Because this morning Tesco has announced a new £1m support package for food banks and food charities after the Trussell Trust issued a warning that they are facing their bleakest winter ever.
With food banks and other frontline charities hit by unprecedented levels of demand and rapidly mounting operating costs, Tesco has moved in to offer extra support, with a generous £1m donation split between the Trussell Trust and FareShare to help them meet the exceptional challenges both organisations are currently facing.
The extra money is in addition to the ongoing support Tesco provides both charities, having worked in partnership with them for the past decade.
Tesco is reportedly the biggest supplier of food distributed by FareShare, having donated 20 million meals of surplus food to the charity in the past year alone, whilst Tesco and its customers are the biggest single source of food donations for the Trussell Trust’s food banks.
The Trussell Trust launched its emergency appeal today after seeing a 46% increase in food parcels handed out during August and September. Food banks throughout its network have been feeling the pressure of rising bills, for example, the Bradford North Foodbank was forced to rein in the use of its van to just two days a week due to increased fuel costs.
Meanwhile, FareShare’s regional centres, which supply frontline charities and community groups across the whole UK with food are facing rising bills to keep fridges and freezers running and to keep delivery vans out on the road. One of its regions, FareShare Midlands, expects its fuel bills to be up to 70% higher this winter, even after extra government support.
Tesco UK and ROI CEO, Jason Tarry said: “We work closely with both the Trussell Trust and FareShare and on a recent visit to a food bank in Lambeth, I saw first-hand the challenges of supporting more people whilst facing rising costs."
He went on to say: "I’m proud Tesco is one of the first to respond to the Trussell Trust’s emergency appeal with a £1m donation. We hope this will help both charities, and food banks across the whole country, UK to continue the vital work they do as we go into winter.
"We will, of course, continue our regular donations from both Tesco and our generous customers, which has seen us donate 100 million meals in the last decade.”
Emma Revie, who is the CEO of the Trussell Trust said: “This tsunami of need led to the Trussell Trust launching our first ever emergency appeal and we're thrilled and extremely grateful to Tesco for pledging help for our food banks at the time when they need it most. This much-needed donation is in addition to the generous support that Tesco have provided throughout their 10-year partnership.”
FareShare CEO Lindsay Boswell CBE added: “The vast increase in the cost of living is having a disproportionate impact on people already struggling to make ends meet. As a result, the 9,500 charities and community groups FareShare support in the UK say demand for our food is higher than ever before. We are incredibly grateful to Tesco for their generous donation that will help us to continue providing food to the people most in need that will rely on their local charities this winter.”
The Tesco donation will be split between the charities and will not be ring-fenced, so the charities are free to use the money where it is most needed. The additional £1m brings Tesco’s support for charities and community projects to more than £10m this year.
The problems of poorer people and their needs and wants, particularly at Christmas time, were acknowledged in Charles Dickens' seminal Christmas time novel A Christmas Carol.
One of the gentlemen who was collecting for charitable contributions from local businessmen, including Ebenezer Scrooge, explained his mission to Scrooge: "At this festive season of the year, Mr. Scrooge,” said the gentleman, taking up a pen, “it is more than usually desirable that we should make some slight provision for the Poor and destitute, who suffer greatly at the present time. Many thousands are in want of common necessaries; hundreds of thousands are in want of common comforts, sir.”
To learn more about the work of The Trussell Trust and FareShare and how you can help, or receive help, if you require it, please visit them at https://www.trusselltrust.org and https://fareshare.org.uk.
If you want to find out about local food banks and food charities Google "local food banks" or check with your local churches who should be able to provide you with the information you require.
(Image courtesy of extremis and Pixabay)
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