Volunteers needed in the Lancashire region

Do you remember at the very start of the pandemic people were panic buying in supermarkets. If shoppers came first thing in the morning there was a high chance all the toilet rolls would be gone by teatime. But you may have also noticed individuals who were previously retired, returning  to work to give up their time in order to be at the forefront of the crisis. 

 

A similar act of solidarity is taking place now, the only difference is that  it takes the role of a volunteer to care for the community. 

 

Residents of Preston and Lancashire are being asked to volunteer to help two leading charities support children and families this summer. 

 

Next month - Thursday 15th July - Saturday 17th July the charities FareShare and the Trussell Trust will be collecting long life food in Tesco stores throughout the UK. 

 

Food donated By Tesco customers throughout the collection will go towards food banks in the Trussell Trust’s network as well as local charities supplied by FareShare this covers holiday clubs which provide healthy meals and activities to youngsters outside of term-time. 

 

Jeff Green, Development Manager at FareShare Lancashire and Cumbria confirmed the state of play when it comes to providing for the family, 

 

“ 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”. 

 

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

 

Volunteers will be crucial in the Tesco stores. They will be trained to encourage shoppers to leave their donations in the collection point at the front of the stores. This will move shoppers to donate if the volunteer is present. The appeal for volunteers comes ahead of Volunteers Week which celebrates the philanthropic work volunteers kindly carry out throughout the UK. 

 

This marks the second year Tesco has run the summer food collection, following on from a special collection held last year in response to the outbreak of the pandemic. 

Jeff has these persuasive words of joy for anyone considering about getting involved, 

 

“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”.

 

To find out more about volunteering during the Tesco Food Collection and to sign up simply visit the following website link:-https://fareshare.org.uk/foodcollection/

 

Together we can help each other. 

 

^Alex Ashworth CCG UK Blogger.