Co-op stores in Terrington St Clement and Dersingham join campaign to tackle holiday hunger

Central England Co-op stores in Terrington St Clement and Dersingham have joined a summer food appeal to tackle the problem of holiday hunger for children who don't receive school meals for several weeks.

The appeal runs for three months from June to August and customers are being asked to drop off one or more items, ranging from food to toiletries to help youngsters in need across the area.

After successful campaigns at Christmas and Easter collected over 85,000 items for food banks, Central England Co-op asked charities what was the biggest issue they faced during the summer months.

At least 85 per cent of food banks working with the Co-op said that there was a rise in demand from families who see the safety net of free school meals removed during the summer holidays.

According to End Child Poverty, more than 400,000 children across the retailer's trading estate of 16 counties, risk facing holiday hunger this year.

Donations which are dropped off at the stores' collection points will be used to create either bigger food parcels for families with children or to provide special packed lunches for projects that tackle holiday hunger during the summertime.

Martyn Cheatle, Central England Co-operative Chief Executive, said: “We are proud to be able to support our food banks all year round and in the past few months have helped collect thousands of items to help people in need.

“We wanted to ensure that this great support continued and, after speaking to our food bank partners, knew that helping to tackle holiday hunger was the right thing to do.

“This summer we are appealing to our customers and members to support our campaign and help youngsters in need and their families so they don’t have to go without during the holidays.

“All we are asking is that people drop off one or more items into our food banks this summer and help make a real difference.”

Items that can be donated include shopping basket staples from tea,sugar and cereals to other essentials such as toiletries and hygiene products

Central England Co-operative has permanent food bank collection points in hundreds of its stores all year, which have resulted in thousands of people every month from Birmingham to Norfolk having enough food to cook meals.

The Society works with over 50 different food banks to provide emergency food and support to individuals and families in crisis throughout the year.