Halifax adults with learning disabilities given extra support thanks to Tesco

Charity group, Skillshop, uses donations from Tesco’s CFC scheme, run in partnership with FareShare, to provide hearty meals for members of the community with learning difficulties in Halifax.

Simone Wilkinson, Centre Manager of Skillshop, said: “The food donations through Tesco’s Community Food Connection scheme helps us a great deal in providing meals to adults with learning disabilities across Halifax. We have more than 40 members of the community attend our centre throughout the week, as well as the functions and events we put on.

“We aim to improve our members’ self-esteem, confidence and personal development, whilst breaking down social isolation in the area. We all come together at meal times to help our members integrate with staff and one another.

“The donations have really helped to reduce the cost of our weekly shop. We use the items towards a variety of hearty, nutritious meals, to be used either the day we receive them or later on in the week.”

Simone concluded: “The donations from Tesco are such a fantastic resource for our scheme. We collect them up to seven times a week and our members are always interested to know what we’ve got on the menu each day.”

Tesco’s Community Food Connection has donated surplus food to more than 7,000 charities and community groups. The scheme pairs Tesco stores with charities and community groups by using a mobile app to alert them about available unsold surplus food items.

This food is then collected by charities and supplied to people in need, ensuring that no good food goes to waste.

Nicola MacKay, Community Food Programmes Manager for Tesco, said: “We are proud to work with Skillshop, whose dedication to the community is amazing. They have already helped so many people, and we are so pleased to be working with them to assist even more people in need.”

FareShare Chief Executive Lindsay Boswell, said: “The food that Tesco donates makes a really big difference to local charities and community groups across the UK. We are proud to have been able to work with Tesco over the past four years to create this pioneering scheme, which is the biggest of its kind in the UK.”