TESCO stores across the country have been overwhelmed by the generosity of customers who donated at the Tesco Winter Food Collection.
More than 1.9 million meals’ worth of long-life food items were donated at the collection between 25th November and 30th November in all the retailer’s large and Express stores.
In Worcestershire the collection saw customers donate 18,290 meals to make a difference in their local community.
Every item donated provides much-needed support for charities FareShare and Trussell in the run up to Christmas.
Donations to Trussell help food banks to provide emergency food parcels to people who cannot afford the essentials, while donations to FareShare support thousands of frontline local charities in communities across the country.
This winter will see heightened levels of need for both charities’ services with the Christmas holidays being a particularly difficult time for families due to the increased costs that occur at this time of year.
With this in mind, Tesco provided an extra £500,000 of funding to FareShare and Trussell to meet this acute need.
Tesco CEO Ken Murphy said: “I just want to say a huge thank you to every single person who donated items at this year’s Winter Food Collection. Their generosity is always so amazing and really helps to make a huge impact in communities across the UK supported by Trussell and FareShare.”
Throughout the year Tesco donates unsold food to FareShare as part of its Community Food Connection scheme. That means so far this year Tesco and its customers have given the equivalent of more than 39 million meals to both charities.
In addition to the donations of food, the pre-Christmas Winter Food Collection saw more than £340,000 donated to the charities by customers rounding up their bills at the till and donating through a link from Tesco’s online groceries website.
Kristopher Gibbon-Walsh, CEO at FareShare, said: “Every year, we are blown away by the generosity of Tesco customers at the Winter Food Collection, and this year is no exception.
“Thank you to every single person that volunteered in store, donated an item of food, topped up their shopping bill, or made a donation to FareShare.
“Your kind support will ensure we can continue getting food out into the community, bringing people together and strengthening communities this winter.”
Emma Revie, CEO of Trussell, said: “We are so grateful to Tesco for supporting food banks to get through this season by organising this year’s Winter Food Collection.
“Thank you to Tesco customers for coming out in support of your local food bank, to ensure they can continue helping everyone in your local community who is facing hunger and hardship this winter.”
With both charities continuing to need support, Tesco shoppers can continue to donate food at permanent collection points at every Tesco store in the UK or make a donation after their online shop.
You can also donate at https://fareshare.donr.com/tesco until February 2025.
