MIDDLESBROUGH-born musician and songwriter Alistair Griffin is going to sing for other people's suppers as he tries to help struggling foodbanks - by asking fans at his shows to bring donations of food to gigs.

The 35-year-old singer - a former contestant on BBC1s Fame Academy - is also giving the profits from his tour to charity The Trussell Trust, which operates a network of food collections to help people in crisis.

There has been a huge increase in demand for the Trusts foodbanks with more than a third of a million people receiving at least three days emergency food in the past 12 months. That is almost three-times the number who were helped in the preceding year.

Griffin, who scored a top five hit with Robin Gibb and a top 20 single in his own right, said: Times are hard and for some people that means a daily struggle for the things that a lot of us take for granted. I designed this tour to help raise awareness and directly help people in need.

He has seen his songs featured recently as the soundbeds for a number of TV sports shows and has also been asked to write a theme for the Tour De France visit to Yorkshire next year.

Griffins foodbank tour this month will visit a number of pub venues with Fullers Breweries donating the locations and their staff for free to support the cause. Details of the tour are at alistairgriffin.com.