Asda launches national food drive calling on customers to help people struggling with food essentials

Asda has launched a national food drive calling on generous customers to help people struggling with food essentials across the country.

With many people struggling to provide for their families, 382 Asda stores will take part in the month-long food drive in May, as the retailer encourages customers to donate vital food and hygiene essentials to support their community.

The food drive is part of Asda’s Fight Hunger Create Change partnership with leading charities, FareShare and the Trussell Trust, as the retailer continues to provide ongoing support to help meet the increased pressures the charities face.

Between 1 April 2020 and 31 March 2021, a record 2.5 million emergency food parcels were given to people in crisis by food banks in the Trussell Trust’s network, a 33% increase in need on the previous year, with almost a million of these parcels going to children.

Over 278,000 meals were donated throughout the month-long food drive in July last year, as customers and colleagues responded positively to new signposting in store, which indicated the items most needed by their local food bank.

Jo Warner, Asda’s Senior Director for Community said:

“As the impact of the pandemic continues to be felt in communities across the UK, families are struggling to access basic items like food and hygiene products. Our stores have permanent collection points year-round, but over the next month our aim is to boost the number of donations as we support our charity partners managing an increased need for emergency food parcels.

“I’m always overwhelmed by the generosity of our customers and colleagues, I wanted to thank them for continuing to support our Fight Hunger Create Change programme. It’s making a real difference to the families in their local communities, both in terms of providing much needed emergency support as well as longer term help through our funding of trained advisors on the ground helping people out of the situation they find themselves in.”

As part of the Fight Hunger Create Change partnership, Asda has been able to support more than 1 million people over three years by providing fresh food and access to support services to help people in crisis get out of the situation they find themselves in.

Through the £25 million donation Asda has made to its charity partners over the past 3 years, £5.7 million has been granted to food banks in the Trussell Trust’s network to provide services such as finance and debt advice.

Since 2018, Asda have enabled 100 million meals to be donated to people in crisis through building more capacity for their partner charities, donations from Asda depots and stores, and Covid-19 support to get more food to people during the pandemic.

Emma Revie, chief executive of the Trussell Trust, said:

“So many people are struggling to put food on the table right now as the pandemic continues to affect many people’s lives. We would like to thank our partners Asda for creating this food drive which will help thousands of families facing crisis. We are always staggered by the generosity of the public which always rallies to support people in need. Everyone should be able to afford the essentials – that’s why we’re working with Asda to create a hunger free future without the need for food banks.”