Christmas Week of Giving | Josh Key and Nathanael Ogbeta visit Sketty Foodbank

Earlier this month, Josh Key and Nathanael Ogbeta visited Sketty Foodbank to hand out match tickets donated by the club and its partners AMROC Heating and Eleven Sports Media as Swansea City continued its Week of Giving campaign.

The tickets were distributed to families and foodbank-users who need support ahead of what is an expensive Christmas period, particularly during a cost-of-living crisis.

Everyone who received tickets attended the Swans home match against Middlesbrough on December 16, which also saw the club host a Christmas market, with match-goers able to enjoy festive activities in the fan zone for free.

It made for a full day of Christmas cheer for some of those within the Swansea community who most deserve a treat at a time of year which can be challenging for many.

“It’s been wonderful to welcome the players and we were absolutely delighted with the response we had from the families who come to us,” said Kim Mort, a manager at Sketty Foodbank.

“They were so pleased to have tickets for the game, these are people who would never normally be able to go to a game, who would never be able to afford a ticket, so for them to have that is a phenomenal treat.

“And for our volunteers, we’ve thoroughly enjoyed chatting to the players and having our photographs taken. It’s really given us a boost, especially after the last few weeks where we have been so busy.

“It was fantastic. We want to say a huge thank you to the club for the tickets, it will have made a huge difference to the people who used them."

Key and Ogbeta met many of the volunteers and foodbank users as they distributed tickets before Kim, and her co-manager Audrey Reeve, put the players to work helping to pack food parcels ahead of collections later that day.

“Everybody who comes here has to help, so we had the players packing the bags too,” Kim added with a smile.

“Many hands make light work, so we had Josh and Nathanael get involved, and we were delighted with their help as well.”

Running the foodbank – which has seen its number of users quadruple since it opened two years ago – has become almost a full-time job for Kim, Audrey and all the other volunteers, with around 150 people collecting food parcels per week.

The parcels provide enough food for two to three days, and include items such as pasta and tinned food, as well as fresh fruit and vegetables, while before Christmas the foodbank also created Christmas hampers which included some special treats.

“In the build-up to Christmas, we’ve been able to purchase special hampers for people which are full of treats, so things that wouldn’t be included in our normal parcels. That’s really special because everyone needs a treat,” she explained.

And, as well as the additional sweet treats and Christmas goodies, 50 service users were also received tickets to come and watch the Swans take on Middlesbrough.

“It was nice for us to be able to give out those tickets and give back to the community,” said Key.

“We don’t do a lot, we just play football, so if we can help people who work so hard to care for people who need it, we’re glad to help.

“It was a good day, we learned a lot about what goes on at the foodbank, and how important places like it are for the community.

"It makes us realise how much goes on behind the scenes and it’s good to give back.

“We all often forget how much we have in comparison to other people, so it’s really brought us down to earth.

“But it is a really happy place, and if anyone can donate or volunteer to help these guys out, I’m sure they’d appreciate that.”

AMROC Heating’s managing director, Jason Quinn, was also in attendance at the foodbank as he helped distribute the tickets which his company had donated for the occasion.

Andhe felt proud to be part of a campaign with the club that gave back to the local community.

“It’s nice to be in a position to be able to help give something back,” he explained.

“I spoke to a young lady who has five kids and they’ve never been to see the Swans play so the fact we can do this is great. It’s quite humbling actually and it makes me quite emotional.

“It’s Christmas, it’s a time for giving and hopefully they’ll have a fab day out.”