Shoppers donate 10 trolleys of groceries to foodbank

Volunteers for the West Berkshire foodbank joined Sainsbury’s colleagues to collect donations at the Newbury supermarket on Saturday 10 August.

Volunteers spent the day collecting donations from customers at Sainsbury’s Newbury. Special shopping lists were handed out highlighting the items that were needed to boost supplies at the foodbank warehouse. A total of 10 trolleys full of items were collected on the day, along with £60.54 of cash donations.

“The generosity of customers was phenomenal”, said foodbank trustee Ian Grose, “and the food collected will make a huge difference to local people in need. The foodbank has already provided food for over 6000 mealtimes for residents in West Berkshire and North Hampshire, and the food collected from Sainsbury’s will enable the foodbank to provide thousands more, and to meet the ever-increasing demand for support from the foodbank in our area.”

Ian continues “All at West Berkshire foodbank would like to say a big thank you to the staff at Sainsbury’s – we were made very welcome, and we look forward to working with them again in the future.  Sainsbury’s have been kind enough to allow us to have a collection box in the store at all times, and people wishing to donate items to the foodbank are now able to do so at any time that the store is open.”

Sainsbury’s Newbury store manager Dene Burton added “Our customers are always very generous when asked to support local community appeals and we are very grateful for their support.”

The local food bank has run in West Berkshire since March 2013. All the food is donated by the public with the majority collected at churches and supermarkets, and it is used as soon as possible to help those in need. Sainsbury’s will be holding a further food drive on behalf of West Berks foodbank in December.