Can you spare three hours to help fight food poverty next weekend?

A Preston based charity is looking for volunteers to help collect donations to holiday hunger schemes, food banks, refuges, hostels and hospices next weekend.

FareShare Lancashire and Cumbria needs volunteers as part of the Tesco Food Collection from Thursday 29 November to Saturday 1 December 2018.

The charity needs volunteers to encourage shoppers to donate vital donate store cupboard staples such as pasta, rice, tinned fish and tea. FareShare will then redistribute these – along with the surplus meat, dairy, fruit and veg that it receives from the food industry – to charities and community groups in the region, which often struggle with increased demand in cold winter months.

FareShare Manager Jeff Green said: “Taking part in the Tesco Food Collection is a quick and easy way to make a big impact, and it can be a lot of fun too.

“We’re calling on people from right across Lancashire and Cumbria to give just three hours to help us fight hunger – just a morning or afternoon – but in that short time, just 180 minutes, you can collect enough donations to make up 600 meals for local people who really need your help.”

Read more: Gifts needed to help Preston youngsters have a great Christmas

In partnership with FareShare and food bank charity The Trussell Trust, the Tesco Food Collection is the UK’s biggest food drive. Last year the public donated enough food to provide 3.6 million meals for vulnerable people across the UK.

Volunteers can sign up at the Fareshare website.

Read more: Preston food bank makes urgent appeal for new supplies