Tag: Tesco

Still time to donate food at Tesco

There’s still time to donate food items to support Tesco’s Neighbourhood Food Challenge.

food collectionTesco is hosting a nationwide food collection from 3 – 5 July with foodbank charity  Trussell Trust and food redistribution charity FareShare, and the group hopes that customers and colleagues will collect five million meals for people in need.

This is Tesco’s fourth Neighbourhood Food Collection since the initiative was launched in December 2012. So far they have collected 10 million meals for people in need around the UK with the last collection in December 2013 achieving 4.3 million donated meals.

Tesco will also be topping up total donations by a further 30%.

This weekend has been chosen because Tesco research found that “people are usually less generous in the Summer months than at other times of the year”. Only 7% of people surveyed said that they were at their most charitable during the Summer – yet many low-income families find the summer particularly hard as children no longer benefit from free school meals.

In July and August last year Trussell Trust foodbanks alone gave emergency food to 133,539 people, including 47,639 children. The charity expects demand to be higher this Summer.

Thousands of volunteers from the Trussell Trust and the FareShare network are involved over the weekend campaign, as will hundreds of volunteers from the British Red Cross. FareShare will distribute some of the donated food to some of the other 1,290 charities that it supports.

Lindsay Boswell, CEO of FareShare said: “As the research shows, people are more generous at Christmas when it’s easier to remember those in need. However, we are urging people to give generously once more and not forget that the summer is also a difficult time for many as they struggle to provide for their families during the long break”.

 

Tesco raises £11.85 million for Cancer Research UK

Tesco staff and customers have raised £11.85 million in one year for Cancer Research UK, its charity of the year. The money was raised by staff, customers and suppliers at more than 3,000 stories, offices and distribution centres across the UK, and according to Tesco this is the largest amount ever raised by a business and charity partnership in one year.

Fundraising activities included:
  • treks by Tesco staff members to Everest base camp and the Sahara, which together raised over £191,000
  • a festive-themed ‘Cycle to Lapland’ static bike ride in Tesco stores which raised more than £1 million over one weekend
  • competitions inspired by TV programmes including ‘Tesco Does Strictly’ and ‘Tesco Distribution’s Got Talent’ which raised more than £68,000

In-store fundraising activities by Tesco included a donation of 0.0125p from Tesco Personal Finance PLC every time a cash machine was used at Tesco until 29 February 2013, and promotions that encouraged Clubcard customers to donate their points to the charity.

The store that raised the most money was Tesco Extra in Dundee, which raised £22,000.

The funds raised are being used for 32 early diagnosis and detection research projects helping to ensure more people receive treatment at a time when it is more likely to be successful.

During the partnership Tesco also helped Cancer Research UK raise awareness of the early signs and symptoms of cancer. Eight million health information leaflets were placed at store checkouts.

Richard Taylor, Cancer Research UK Executive Director of Fundraising and Marketing, said: “Tesco staff, customers and suppliers have gone above and beyond to raise a record-breaking amount of money for our lifesaving work over the past year. The dedication they have put into raising vital funds to help improve the early diagnosis and detection of cancer particularly during a time of economic uncertainty has been truly inspiring.”

Since 1988 Tesco has chosen a different charity every year to benefit from staff and customer fundraising. The company’s Charity Trust tops up staff fundrasing by 20% up to a maximum of £500,000.

Last month Tesco announced that Diabetes UK will be it’s next charity of the year.

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