MORE THAN 50,000 meals worth of food was given to Gwent charities after shoppers got on board with a supermarket campaign.

FareShare handed over 56,629 meals worth of food to 43 charities in Gwent after Tesco shoppers bought fruit and vegetables last summer.

In total 2,212 meals worth of food was given to three charities in Blaenau Gwent; 15 charities benefitted from a combined 20,585 meals-worth of food; and one charity in Monmouthshire was given 839 meals-worth of food.

Twelve charities in Newport benefitted from 18,986 meals-worth of food and 14,032 meals-worth was given to 12 charities in Torfaen.

The food was given to the charities by FareShare after Tesco’s ‘buy one to help a child’ event.

What is the ‘buy one to help a child’ event?

‘Buy one to help a child’ is an event run by Tesco to help provide food for foodbanks across the country. When customers buy fruit and vegetables in store or online between certain sates, Tesco will give a donation to FareShare which will allow the charity to provide donations to other charities throughout Wales.

Last summer, the event saw more than three million meals worth of food given to FareShare through the scheme. The food was then given out to charities across the UK for children and families to be able to have the food they need – through food parcels, snacks at holiday and breakfast clubs and providing ingredients to community kitchens.

Across Wales, 195,906 meals-worth of food was given to 188 charities.

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How can you get involved?

Tesco will be running the ‘buy one to help a child’ scheme from Monday, March 21 to Sunday, April 3. For every fruit or vegetable product bought in Tesco stores or online at Tesco.com during this period, Tesco will provide a donation to FareShare which will then be redistributed to charities as food items.

Sarah Germain, CEO of FareShare Cymru said: “The Tesco buy one to help a child campaign makes such a difference to us because it helps us to support children and families in South Wales during the school holidays.

“Supporting the needs of children early in their life is very important to FareShare as we see what a difference access to healthy food can make in young people’s lives. In our tenth year of partnership, we are very grateful for Tesco and their ongoing commitment to help FareShare redistribute good to eat food to thousands of charities across the UK.”

Tesco UK and ROI CEO, Jason Tarry, said: “FareShare do amazing work supporting frontline charities, and the food they distribute is making a real difference to young people and families in every part of the UK.

“Every time Tesco customers put a piece of fruit in their basket until Sunday, April 3, Tesco will make a donation to FareShare, giving a little extra help to support them in their vital work, ensuring even more children can enjoy healthy and nutritious food.”