TESCO shoppers in Redditch have been praised for their generosity after donating food to children and families this summer.

Thanks to their donations during the supermarket's summer Tesco Food Collection, 1,391 meals were donated by customers in Redditch as part of a UK-wide total of 900,000 meals-worth of food collected for distribution by the Trussell Trust and FareShare.

The food collected will help the Trussell Trust provide emergency food parcels to families in crisis and help FareShare support thousands of frontline groups working to feed children and families across the country.

Tesco has topped up all the customer donations with an extra 20% in cash to help the charities.

Simone Connolly, director at FareShare Midlands said: “We are incredibly grateful to everyone who volunteered and every customer who donated items during this year’s Tesco Summer Food Collection. It was wonderful to see so many passionate people lending a hand to support.

"The donations we receive through the food collection are vital and will be redistributed by FareShare to charities and community organisations working with people in Redditch.”

Emma Revie, chief executive at the Trussell Trust added: “Thanks to the incredible compassion and generosity of Tesco customers during the Tesco Summer Food Collection, food banks in our network have been able to offer emergency food parcels to thousands of families in crisis throughout the summer months, while we work in the long term to build a hunger free future. 

“We have been truly humbled to see how much people have been willing to give to food banks this summer, as our nationwide network of food banks do all they can to help families meet the extra financial pressures of the holiday period.”

The summer event was held in addition to the annual pre-Christmas Tesco Food Collection.

Customers can continue to support FareShare and the Trussell Trust by donating at permanent collection points at all large Tesco stores.