A PARTNERSHIP between Tesco and a national charity aims to help make sure that people can put food on the dinner table.

Shoppers in Haddington can now donate food to help people in their community when they visit their local supermarket.

A new collection point has been set up at the store.

It comes as Tesco installs donation points at every one of its large stores in the UK to help food charities in their work.

The new donation point means that shoppers can drop off donations of long-life food whenever they are in store, with Tesco topping up customer donations by an additional 20 per cent in the form of a cash donation to the charity.

The customer donations will help the Trussell Trust – which runs East Lothian Foodbank – in its efforts to support people in Haddington, with regular donations needed more than ever due to the pressure placed on the charity by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Tesco previously had food donation points at more than 500 stores but, with the installation of new units, it will now have a donation point for either a Trussell Trust foodbank or for food redistribution charity FareShare at every one of its 800-plus large stores in the UK.

Laura Ferguson, the Trussell Trust’s area manager for Scotland, said: “The generosity of people in Haddington to foodbanks is truly humbling and, thanks to a new donation point at Tesco Haddington, shoppers can now donate food and support local people in crisis all year round.

“We’ve seen incredible compassion and concern for people facing hunger over the last year so we’d encourage Tesco shoppers to check what items their local foodbank is most in need of to help make a difference in their community.

“Together, we can build a hunger-free future.”