Cornwall Tesco shoppers have been their most generous ever in support of foodbanks and local charities, helping to make it a record-breaking year.

The total amount of food donated by Tesco shoppers to the Trussell Trust and FareShare during 2022 was equivalent of 12.5 million meals – 204,138 of which came from Cornwall.

Jason Tarry, Tesco UK and Northern Ireland CEO, said: “Our customers have always amazed us with their generosity, this year more than ever. We know that household budgets are very stretched, but our customers have been incredible.

“We had people donating whole trollies of food at our recent Tesco Food Collection, and it is genuinely heart-warming to see so much kindness. The fact that we now have collection points in every store has made it easier than ever for customers to donate, and those donations are really needed.”

Tesco customers in Cornwall donated 34,237 meals during the winter Food Collection at the beginning of December. Tesco also donates its unsold food to FareShare and, including those donations, more than 39 million meals have been provided by the supermarket in the past year.

Gene Joyner, CEO at FareShare South West, said: “We want to say an enormous thank you to Tesco, and every single person that volunteered and donated across the year and at the Winter Food Collection – we had more than 2,000 amazing volunteers join us in stores this year.

“Our charities have told us how difficult things have become as a result of the cost-of-living crisis, with many expecting to see a huge increase in need as the weather gets even colder. The support we have seen from people at the collections and throughout 2022, in both time and donations, will help FareShare to continue getting much needed food to the people that need it most this winter.”