With food banks and charities facing continued high levels of need this winter, people are being urged to give the gift of their time to take part in the UK’s biggest food donation drive.

Now in its 13th year, the Tesco Winter Food Collection is taking place in all Tesco stores from November 27th to November 29th. Tesco’s charity partners, Trussell and FareShare, are calling for volunteers to sign-up to support the event in store as both charities are providing a lifeline in response to high levels of need.

During the collection Tesco customers will be encouraged to donate long-life food to support the charities in their work. Donations for Trussell will help its community of food banks provide emergency food parcels to people who cannot afford the essentials, while donations to FareShare will support its network of 8,000 local charities and community groups helping to feed people in local communities across the UK.

Volunteers will help out at collection points in Tesco stores to raise awareness of the impact every single donation will have on people across the UK, who rely on Trussell and FareShare for food.

Donations are needed now more than ever, with one in five Trussell food parcels coming from Tesco and its customers.

Claire De Silva, Head of Community at Tesco, said: “Every year our Winter Food Collection gets such an amazing response from our customers. Volunteers in store have a real impact on the amount of donations and help encourage customers to give much needed long life food items tailored to every area of the UK.”

Kris Gibbon Walsh, CEO at FareShare added: “Food from FareShare reaches a network of over 8,000 charities across the UK, enabling them to provide food support alongside access to other vital services .”

You can sign up to volunteer in your local Tesco store with FareShare at https://fareshare.org.uk/foodcollection/ or with Trussell at https://www.trussell.org.uk/support-us/tesco-food-collection