THE wives of England footballing legends John Barnes and Mark Wright plan to open a food distribution warehouse in Wirral and are appealing for help from Globe readers.

Andrea Barnes and Sue Wright have been delivering food to needy families and organisations across the borough and Liverpool for the last year.

The Heswall-based entrepreneurs now want to open a central distribution warehouse in Wirral and hope Globe readers can help in their search for a suitable premises.

Their campaign was launched during a Sport Relief Lunch hosted by the duo at Sheldrakes in Heswall.

Andrea - wife of the former Liverpool and England International who later managed Tranmere Rovers - said: "Most families on benefits have just £3.10 to feed themselves a day – so being able to learn how to cook a cheap but nutritious meal is the real aim here.

"Giving out food every week is simply papering over the cracks of food poverty – we need to produce a basic educational understanding of cooking within an extremely limited budget."

Sue explained: "Wirral is need of a central distribution point which cannot only stock and distribute the food we can access, but our real aim is to educate the families who need support by bringing them into the Warehouse and using our on-site kitchen to train families how to cook a meal on an extremely limited budget.

"We are looking for a free-of-charge warehouse in Wirral which can be used as an educational centre but also as food storage and distribution depot."

Andrea and Sue have been helped in the project by Fairshare, a charity set up to fight food poverty.

The organisation has supplied £30,000 worth of infrastructure including racking and refrigeration. All that is needed now is a warehouse.

The girls' campaign is supported by Wallasey-born celebrity chef Simon Rimmer. He said: "I'm totally delighted to be helping Andrea and Sue with this project I will be able to commit to writing some nutritious recipes which families can then be taught how to cook – food poverty is a huge concern in the UK and it's something we must all try and address."

If anyone has access to a warehouse, can donate a kitchen or kitchen utensils please get in touch with Andrea Barnes 07745237819.