Liam Payne has been praised for his “compassion and kindness” by a food bank charity he had supported since the Covid pandemic.

The One Direction singer had said he was glad to be able to play “my small part” in donating to provide hundreds of thousands of meals, as well as getting involved at his local food bank.

Anti-poverty charity Trussell, which runs a network of 1,400 food bank locations across the UK, said Payne had been a “generous supporter” of its work for the past four years.

We greatly appreciate the compassion and kindness he always showed to people facing hunger and hardship. His death is a very tragic loss, and our thoughts are with his loved ones

The organisation’s chief executive, Emma Revie, said: “We are extremely saddened by the news of Liam Payne’s death.

“Over the last four years, Liam was a generous supporter of Trussell and our community of food banks, not only funding the provision of more than 360,000 meals during Covid but also often joining us in calling for the solutions required to end the need for emergency food.

“We greatly appreciate the compassion and kindness he always showed to people facing hunger and hardship. His death is a very tragic loss, and our thoughts are with his loved ones.”

In March 2020, Payne donated to the charity – then known as Trussell Trust – to support more than 100 food bank centres in Birmingham, Stoke-on-Trent, Coventry, Sheffield, Nottingham and Bristol as they provided help to people in crisis.

At the time the charity said the donation would enable them to launch a crisis fund for food banks to help with recruiting additional staff, hiring delivery vehicles or extra space, or, if necessary and available, buying food.

At the time, the singer said: “It’s not right that anyone in our country is unable to afford food. Food banks do incredible work to help the people most in need of support.

“It’s vital that we get support to those people right now, as this crisis unfolds.”

Referring to the passing of the pandemic, he said there would be a need to assess why there was still a need for food banks.

“When we’re out the other side of this, we need to look at why there are people in our country who don’t have enough money for food,” he said.

“I want to play my part in finding a solution to ensure people have enough money to buy their own food – and end the need for food banks.”

Writing on his Facebook page in April 2020, he said he was glad to be able to play a “small part” in helping those in need.

Alongside a picture of himself wearing a face mask and gloves while helping with tinned food, he wrote: “Recently I made a personal, long-term commitment to support the The Trussell Trust and their vital work supplying meals to those in need all over the UK.

“It was humbling to get involved at my local food bank yesterday, and to meet some of the incredibly passionate people like Carla, Dorothea and Helena who are working tirelessly during these incredibly tough times.

“I’m glad to be playing my small part as we work towards a future in which nobody needs a food bank.”