‘We want to help the whole family’
OR DECADES BEEN SUPPORTING PRESCHOOL CHILDREN WITH COMPLEX NEEDS; NOW FARESHARE AND TESCO ARE HELPING IT TO FEED FAMILIES…
Tesco is doing its bit to fight hunger at the heart of local communities across Britain this spring with its Buy One to Help A Child campaign.
Every time you buy fresh fruit and vegetables in-store or at tesco. com between March 21 and April 3, the supermarket is pledging to make a donation to FareShare, the charity network it has partnered with for the past decade. This means you’ll be helping vulnerable children and families in your local area.
As the UK’s national network of charitable food distributors, FareShare ensures that good-quality surplus food from businesses, including Tesco, is passed on to more than 10,500 frontline charities and community groups. This results in two million nourishing meals every week going to people in communities across the UK.
Located in beautiful grounds in the Gloucestershire market town, an independent charity, established in 1973, that works hard to provide enriching, child-centred learning to preschool children with additional and complex needs.
The specialist setting includes a soft-play room and therapy room, a forest school plus dedicated expert staff who deliver stimulating experiences to children and vital support for their families. Since 2016, this has included a food-provision service, with assistance from FareShare Gloucestershire.
NUTRITIONAL NEEDS
Food poverty is a big issue in the community, but Cirencester Oppor
tunity Group knows just how children to receive nutritious meals, and with assistance from FareShare and Tesco, it is helping people to thrive.
“We do a free twocourse lunch for all the children,” says Stephanie Smyth, charity fundraiser at the organisation. “We don’t want them to miss out nutritionally because their families can’t afford it. We support children with additional needs, specifically those who have grown up in situations where they have a learning disadvantage because of a family circumstance or a developmental delay.
“Our preschool and nursery support child development, as well as our parent-toddler outreach programme that supports families with bonding and attachment issues. We want to help the whole family.”
Beyond providing fresh, wholesome meals for children, the charity also uses food as a medium for learning. “We also cook with the children,” Stephanie explains.
“Many of the children we look after have food-sensory issues, meaning they can be suspicious about certain textures and tastes. To cope at home, parents often end up using a limited menu, meaning the children don’t want to try different foods. We do as much as we can to “We also support the children by helping them learn to sit at the table and share a meal with their friends. It’s very powerful because when we get a breakthrough the parents are so grateful, because they can now sit down and enjoy a meal as a family.”
When we get a breakthrough the children’s parents are so grateful STEPHANIE SMYTH, CHARITY FUNDRAISER, CIRENCESTER OPPORTUNITY GROUP
GRATITUDE
The partnership between Tesco and FareShare has been ongoing for the past decade. FareShare CEO Lindsay Boswell says Tesco’s donation will make a real difference to frontline charities working with children, and thanks Tesco customers for their support.
“The Buy One to Help A Child campaign makes such a difference to us at FareShare in Gloucestershire,” says Lindsay. “It helps us to support children and families from this area during the school holidays. “In this, our 10th year of partnership with Tesco, we are very grateful for its ongoing commitment to help FareShare redistribute food to thousands of charities across the UK.”