Tesco food appeal collects 3.5 million meals for people in need

Generous customers helped to donate an incredible 3.5 million meals during Tesco’s National Food Collection appeal on the 5 and 6 July, the equivalent of 26,000 trolley-loads of food.

Tesco held the appeal in partnership with Foodbanks charity, the Trussell Trust and food redistribution charity, FareShare in every one of its stores across the UK after new research showed nearly one in five people had suffered from some form of food poverty in the last twelve months.

With school summer holidays approaching, the research also showed parents found the holidays a particularly difficult time to provide food for their children with as many as 70% of families currently suffering from food poverty relying on food given out by schools.

During the collection, customers were asked to donate non-perishable food items such as long-life milk, cereals and tinned vegetables and fruit. The food, weighing in at 1,500 tonnes, will now be transported to regional FareShare depots and local foodbanks across the country to help people in times of crisis.

The total amount collected includes Tesco’s 30% top up and collections in Tesco’s dedicated online grocery delivery centres. Tesco plans to introduce permanent collection points in some of its stores before its next national collection in December.

Rebecca Shelley, Group Corporate Affairs Director at Tesco said: “Once again, our customers have shown extraordinary generosity and made this the biggest food collection the UK has ever seen – so thank you to everyone who donated. Together with the extra 30% that Tesco has contributed, the food we collected will help hundreds of thousands of people in need across the UK.

“The work we do with the Trussell Trust and FareShare plays a vital role in making sure people have access to food in times of crisis, especially as food poverty is increasing in the UK.

“I’d also like to say a special thanks to all our colleagues and the volunteers who made the collection possible - we’re incredibly proud of their hard work and dedication.”

Lindsay Boswell, CEO of FareShare said: “With more people turning to charities for food than at any other time in FareShare’s history, we know the summer holidays are going to be difficult for many. At a time of such need we are incredibly grateful to Tesco customers for their generosity. Thanks to you we will be able to provide the 900 charities we support across the country with even more food. These charities offer not only a meal but invaluable support to some of the poorest people in our society. With more than a third of these organisations helping to feed vulnerable children, your support really will help the thousands of families struggling to afford food this summer.”

Chris Mould, Chairman of the Trussell Trust said: “In the last three months alone Trussell Trust foodbanks have given three days’ emergency food to over 150,000 people in crisis and we know that the summer holidays can tip many low-income families over the edge. The extraordinary generosity of tens of thousands of members of the public across the UK at Tesco last weekend will help foodbanks to stop thousands of families from facing hunger this summer. We’re immensely grateful to Tesco for their invaluable support, the 30 percent top up is a wonderful gift to our foodbanks which will make the public’s donations go much further.”

Tesco customers at the Park Road Extra store in Liverpool proved to be the most generous in the UK, donating the equivalent of nearly 21,000 meals, including Tesco’s 30% top up, to people in need.

Customers at the Grahams Road store in Falkirk donated a fantastic 10,000 meals to become the most generous customers in Scotland, while the Pontypridd Extra in Wales collected more than 6,200 meals.

In Northern Ireland, the Bentrim Road store in Lisburn collected an impressive 6,600 meals for people in need.

ENDS

For media enquiries on the Help Feed People in Need Appeal please contact Matt Francis in the Tesco press office on 01992 644 645/ Matt.p.francis@uk.tesco.com or Devries SLAM on 0207 067 0025/ tesco@devries-slam.com

For media enquiries on the Trussell Trust, please contact Molly Hodson in the Trussell Trust press office on 01722 580 182 or via email: Molly.Hodson@trusselltrust.org

For media enquiries on FareShare, please contact Shakira Silvestri in the FareShare press office on 0207 394 2460 or via email: shakira.silvestri@fareshare.org.uk

Join the Help Feed People in Need appeal on Twitter: #everycanhelps and Facebook: http://en-gb.facebook.com/tesco

Notes to editors

Research was carried out by The Source research agency using a sample of 2,000 adults across the UK.

About the National Food Collection:

* The National Food Collection raised 3.5 million meals for people in need including Tesco’s 30% top up.
* The amount includes food collected at Tesco online grocery delivery centres and through local store collections this year.
* Tesco held its first national collection in December last year, collecting 2.4 million meals for people in need.
* Tesco plans to roll out permanent collection points in some of its stores in the coming months and will hold its next national collection, in partnership with the Trussell Trust and FareShare in December.

About FareShare:

* FareShare is a unique charity fighting hunger and its underlying causes by redistributing surplus food to hundreds of local charities across the UK.
* By ensuring good food is not wasted, we turn an environmental problem into a solution, helping to feed thousands of vulnerable people every day.
* FareShare has been operating since 2004 as an independent charity and today has 17 locations across the UK that provide food to more than 900 local charities, including homeless shelters, children’s breakfast clubs and luncheon clubs for the elderly.
* Last year we redistributed 4,200 tonnes of food, enough to feed 43,700 people every day, saving each charity an average of £13,000 a year and food businesses 1,850 tonnes of CO2 emissions.
* By creating a value chain directly between the food industry and people in need, we are unique in fighting hunger by tackling food waste. Find out more at www.fareshare.org.uk

About the Trussell Trust:

* The Trussell Trust’s award-winning UK foodbank network partners with churches and communities to provide three days nutritionally-balanced emergency food to people in crisis.
* Over 90% food given out by foodbanks is donated by the public. Every foodbank recipient is referred by a frontline care professional such as a doctor, social worker or schools liaison officer.
* Three new Trussell Trust foodbanks are launching every week. The Trussell Trust has launched over 350 foodbanks nationwide.
* Almost 350,000 people received three days’ emergency food from a Trussell Trust foodbank in 2012-13, compared to 128,697 in total during 2011-12 financial year – the biggest increase ever.
* Less than 5% of foodbank clients are homeless, many are working families struggling to make ends meet.
* The Trussell Trust’s vision is that every town should have a foodbank, creating a nation where no-one needs to go hungry.
* For more information on the work carried out by the Trussell Trust visit: www.trusselltrust.org/foodbank-projects