GENEROUS Redditch customers donated thousands of meals to this year’s Tesco Winter Food Collection – providing much-needed support for FareShare and the Trussell Trust.
In Redditch the collection saw customers donate a total of 3,833 meals to make a difference in their community.
Donations to the Trussell Trust help food banks provide emergency food parcels to people who cannot afford the essentials, while donations to FareShare support thousands of frontline local charities.
This year will see both charities face their busiest winter yet as more people turn to them for support.
Tesco CEO Ken Murphy said: “The generosity of our customers is truly amazing.
“At a time when people are facing financial strain, they still went out of their way to support our charity partners.
“From a single carton of long-life milk to a whole trolley of items, every customer who donated helped us to make this one of the most successful Winter Food Collections ever.”
In addition to the donations of food, the pre-Christmas Winter Food Collection saw Redditch customers help towards donating more than £300,000 to the charities by rounding up their bills at the till and donating through a link from Tesco’s online groceries website.
Tesco also provides its unsold food to FareShare and altogether Tesco and its customers have given the equivalent of more than 39million meals to both charities in the past year.
George Wright, Chief Executive at FareShare, said: “With so many people struggling to afford basic essentials this winter, it’s really uplifting to see that Tesco customers have donated so much food to help people facing hunger in the community.
“Not only did they donate food, but many of them also donated their time by volunteering in store to help us collect much needed items this year too.
“We are immensely grateful to Tesco and its customers for the invaluable support we have received over the last 11 years and for donating more than any other food partner in our history.”
