ALISTAIR Griffin will be singing for suppers, as he embarks on a UK tour with a difference.

The singer-songwriter will give profits from the tour to The Trussell Trust’s foodbank network, which has outlets at The Well, Trafford Street, Farnworth, and Atherton Parish Church.

His song What If accompanied the closing credits of the BBC's coverage of Andy Murray's Wimbledon win, Just Drive is used by both the BBC and Sky for their Formula 1 coverage, This Is London soundtracked the London 2012 Olympic coverage and new single The One was used by the BBC to close The Open golf championship.

As well as entertaining music fans, he will also be collecting food as he travels around the country, including a show at Salford Sacred Trinity Church next Friday, August 16.

Alistair, who has had tracks recorded and performed by artists as diverse as Robin Gibb and Cascada, 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 is asking all those who buy a ticket to bring an item from their kitchen cupboard to help foodbanks provide emergency food to more people and families in crisis in the UK.

The Trussell Trust recently announced their foodbanks have seen the biggest rise in numbers giving emergency food since the charity began in 2000.

Almost 350,000 people have received at least three days emergency food from Trussell Trust foodbanks during the last 12 months, nearly 100,000 more than anticipated and close to triple the number helped in 2011/12.

Alistair, from Middlesbrough who appeared in Fame Academy in 2003, is also working with the financially threatened Grimethorpe Colliery Band, made famous in the film Brassed Off, on a project to help save the band and rejuvenate a dying tradition.

Starting with the release on September 9 of The One, a duet with British folk singer Leddra Chapman and featuring the band, Alistair is bringing together a stellar cast of rock and pop’s finest to produce an album and documentary to help highlight the group’s plight.

And he has also been asked by event organisers Welcome To Yorkshire to write a theme for next year’s Tour De France Grand Depart.