Generous shoppers across Scotland have donated essential food to local charities through Lidl GB’s ‘Teaming up to Tackle Hunger’ initiative.
Almost 40,000 packets of rice, tins of tuna, and cereal were accumulated for grassroots non-profit organisations the length and breadth of Scotland, in the five weeks approaching Christmas.
By scanning a flyer representing a staple product at the till, shoppers added funds to purchase one of five store cupboard essentials, with each donation matched by Lidl.
This month, Lidl processed the collaborative donations from its 105 Scottish stores with pallets of vital food ready to be distributed to 105 partnering charities across the country.
The initiative is in addition to Lidl’s ongoing partnership with Neighbourly through its ‘Feed it Back’ scheme, with the retailer donating surplus food from stores to local charities daily.
Through this, Lidl has donated over 785,000 meals to a network of 330 community partners across Scotland including food banks, community centres, soup kitchens and more.
Ross Millar, Lidl’s Regional Director for Scotland, said: “The success of the Teaming up to Tackle Hunger initiative is testament to our shoppers’ generosity and commitment to supporting their local communities.
“This new format for donating in-store has made contributing to charity easier. We are amazed by the contribution and what we can achieve together with our customers.”
Steve Butterworth, CEO at Neighbourly, said: “Since early 2020, requests for help from local charities and food banks have more than doubled, so it is really important that programmes like this continue to support isolated and vulnerable members of the community with food and basic essentials.
“Through the five weeks of the Tackle Hunger campaign, Lidl stores gave their customers the opportunity to make a huge difference to someone in their community during what has been an extremely tough time of year for many people.”
Customer donation boxes are also permanently available in store for customers who wish to continue to directly donate food and groceries to local causes.
Text ‘Food’ to 70007 to donate £3 to local charities. Find out more or donate online.
