Volunteers are being sought in Gloucester to help two leading charities support children and families this summer.

From 15-17 July, charities FareShare and the Trussell Trust will be collecting long-life food in Tesco’s large Gloucester stores as part of a special Food Collection to support children and families throughout the summer holidays.

Food donated by Tesco customers during the collection will go to support food banks in the Trussell Trust’s network and to local charities supplied by FareShare, including holiday clubs providing healthy meals and activities to youngsters outside of term-time.

Tesco will once again top up customer donations made in store by 20% in cash to aid the two charities in their work.

Gloucester volunteers are needed to encourage shoppers to leave their donations in the collection point at the front of stores, as shoppers are more likely to donate if volunteers are present, and to spread awareness of the collection through social media. The appeal for volunteers comes ahead of Volunteers Week, which celebrates the work of volunteers in the UK.

Julian Mines, CEO at FareShare South West, said: “More people than ever are struggling to put food on the table and will do for months if not years to come as the economy recovers. We have seen a huge increase in people turning to their local grassroots community groups for support and demand for food remains high.

“We would be incredibly grateful to anyone who is able to volunteer just two hours of their time this year to encourage more shoppers to donate much needed long-life food to those who need it most.”

Emma Revie, chief executive of the Trussell Trust, urged others to give their support by becoming digital volunteers and spreading news of the collection via social media.

She added: “We’re seeing more people than ever struggling in extreme poverty and pushed to the doors of food banks because they do not have enough money to survive. This isn’t right. But over the last year, we have been overwhelmed by the support people in Gloucester have shown towards food banks in our network by donating food at Tesco.

“This summer, we would be so grateful if people can share shopping lists of their local food bank’s most-needed items on their social media, support the Tesco Summer Food Collection when they are next in store, and encourage friends and family to donate. Together we can make a difference and work towards building a hunger free future.”

The summer collection is in addition to the pre-Christmas Tesco Food Collection, which takes place annually at the end of November. It is the second year running that Tesco has run a summer Food Collection; following on from a special collection held last summer as the charities were faced with a rise in need caused by Covid-19.

To find out more about volunteering during the Tesco Food Collection and to sign up visit: fareshare.org.uk/foodcollection/