Long Eaton charity links with Tesco stores to support local community

People in Long Eaton are receiving nutritious food from Tesco stores thanks to the tireless work of Hope Long Eaton.

The charity provides free surplus food from Nottingham Toton Tesco Extra and makes it available to people in Long Eaton, supporting families in need. 

Hope Long Eaton receives food as part of the Community Food Connection surplus food scheme, which involves local Tesco stores and food surplus redistribution charity FareShare. 

The Community Food Connection scheme ensures that surplus food from Tesco is given to charities and community groups, whose volunteer members then distribute it to the public. Across the UK it redistributes 2 million meals each month.

Carl McCarthy, project director at Hope Long Eaton, said: “We are incredibly grateful for the ongoing support we receive from Nottingham Toton Tesco Extra through their partnership with FareShare. For around four years, we’ve been collecting food from the wonderful team at the Toton store. These food items make a significant difference, reaching over 250 people in our community each week.

“The food we receive is used in a variety of impactful ways – from distributing it at our toddler group and during family activities, to incorporating it into our foodbox scheme and supporting our free community café. Additionally, we share some of the food with the local foodbank to extend the impact even further.

“The fresh fruit and vegetables are especially valuable, encouraging healthier eating habits among our service users, many of whom wouldn’t normally buy such items. The gluten-free products are also a huge blessing, given how expensive they can be. We are deeply thankful to Tesco, FareShare, and their incredible staff for helping us spread hope and provide such valuable support to our community.”

Claire De Silva, Tesco Head of Community, said: “Working with community groups such as Hope Long Eaton to help them get the food they need is such an important service for us to be able to provide. The dedication they have to their community is amazing, and we are pleased to do what we can to support.

“We firmly believe no good food should go to waste, which is why we began our Community Food Connection scheme. It enables us to ensure our surplus food is put to good use in communities.”

FareShare is the UK’s biggest charity fighting hunger and food waste. Two-thirds of the organisations it provides food to support children and families.

Katie Sadler, Head of FareShare Go, said: “The food that Tesco redistributes through FareShare makes a huge difference to people facing food insecurity across the UK. 

“We work with thousands of charities and community groups providing essential support to their communities, and receiving a steady stream of food helps them to feed the people who need it most.”

Charities and community groups that could benefit from the support of the Community Food Connection scheme can find further information by clicking on this link.