrots or a tin of soup each week they visited the Club, then we would surpass that target with ease…. and deliver the message to those in the Borough who are struggling to make ends meet that Hinckley Rugby Club really does care!

I plan to post a progress update each week to keep everyone updated, and display a running total at the collection point, which for those who haven’t visited the Club since the end of the season, is located by the entrance door into the old section of the Clubhouse.

All donations will be gratefully received but the following items are particularly welcome.

- Tinned Meat & Fish
- UHT Milk
- UHT Fruit juice
- Powdered Milk
- Tinned Rice Pudding
- Instant / tinned Custard
- Tinned Fruit
- Instant Drinking Chocolate
- Instant Coffee
- Bottled Squash (up to 1 Litre)
- Jam
- Cereals (13+ portions).

There are no prizes for making the ‘Tonne for Christmas’ target but it would be a great way to show we really are a community club for Hinckley people.

Nick Robinson