Aldi to donate fresh food to Portsmouth charities this Christmas

Aldi, which has stores in Gamble Road and Southampton Road, has launched a festive food donations scheme, where charities and food banks can sign up to receive a free donation of fresh food at Christmas.

The supermarket chain's goal is to use up all surplus fresh food from its stores in the city.

As part of the scheme, charities and food banks will be paired with local stores and can collect products such as fruit, vegetables, fresh meat, fish and bread after the store closes at 6pm on Christmas Eve.

Fritz Walleczek, managing director of corporate responsibility, said: '˜We're starting our festive donations scheme even earlier this year to give as many charities as possible the opportunity to apply.

'˜We want to give something back to the communities that we serve at such an important time of year.

'˜Last year we were able to reach thousands of people across the UK, and some charities were even able to prepare fresh meals that fed families well into the New Year.'

All charities that apply must be able to collect, store and distribute fresh food.

Each store can be partnered with one charity only, and the pairings will be allocated on a first come first served basis.

Charities should contact Aldi's Corporate Responsibility team at [email protected] before Sunday, November 18, including their name, charity number, organisation focus, contact details and postcode of the nearest three stores.