Plea for volunteers to help food banks by joining Tesco collections.

It takes place in all Tesco stores from November 30 to December 2 and the Trussell Trust and FareShare are urging volunteers to sign-up to support the event in store.

It comes as both charities face their busiest winter yet as more people turn to them for support. The Trussell Trust, which has the largest foodbank network in the UK, is expecting to distribute more than 1 million emergency food parcels between December and February, while FareShare has over 1500 frontline charities on its waiting list seeking food.

During the collection Tesco customers will be encouraged to donate long-life food to support the charities in their work. Donations for the Trussell Trust will help its network of food banks provide emergency food parcels to people who cannot afford the essentials, while donations to FareShare will get food to its network of 8500 local charities and community groups.

Tesco is calling on volunteers to staff collection points to raise awareness of the impact every donation will have on people across the UK, who rely on Trussell Trust and FareShare for food.

Donations are needed now more than ever, with one in five Trussell Trust food parcels coming from Tesco and its customers.

Trussell Trust chief executive Emma Revie said: “This winter is going to be the toughest yet for the food banks in our network as they will help approximately 600,000 people and provide an emergency parcel every eight seconds. If you can spare a few hours to volunteer then please do.”