FareShare Sussex and Surrey is urging volunteers to come and join the charity’s biggest Tesco Food Collection yet to help smash a 20-tonne food donation record next month.
The charity aims to station more than 320 volunteers across nine Tesco stores in Sussex and Surrey from Thursday 27 November to Saturday 29 November.
The aim is for volunteers to greet customers and encourage them to donate food for those who are going hungry.
FareShare Sussex and Surrey rescues surplus, good-to-eat food from businesses, supermarkets, manufacturers and farms.
Instead of going to waste, the food is redistributed to day centres, schools, shelters, refuges, community fridges and other frontline organisations across the two counties.
The charity plans to collect the equivalent of 2,000 supermarket trolleys’ worth of food donations next month which will be used to support deprived communities across the area this winter and beyond.
The participating stores are in Hove, Portslade, Shoreham, Lewes, Burgess Hill, Crawley Hazelwick and Gatwick, in Sussex, and stores in Guildford and Haslemere, in Surrey.
FareShare said: “Food poverty and demand for emergency food remains alarmingly high in both counties.
“According to the Trussel Trust, more than 311,000 emergency food parcels were distributed across the south east between April 2024 and March 2025.
“This marked a 56 per cent increase over the past five years, with the most support going to families with children.
FareShare Sussex and Surrey chief executive Dan Slatter said: “We are seeing a growing number of people in need of support, particularly during the winter months as energy bills rise and food costs are the highest they have been in years.
“The vital work we do to support those in need would not be possible without our wonderful volunteers whose kindness and energy make a real difference to the communities we work with.”
FareShare Sussex and Surrey volunteer manager Emma Selby said: “Volunteers make an incredible difference. When they are in store, customers are four times more likely to donate.”
Volunteers are encouraged to sign up with family, friends or colleagues and can choose from four three-hour shifts between 9am and 9pm over the three-day collection period.
Last year, more than 175 volunteers helped the charity exceed its 18-tonne target, collecting a record 20 tonnes of food.
FareShare Sussex and Surrey rescues and redistributes surplus food to 248 local organisations across the counties, helping to combat hunger, prevent waste and reduce carbon emissions at the same time.
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