Salisbury Foodbank and Tesco team up for Christmas drive

As food banks continue to support record levels of people facing hunger and hardship this winter, Salisbury Foodbank is urging shoppers to donate to this year’s Tesco Winter Food Collection.

From Thursday, November 28, to Saturday, November 30, customers at Salisbury, Amesbury and Tidworth Tesco branches will be encouraged to pick up an extra item or two as part of their weekly shop to drop in special donation trollies on the way out of the store.

Last year, more than 3.1 million emergency food parcels were distributed by food banks in Trussell’s community. That’s a 94 per cent increase over the past five years.

Salisbury Food Bank is no longer part of the Trussel Trust group but they were the first foodbank formed by the Trust in the UK in the year 2000.

Volunteers packing food parcels (Image: Newsquest)Manager of Salisbury Food Bank, Maria Stevenson, said: "We try and find out why people are coming to our foodbank to prevent them coming back.

"I often say people are like onions, there's something at the core, and there's many layers surrounding that. What our volunteers are very good at, is sitting down and talking to people who come in over a cuppa and find out what their circumstances are".

Food banks are a last resort for people who’ve been left isolated, facing hunger, and without enough money to live on. But with so many people unable to afford the essentials right now, food bank staff and volunteers continue to work harder than ever to ensure people get the support they need.

All Tesco stores will run a winter food collection this year and most stores will run it this weekend.

Salisbury Foodbank has created small shopping lists of essential items they need this Christmas and they will be given out to shoppers around Tesco stores.

Foodbank shopping list (Image: Newsquest) Maria Stevenson said: "We need tinned meat and fish this year as well as tinned fruit and veg as these items can last a long time, so hopefully using these shopping lists will encourage customers to buy what we actually need rather than things like pasta, which we get loads of".

Anyone who donates at the Tesco Winter Collection will be helping ensure that Salisbury Foodbank can continue to provide warm, compassionate, practical support and advice this winter.