GENEROUS supermarket shoppers in York donated more than 6,500 meals in the run up to Christmas to help make a difference in our local community.

Some 6,544 meals were donated by Tesco customers in York between November 27 and December 2 at the retailer's stores across the city.

It was part of the company's Winter Food Collection drive to support the work of FareShare and the Trussell Trust whose task it is to get food to people in need in our city.

Donations to the Trussell Trust help food banks to provide emergency food parcels to people who cannot afford the essentials, while donations to FareShare support thousands of frontline local charities in communities across the country.

Across the UK, Tesco customers donated some two million meals’ worth of long-life food items over the period.

Tesco CEO Ken Murphy said: “The generosity of our customers is truly amazing. At a time when people are facing financial strain, they still went out of their way to support our charity partners in stores across the UK.

“From a single carton of long-life milk to a whole trolley of items, every customer who donated helped us to make this one of the most successful Winter Food Collections ever.”

In addition to the donations of food, the pre-Christmas Winter Food Collection saw customers donate more than £300,000 to the charities by rounding up their bills at the till and donating through a link from Tesco’s online groceries website.

Tesco also provides its unsold food to FareShare and altogether Tesco and its customers have given the equivalent of more than 39 million meals to both charities in the past year.

George Wright, Chief Executive at FareShare, said: “With so many people struggling to afford basic essentials this winter, it’s really uplifting to see that Tesco customers have donated so much food to help people facing hunger in the community. Not only did they donate food, but many of them also donated their time by volunteering in store to help us collect much needed items this year too."

Emma Revie, CEO of the Trussell Trust: "People’s generosity never fails to amaze me and it is wonderful to see that once again communities and Tesco stores across the UK have come together to support their local food banks and ensure that they can be there for everyone who needs them this winter.

“Everyone should have enough money to afford the essentials and when food banks in our network are expecting to provide a food parcel every eight seconds between December and February, it’s clear that something is wrong.

"That is why we continue our long-term work to achieve a future where no one needs to access emergency food and, while we do that, every item that is donated will make a real difference to addressing the urgent levels of need this winter.”

With both charities continuing to need support, Tesco shoppers can continue to donate food at permanent collection points at every Tesco store in the UK or make a donation after their online shop. You can also donate at https://fareshare.donr.com/tesco until February 2024.