THOUSANDS of meals have been donated to food banks thanks to the generosity of Abergele residents.

Shoppers in the town donated 3,796 meals to people in crisis as part of the overall total of 2.5 million meals donated to charities the Trussell Trust and FareShare by shoppers during last month’s Tesco Food Collection.

The Tesco Food Collection ran in all Tesco stores in the UK from Thursday, November 21 to Saturday 23, seeing the supermarket topping up the value of all the donations by an additional 20 percent.

Tesco director Christine Heffernan thanked customers for their donations. “On my visits to stores during the Collection I was taken aback by the generosity of our customers,” she said. “I would like to thank all those who donated and we will be doing our bit by topping up all the donations by 20 percent.”

The Trussell Trust’s Chief Executive Emma Revie also thanked customers. “Food banks up and down the country could not do what they do without the incredible support of the public and their loyal volunteers who work tirelessly to help people when they need support the most,” she said. “An emergency food parcel, listening ear and compassionate, practical advice at the food bank can make a real difference when someone is facing a crisis. Any donations help make that difference.”

The donations to food banks in the Trussell Trust’s network are being used to provide food parcels for people in crisis, with services in Conwy and Denbighshire including the Abergele District Foodbank on Bridge Street, the Rhy;l Foodbank at the Christian Centre on Sussex Street and the Prestatyn & Meliden Foodbank at the Alive Church on Victoria Road.

Donations to FareShare are redistributed to charities and community groups around the UK such as homeless shelters and older people’s lunch clubs who also receive surplus food from Tesco stores.

Lindsay Boswell, Chief Executive at FareShare, added: “We are hugely grateful to every single person who volunteered and donated items during this year’s Tesco Food Collection - it was wonderful to see so many passionate people lending a hand to support us. All items donated by Tesco customers will be redistributed by FareShare to charities and community organisations and will help to ensure more people get a hot, nutritious meal.”

For more information on food bank services offered in the area by the Trussell Trust, visit trusselltrust.org.