Metallica donates £40k to Leicester homeless charity as band headlines Download Festival

Download Festival headliners Metallica has donated £40,000 to vital homeless charity in Leicester.

Help The Homeless received the generous grant from the heavy metal band's non-profit foundation as the metal legends prepared for a two night stand at Donington Park.

It comes as Metallica returns to Leicestershire from across the pond for the annual rock festival in Castle Donington.

The band took to Download's main-stage on Thursday night, June 8 where its set could be heard for miles from the site, with a second headline set later this weekend.

Their latest £40,000 grant to Help the Homeless from the group's All Within My Hands foundation will help the Leicester charity at a time of increased demand.

Help the Homeless founder, Arif Voraji said: "We've seen a massive drop in donations from the public and donations from corporations, but at the same time, we've seen an increase in demand.

"We've seen a 100 per cent increase in demand for the food bank and our other food services and it's not just individuals coming to us, it's families too."

The charity has had to "strip back" some of its services in recent months, such as its mobile phone support which gives some people access to mobiles to help them access other services, Mr Voraji said.

He added: "This money will help us to keep doing what we're doing and help not only homeless people but others who are struggling, people in recovery, people who have just moved into new accommodation.

"But it will also help us with the day-to-day costs of running the charity and just keep the lights on.