Brighton and Hove shoppers asked to help people in need at Christmas

As Christmas approaches, Tesco is holding its ninth major food collection in partnership with FareShare and the Trussell Trust to support people in need.

Tesco works with FareShare in Brighton and Hove to help feed those in need across the UK. MP Peter Kyle visited the Hove Extra store on Friday (December 2) to show his support.

In its fifth year, the supermarket’s collection aims to support a wide range of people in the local area in times of crisis. In the last collection in July this year, shoppers in Brighton and Hove generously donated 3800 meals to help local people.

Items most in need are store cupboard items like pasta, rice, tinned vegetables, tinned fruit, pasta sauces, pasta, tea and coffee.

The campaign will use the hashtag #everycanhelps to get people talking about the collection and remind shoppers that just one can of food makes a difference to people who find themselves without food in the cupboards.

Michael Germain, store manager at Hove Extra, said: “We are delighted by how generous our colleagues and customers are when donating to the Neighbourhood Food Collection. This will really help people who are struggling and I hope that at this time of year people will get on board and think about donating. This is all part of our work to support the community and help feed people in need.”

The Neighbourhood Food Collection has so far collected a staggering 38 million meals since the first collection in 2012. Tesco will financially top up donations made to its collection by 20%.

The nationwide collection builds on work done throughout the year to help support people in need such as the permanent food bank collection points in over 600 stores and the Community Food Connection which diverts any surplus food from Tesco stores to local groups at the end of each day.

When customers visit their store, whether it is a small Express or a large Extra, they will be able to pick up a list of requested items to help them with their shop or speak to a volunteer or Tesco colleague if they have any questions about the collection. The Neighbourhood Food Collection takes place in all Tesco Express stores from 21 November and will be in every store from 1st to 3rd December.

One of the recipients of the donated food in Brighton is Lunch Positive a group who offer supportive space for people newly diagnosed with HIV, those who are bereaved and people who find living with HIV a barrier to meeting others.

A key aspect of the support that the charity provides is a nourishing meal, made with fresh, surplus produce supplied by FareShare Sussex, along with longer-life, store cupboard staples that are donated during the Neighbourhood Food Collection.

Project manager at Lunch Positive Gary Pargeter said: “Overwhelmingly people need our support in respect of having a safe, supportive and non-judgemental space where they can access a good diet and meet one another in a community setting. Without FareShare, we would not be able to offer the variety of food or serve the numbers of people we do.”

FareShare is a unique charity fighting hunger and its underlying causes by providing food to more than 4,600 local charities and community projects across the UK, including homeless shelters, children’s breakfast clubs, women’s refuge centres and luncheon clubs for the older people, helping to feed nearly half a million people every week.