Tesco works to make it easier for Swindon shoppers to help food banks and charities

Swindon Tesco is making it easier than ever for shoppers to help food banks and charities with feeding people in their community, through its Food Collection.

The Tesco Food Collection is taking place in every large Tesco store from June 30 - July 2.

Swindon shoppers are being urged to donate long-life food to support local food banks in the Trussell Trust’s network and thousands of frontline charities supplied by FareShare.

Tesco will top up all food donations made during the collection with an extra 20% cash donation to support the two charities.

To make it even easier for customers to donate, shoppers will now be given the option to round up their bill at the checkout to make a small donation to the charities, and pre-filled donation bags with some of the items that are most needed will be available in selected stores.

From this week Tesco says it is also easier than ever for customers who shop in Express stores to support the charities, with new permanent donation points being placed in every Tesco Express store for the first time.

This means shoppers will now be able to donate at Express stores year-round. Shoppers can also donate their Tesco Clubcard points online to either of the charities.

Tesco Head of Community Claire de Silva said: “This collection marks 10 years of us working with the Trussell Trust and FareShare. During that decade our customers have been amazingly generous, donating more than 100 million meals during our food collections and at permanent collection points in Tesco stores, but we wanted to make it even easier for customers in Swindon to donate this summer as we know that every can donated really does help.”

Tesco says donations are more important than ever because the charities have reported increasing need for food.

Lucy Bearn, CEO at FareShare South West, said: “Our charities are telling us that the need for food has vastly increased as a result of the cost-of-living crisis, and over the last year we’ve continued to deliver four meals every second to people facing food insecurity across the UK.

“That’s why we would be immensely grateful to anyone who is able to donate a bag of pasta or tin of vegetables over the Tesco Food Collection weekend – your generous donations will help us continue providing vital support to families struggling to cope this summer.”

Danni Malone, Director of Network Programmes and Innovation at the Trussell Trust, said: “Every year, we are amazed by the generosity of Tesco customers who donate to the Food Collection. We know that many families on the very lowest incomes have been forced to the doors of food banks to get by, as the nation faces a rapid rise in the cost of living and continues to recover from the devastating effects of the pandemic.

"So, once again, we are calling on shoppers to give generously and make a difference to people who need our support over the coming weeks and months.”