Andover Foodbank: 3.7 tonnes of donations given by shoppers

The charity said that 3.7 tonnes of food, toiletries and household essentials were generously donated by Tesco customers. It is the most successful Christmas food collection the foodbank has ever done.

The foodbank was helped by numerous volunteers during their stay with performances including the choirs of Knights Enham Junior School and Vigo Primary School and pupils from Andover Church of England Primary School and Endeavour Primary School who helped to hand out shopping lists to customers.

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Chloe Roberts, head of Andover Foodbank, said: “It has been a busy year for the Andover Foodbank. The local community have continued to be generous but unfortunately, we have given out more food than we received. We urgently needed to replenish our warehouse and we collected a lot of food that will go a long way to filling our deficit. Our time at Tesco was fantastic, especially with the choirs singing carols and help from the schoolchildren. They created a happy festive atmosphere and the customers thoroughly enjoyed their singing.  We are grateful for every donation – each one will help us to provide food for local residents who cannot afford the essentials this winter.”

Chloe added: “A big thank you to every person who donated. Every tin and packet you gave will be used to help someone in crisis.  We also want to thank everyone involved in the collection, the schools, our team of volunteers who helped in-store, our volunteer drivers who collected the food and the Tesco staff who were friendly and welcoming throughout.”

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The donated food was transported back to the foodbank in 294 packing crates which now have to be weighed and sorted.  32nd Regiment Royal Artillery were dropping off a donation at the Alexandra Road warehouse on Monday and were asked to help by the team.  They kindly stepped in to assist with the heavy lifting and made light work of processing some of the load. The team at the foodbank would like to pass on their thanks for pitching in at just the right moment.

Andover Foodbank was started in March 2006 to provide emergency food for people in crisis in and around Andover.  

The list of items to donate and further information on Andover Foodbank can be found at trusselltrust.org/get-involved/ways-to-give/donate-food.