25 October 2023
Call for volunteers at the Tesco Food Collection
With charities facing increasing levels of need this winter, people are being urged to give the gift of their time to take part in the UK’s biggest food donation drive.
The Tesco Food Collection is taking place in all large Tesco stores from Thursday 30 November to Saturday 2 December. FareShare and the Trussell Trust are urging volunteers to sign-up to support the event in store by helping them to collect food.
Both charities face their busiest winter yet as more people turn to them for support. FareShare has more than 1,500 frontline charities on its waiting list seeking food, while the Trussell Trust is expecting to distribute more than one million emergency food parcels between December and February.
During the collection Tesco customers will be encouraged to donate long-life food to support the charities in their work. Donations to FareShare will get food to its network of 8,500 local charities and community groups, while donations for the Trussell Trust will help its network of food banks provide emergency food parcels to people who cannot afford the essentials.
Tesco is calling on volunteers to staff collection points to raise awareness of the impact every donation will have on people across the UK, who rely on FareShare and the Trussell Trust for food.
Donations are needed now more than ever and volunteers help FareShare to collect four times more food as opposed to stores where no volunteers are present.
George Wright, chief executive at FareShare said: “We anticipate need will keep rising as people continue to struggle to afford the essentials like food and heating this winter. Tesco’s support for FareShare throughout the cost of living crisis, and the last 11 years, has been unwavering, and we’re incredibly grateful for their support in helping drive more donations during what will be a difficult winter for many.
“Volunteers play a huge role in the success of the Tesco Food Collection each year. By giving up just three hours of your time, you can make a huge impact by helping more people understand the importance of donating food to FareShare during this increasingly difficult time.”
Trussell Trust Chief Executive Emma Revie added: “This winter is going to be the toughest yet for the food banks in our network as they will help approximately 600,000 people and provide an emergency parcel every eight seconds. The teams in our food banks are working tirelessly to ensure everyone receives the support they need but they cannot do it alone. By volunteering at the Tesco Winter Food Collection you will not only be helping to gather much-needed donations to keep your local food bank going, you’ll also be making a real difference to families who cannot afford the essentials in your community. If you can spare a few hours to volunteer then please do.”
Claire De Silva, Head of Community at Tesco, said: “Every year our Winter Food Collection gets such an amazing response from our customers. We know that they give even more generously when we have volunteers in our stores helping them to choose the right items that are needed so we would urge anyone who can to please sign up and help make a difference.”
You can sign up to volunteer with FareShare at: https://fareshare.org.uk/foodcollection/
