Two of Britain's biggest food poverty charities are looking for volunteers to help collect donations in Tesco stores in the run up to Christmas
A major Christmas volunteering drive is looking for people to staff food collection points for foodbanks.
Food charities FareShare and Trussell Trust are seeking volunteers from across the country to work at donation points in larger Tesco stores from Thursday 30 November to Saturday 2 December.
The annual collection will see Tesco customers encouraged to donate long-life food to help foodbanks and community groups support people in need this Christmas.
Tesco will top up customer donations by 20% to further support the two charities in their work.
Last year, 3.4 million meals were collected in the Tesco Food Collection, and since the launch in 2012, more than 46 million meals have been donated to the two charities by generous Tesco customers.
To make this year’s collection a success volunteers are needed to hand out shopping lists to customers, so they can see the food items needed by foodbanks and community groups in their area, and to answer questions customers have.
Samantha Stapley, operations manager for The Trussell Trust, said: “Foodbanks across the country will be doing all they can to provide emergency support so people don’t go hungry this Christmas, but to make sure everyone referred receives vital help our network needs your support. The more people volunteering with foodbanks at the Food Collection, the more food will be collected from generous shoppers, and the better prepared foodbanks will be for their busiest time of year.”
Lindsay Boswell, FareShare chief executive, said: “Volunteers collect an average of 600 meals per shift, so we really can’t overestimate how important their contribution is. If you can spare an hour or so to volunteer in your local store this December, please do, and please encourage your friends, family and colleagues to get involved as well. You’ll be making an enormous difference.”
People can find out about local stores at www.fareshare.org.uk/food-collection or www.trusselltrust.org/food-collection-volunteer.
