A DORCHESTER group which provides food to vulnerable families has been aided by donations from Tesco.

The Food Share community group, an initiative run by Dorchester Community Church, has seen the demand for its services increase dramatically in the midst of the coronavirus crisis.

For the past three years the Food Share has been distributing food parcels to those most in need. They provide local families and individuals with both locally grown produce and donations from Tesco, through their community food connection scheme, run in conjunction with national charity FareShare.

The coronavirus crisis has led to a rise in the need for food parcels in the local area. Prior to the outbreak, there were 50 children amongst the families Food Share were donating to, this has since risen to 160.

In response to this, the group has increased the amount of donations from one day per week to six days per week, being heavily supported by Tesco in order to achieve this.

Liz Meech of Food Share said: “We want to give a heartfelt thank you to all of the Tesco staff who have gone above and beyond the call of duty in recent weeks. 

“Those at the Dorchester store did all they could to help us with donations during the panic-buying stage and since then we have received some wonderful contributions.

“Every time we receive food which can be added to our parcels, it enables us to spread our finite funding over a longer period and to maintain our increased delivery for the foreseeable future.”

Tesco is providing an additional £15 million worth of food across the country throughout the coronavirus crisis, to support charities supplied by FareShare and food banks that are part of the Trussell Trust’s network.

This is part of a £30 million package of support from the supermarket to aid charities and voluntary groups in response to the crisis.

For more information or to provide a donation to Food Share, visit www.dorchestercommunitychurch.org.uk/ministries/food-share.