The Tesco grant helps support vulnerable people in Cornwall

A charity supporting people in Cornwall experiencing food poverty is celebrating this week after receiving a much-needed grant.

For the past two years, the FareShare South West depot has received free surplus food from organizations such as Tesco and made it available to local people to ensure families don’t go without.

However, with the cost of living crisis affecting more people, the need for FareShare South West support is growing.

In the past year, 22 different charities, schools and community groups in Cornwall have received over 233 tonnes of food – enough for over 553,000 meals.

That’s why FareShare South West applied for funding from Tesco’s Stronger Starts scheme, which awards grants to charities and community organizations that make a positive difference to the lives of local people. The charity’s application was successful, winning it a £1,500 grant.

Lucy Bearn, chief executive at FareShare South West, said: “We are very grateful to Tesco for this funding. FareShare South West has grown by 500% in recent years in response to demand due to the pandemic and cost of living crisis, so support from Tesco Stronger Starts grants has been essential.

“We support organizations across Cornwall such as school breakfast clubs, community kitchens and homeless shelters that provide full support to people struggling to get by.

“With healthy food now three times more expensive per calorie than unhealthy food, many families cannot access enough fresh, nutritious ingredients to truly thrive.

“At the same time, six million tonnes of perfectly good, quality food is still sent to waste in the UK every year, creating a huge impact on the environment.

“We source tons of surplus good-to-eat food from industry and share it with over 400 charities, schools and community groups that alleviate poverty. Simply put, we turn an environmental problem into a social solution.”

The Stronger Starts scheme, in partnership with the charity Groundwork, aims to support many community projects and good causes in Cornwall over the coming years, with thousands of pounds to give away.

Claire De Silva, Head of Community at Tesco, said: “We’re delighted to be able to help groups and charities like FareShare South West. Stronger Starts invites our customers to use their blue tokens to vote for local schemes they think will benefit children and young people and it’s so good to see the impact the funding is having.”

Cornish shoppers can support their local school and children’s groups by dropping the blue Tesco token they receive at the checkout into the relevant ballot box when they leave the store.