Tesco pledges £1m for food banks and charities ahead of most difficult winter
Tesco has put up £1m in support for food banks and charities following a desperate appeal about impending winter shortages.
The supermarket giant responded to a plea from the Trussell Trust, who warned they are facing their most difficult winter to date.
With the cost of living crisis eating into millions of people’s finances and energy bills set to rise, Brits may have to decide between heating and eating, with some even turning to food banks.
Tesco committed the extra cash as part of the Trus’s emergency appeal after a 46 per cent rise in food bank parcels handed out in August and September.
The chain is also the biggest supplier of food distributed by FareShare, the network of charitable food redistributors.
Cash will be split between numerous charities and means in total, Tesco has now donated £10m to charity and community projects this year.
“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 against a background of rising costs”, said Tesco chief executive Jason Tarry.
“We hope this will help both charities – and food banks across the UK – 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.”
The chief executive at the Trussell Trust, Emma Revie, said a “tsunami of need” led to its appeal and it is “extremely grateful to Tesco for pledging help”.