As the cost of living crisis continues to bite, Stratford upon Avon Foodbank – part of the Trussell Trust network of food banks – is calling on shoppers to donate food and other essentials to this weekend’s Tesco Food Collection.
Saturday 27 May, Tesco customers at the superstore on the Birmingham Road will be encouraged to pick up an extra item or two to drop in the Foodbank donation basket on the way out of store.
This support is needed now more than ever, as families across the country are facing the biggest income squeeze in a generation and many people on the very lowest incomes are struggling to put food on the table.
All food donations will be used to support people across the Stratford upon Avon area who are experiencing hardship and will be forced to use a food bank over the coming months.
The collection has been organised by Tesco who will generously top up customers’ food donations with a financial donation of 20% of the value of the items donated, which will support Stratford upon Avon Foodbank in the provision of emergency food parcels and practical support.
Customers being asked to donate essential items of long-life food such as UHT fruit juice, tinned fish, pasta sauce, tinned sweetcorn and tinned meat meals.
Sarah Mills, Operations Lead of Stratford upon Avon Foodbank, is urging local people to give generously to the food collection during their supermarket shop.
Sarah, said:
“No one in Stratford upon Avon and the surrounding area should be facing hunger and we want to see an end to local people needing emergency food at all. While we work alongside other food banks in the Trussell Trust network to bring about long-term change to ensure everyone has enough money for the essentials, any donations of our most-needed items will be invaluable.
“Thanks to Tesco and the generosity of its customers, we hope to continue to offer vital support to families and children over the coming months, which will know will be particularly tough for many people in the local area.”
The Trussell Trust, which supports a nationwide network of over 1,300 food bank centres including Stratford upon Avon Foodbank, has seen long term increases in numbers of emergency food parcels distributed to people who are facing hardship.
Food banks in its network provided almost 3 million emergency food parcels in the last year, the number of people that used a food bank for the first time was 760,000. As soaring living costs continue to put pressure on families, food banks help make sure that people in crisis get the support they need over the summer period, and beyond.