Could you and your colleagues help FareShare support children and families this summer by volunteering at the Tesco Summer Food Collection?

The collection is taking place from Thursday 15 to Saturday 17 July 2021 in all stores across the UK where customers will be asked to donate long-life food to FareShare and the Trussell Trust.

For the second consecutive year, Tesco has held an additional Food Collection in summer, as well as the annual Christmas Food Collection. This is in response to the rise in demand for food from charities caused by Covid-19.

Since the beginning of the coronavirus crisis in March 2020:

• 1.5 million people have gone a day without eating
• 8 million adults have experienced food insecurity
• More than 1.5 million people in households with children are unable to access food for economic reasons
• The number of adults who are food insecure in Britain is estimated to have quadrupled

The pandemic has hit us all very hard. Lockdown restrictions and no volunteers in 2020 caused a huge drop in the food we were given from the Tesco Food Collection – we received 50% less than in 2019, when volunteers were able to help in store. Volunteers really make a big difference!

Food donated by Tesco customers during the collection will go to support local charities supplied by FareShare, including holiday clubs providing healthy meals and activities to youngsters outside of term-time, and the Trussell Trust’s foodbanks. Tesco will once again top up customer donations made in store by 20% in cash to aid both charities in their work.

If you can, please encourage your staff, volunteers, and your supporters to sign up for a shift in a Tesco store. One volunteer working a three-hour shift can help us collect enough food for 600 meals!

To find your local store and sign up for a shift, visit the FareShare website.

You can also support the Tesco Food Collection on social media and we’ve put together some posts that you can use here. Anything you can do to help us spread the word far and wide will go a long way in helping us get more food to more children this summer.

If you have any questions, let me know or email our dedicated Food Collection team on: tescofoodcollection@fareshare.org.uk.