Supermarket chain Tesco has donated 1.9 million meals to food insecurity charities Fareshare and the Trussell Trust.
Alongside its food donation, the retailer donated £500,000 to the charities.
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.”
The meals were provided by donations of long-life food items from Tesco’s customers, to Tesco’s Winter Food Collection.
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The supermarket has said its donations to the Trussell Trust will provide emergency food parcels to those who are struggling this Christmas, while donations to FareShare will support frontline local charities.
Trussell Trust CEO Emma Revie 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.
“Thanks to your efforts, we have collected 1.8 million meals to support people who need a food bank this winter. Thank you for your generosity – together we can end hunger for good.”
She added: “Food banks in the Trussell community are a last resort for people who’ve been left facing hunger and hardship. They’re a lifeline, offering a warm welcome and space to be heard. But with so many people unable to afford the essentials right now, food banks continue to provide exceptionally high levels of emergency food, with many telling us they are at breaking point. Just over 1.4 million emergency food parcels were provided across the UK by food banks in our community, between April and September this year.”
In addition to food Tesco’s customers also donated over £340,000 to the charities by rounding up their bills at the till or clicking the donation link on Tesco’s groceries website.
Tesco donates unsold food to Fareshare throughout the year as part of its Community Food Connection scheme. So far this year, it has donated more than 39 million meals.
Last week Marks and Spencer announced that it had donated 100,000 Christmas dinners to families in need.
