Customers at a Brighton supermarket donated more than one and a quarter tonnes of food to charity over just one weekend.
Sainsbury’s in Lewes Road joined forces with the charity FareShare and has started distributing the donations through organisations such as the Fresh Start Community Association, which is also in Lewes Road, Brighton,
Fresh Start runs various projects with marginalised groups, including a day centre, drop-in service and an out-of-school club.
They provide a cooked meal on site at every group gathering and encourage healthy eating with food support bags for struggling families.
Lindsay Boswell, chief executive of FareShare, said: “At a time of severe economic hardship, we are seeing unprecedented and increasing demand for food donations.
“Donating over one and a quarter tonnes of food is a fantastic gesture from the people of Brighton.
“They have helped us to provide food for even more of the area’s vulnerable people and we’d like to say thank you for all the help we have received through this trial with Sainsbury’s.”
FareShare has been working the supermarket chain since 1994, making use of perishable food rather than see it thrown away.
This is the first time that FareShare has asked customers for donations and – over from Friday 8 July to Sunday 10 July – they didn’t disappoint.
Customers were invited to choose from a variety of suggested items, with the focus on store cupboard products as Sainsbury’s already donates fresh, perishable food.
Food was collected at the tills by FareShare volunteers, and transported back to the charity’s Brighton depot.
Tim Maginnis, the manager of Sainsbury’s in Lewes Road, said: “We’d like to thank our customers for the generosity, which made this food drive such a success.
“Many of the region’s most vulnerable people will now benefit from high-quality nutritious meals provided by FareShare.
“With 40 per cent of food donation charities struggling to meet demand, it is more important than ever that we do all we can to support causes such as this.”
FareShare worked with 18 other stores across the country over the same weekend and collected more than 25 tonnes in total.
The food will be distributed to about 700 homeless shelters, community centres and schools.
