SHOPPERS in Basingstoke will be able to give a helping hand to food banks and charities through a supermarket donation scheme.

The Tesco Food Collection is taking place in every large Tesco store from June 30 to July 2.

Paul Gross, Basingstoke Foodbank assistant project manager, said: "We know that many families on the very lowest incomes have been forced to the doors of food banks to get by, as the nation faces a rapid rise in the cost of living and continues to recover from the devastating effects of the pandemic.

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"So, once again, we are calling on shoppers to give generously and make a difference to people who need our support over the coming weeks and months.”

People are being urged to donate long-life food to support food banks in the Trussell Trust’s network and thousands of frontline charities supplied by FareShare.

Tesco will top up all food donations made during the collection with an extra 20 per cent cash donation to support the two charities.

Shoppers can now also round up their bill at the checkout to make a small donation to the charities, as well as picking up pre-filled donation bags with some of the items that are most needed will be available in selected stores.

All Express stores have also introduced new permanent donation points.

Tesco head of community Claire de Silva said: “This collection marks 10 years of us working with the Trussell Trust and FareShare. During that decade our customers have been amazingly generous, donating more than 100 million meals during our food collections and at permanent collection points in Tesco stores, but we wanted to make it even easier for customers in Basingstoke to donate this summer as we know that every can donated really does help.”

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