Food donation bags set to support communities in Portsmouth

Four Tesco stores – Portsmouth Fratton Park Extra, Whiteley, Fareham and Havant Extra – are taking part in the special six-week trial.

All will be offering pre-filled donation bags available for customers to buy and donate to the charities FareShare and the Trussell Trust.

The bags will contain items that are most needed by local foodbanks and charities. Customers will also get additional opportunities to round up their bill at the checkout to make it even easier to offer financial support.

Bags are available in stores until Sunday September3, alongside every Tesco store’s permanent collection point where customers can donate long-life food items all year round.

The option to round up at Portsmouth stores’ tills is available to customers until August 6 and then again from August 28 to September 3.

Tesco Head of Community, Claire de Silva, said: “We’re really proud of our partnerships with FareShare and the Trussell Trust and we want to continue to find ways to help them.

"With many food banks struggling to meet the rising levels of need, more people using food banks we wanted to make donating as easy as possible for customers that want to support their community.

"The donation bags will be available throughout the summer holidays, so it allows a real focus on families and children who need support.”

Donations are more important than ever as the charities have reported an increasing demand.

Polly Hoffman, Head of Retail at FareShare, explained: “The need for FareShare food has been rising rapidly as a result of the cost-of-living crisis, and will continue to do so throughout the summer holidays when more families rely on these vital local services.

“At a time when millions of people are going hungry, the donations we receive from generous Tesco customers is absolutely vital for the charities and community groups we provide food to.”

Emma Revie, CEO at the Trussell Trust, added: “We are extremely grateful to Tesco for once again providing innovative new ways for their customers to support our network of more than 1,300 food bank centres.

"Over the last year, food banks have faced record levels of need and, while donations have increased by 18%, our network distributed 37% more emergency food parcels than in 2021/2022.

“The generosity of Tesco and its customers plays a vital role in ensuring that food banks can continue to support people who cannot afford the essentials, as we continue working towards our vision of ending the need for food banks.”

There were 6,863 parcels handed out at three foodbanks run by the Trussell Trust in Portsmouth in the six months to the end of last September – up 77% from 3,887 over the same period in 2021.

The number of parcels handed out nationwide also soared to more than 1.2 million over the same period – a 33% increase on April to September 2021.