Groups in plea for help

People in West Lothian are being urged to help the UK’s biggest food collection.

From November 21 to 23 the Trussell Trust and Fareshare will be collecting food in Tesco stores, including in Bathgate and Linlithgow.

During the collection customers are encouraged to donate long-life food to help foodbanks and community groups support people in need at Christmas.

Tesco will top up customer donations by 20 per cent

Last year 3.5 million meals were collected and since its launch in 2012 more than 50 million meals have been donated to the two charities by generous Tesco customers.

To make this year’s collection a success volunteers are needed to hand out shopping lists to customers and to encourage people to donate.

Emma Revie from The Trussell Trust said: “No one should need a foodbank at any time of year but we know during the lead-up to Christmas our network of foodbanks see even more people needing help.

“The more people who volunteer, the more food will be collected and the better prepared foodbanks will be to help local people.”

Farihah Choudhury said: “I loved volunteering last year It was great to speak with shoppers donating food. The kindness I saw was wonderful and gave me a lot of hope.

“I believe everyone should have access to good, healthy food and I’d encourage anyone who can to give some time to help stop people going hungry this Christmas.”

Anyone interested in volunteering can find out more at www.fareshare/tescofoodcollection.