Tesco shoppers in Ballymoney, Coleraine and Ballymena part of record year of giving

Tesco customers in Northern Ireland donated more than 111,000 meals during the Tesco Food Collection at the beginning of December, with approximately 7,000 of those meals donated coming from shoppers in Ballymoney.

Approximately 3,000 came from shoppers in Coleraine and Ballymena shoppers provided approximately 1,000 of those meals.

The total amount of food donated by Tesco shoppers in Northern Ireland to the Trussell Trust and FareShare during the year was equivalent to 478,000 meals, around 14,000 of which came from Ballymoney.

Of the 478,000 meals, around 12,000 came from Ballymena and around 14,000 came from Coleraine.

The donations to the Trussell Trust help food banks to provide emergency food parcels to people in crisis, while donations to FareShare support thousands of frontline local charities in communities across the country. Tesco has also topped up all customer donations during the collection by 20% in cash, to support the two charities with their operating costs and ensure the food can get to where it is most needed.

Tesco also donates its unsold food to FareShare and, including those donations, more than 39 million meals have been provided to both of the charities by Tesco and its customers in the past year.

Meabh Austin, Development Manager at FareShare Northern Ireland, said: “We want to say an enormous thank you to Tesco, and every single person that volunteered and donated across the year and at the Winter Food Collection, we had more than 2,000 amazing volunteers join us in stores this year.”

Emma Revie, Chief Executive at the Trussell Trust, said: “Thanks to the incredible generosity of Tesco customers, food banks across the Trussell Trust network can continue to provide emergency food and support to people facing hardship. Each and every donation made in Northern Ireland will enable FareShare to provide immediate help to people in the local community, while the Trussell Trust works in the long term to build a future without the need for food banks."

With both charities continuing to need support, Tesco shoppers can continue to make donations at permanent collection points at every Tesco store in the UK.