Tesco customers have been donating thousands of meals this summer to feed people living in food poverty.
Hounslow shoppers have given an incredible 29,724 meals during the sixth Neighbourhood Food Collection, while in Ealing 15,764 meals have been collected.
Both figures are each an increase of 13% compared to last summer’s collection in the two boroughs.
Over 9.6 tonnes of canned, dried and long-life food have been donated at the 15 Tesco stores across Hounslow, and in Ealing five tonnes have been gathered at the 13 stores in the area.
This includes a 30% ‘top up’ on all donations by Tesco, with all proceeds going to foodbank charity The Trussell Trust and food redistribution charity Fareshare.
The nationwide initiative, now in its fourth year, provides hot meals and food parcels to those living in food poverty, many of who are parents struggling with food costs due to lack of free school meals over the summer holidays.
The collection, which took place over three days last week, raised a total of 422,395 meals in in London.
Lindsay Boswell, CEO of FareShare, said: “Yet again we have been blown away by everyone’s generosity. We are very grateful to Tesco and their colleagues for hosting the event, our amazing volunteers and partner organisations across the country who selflessly gave up their time to help collect food donations to the great British public who responded so generously to the call for action.
"The food will now be redistributed to over 1,923 charities and community projects supported by FareShare, including play schemes supporting children and families over the holidays. The donations from this Neighbourhood Food Collection will make a huge difference to these organisations’ ability to not only serve nutritious meals for people in need but also to provide additional support to help people back on their feet.”
David McAuley, Trussell Trust chief executive, said: “ The donations will make a huge difference to foodbanks’ ability to not only provide a minimum of three days’ emergency food to people in need but also additional support to tackle the root causes of poverty.
“Since the Neighbourhood Food Collection inception in the summer of 2012 Tesco customers have donated over 27m meals to help feed people in crisis.”
