Staff at Tesco in Bury are hosting their 12th annual winter food collection, to make a huge difference to the lives of people in the borough facing hunger and hardship.

Donated items will go directly to the charities Trussell and FareShare, as both see extremely high demand for their services during winter, and the food collection provides vital extra donations.

Tesco are making pre-packed customer donation bags available at even more stores in an effort to top the two million meals donated last year.

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Ken Murphy, Tesco Group CEO, said: “Our partners tell us they’ve seen even more families needing their help and they expect demand to increase this winter, so we’re encouraging Bury customers to donate whatever they can to our Winter Food Collection.

“With frontline charities and foodbanks facing exceptionally high demand this year, pre-packed donation bags make it easy to make a big difference to someone else’s Christmas.

“We’ve boosted our ongoing support to FareShare and Trussell with a donation of £500,000 each this year to help them meet additional demand through the summer and winter holiday periods when family finances are facing the most strain.”

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The bags, which typically cost between £2 and £3, are pre-filled with healthy and nutritious long-life items and can be picked up by Bury customers in store and paid for at the checkout.

The donated food is passed to FareShare and Trussell, who will distribute it to charities and food banks to help families who need it most.

Tesco’s Winter Food Collection, the biggest in the UK, runs in Express stores from 25-30 November and in large stores from 28-30 November.

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The most needed items this year are:

• UHT and powdered milk

• Tinned meat and fish

• Sponge/rice pudding

• Long life fruit juice

• Cooking/pasta sauces

• Tinned vegetables

• Tinned soup

• Pasta, rice and noodles

• Cereal and porridge

• Tea and coffee

Kris Gibbon-Walsh, FareShare Chief Executive, said: “For more than 12 years, Tesco has been a brilliant partner, providing vital support to FareShare and communities across the UK, giving food and funding to ensure we can continue getting supplies to over 8,000 charities and community groups.

“The Tesco Winter Food Collection enables us to collect long-life, staple ingredients that complement the fresh surplus food we redistribute.

“If you’re able to donate just one item at your local store, you’ll be helping to provide a meal for someone in hardship this winter.”