Sainsbury’s is donating £3 million to fighting food poverty this Christmas as part of its Nourish the Nation programme, as research from The Food Foundation reveals that 13.7 million people in the UK are struggling to afford to eat.
The supermarket will be sharing a £1.5 million donation between long-standing charity partner Comic Relief, FareShare and key redistribution partners with a long-term aim to support communities’ access to food.
The programme, which launches today in response to the rising cost of living, is also calling on shoppers to donate what they can. Sainsbury’s has pledged to match all customer donations made between 23 November and 24 December, up to £1.5 million.
The money will be split evenly between supporting communities’ access to food now and helping to fund long-term projects and initiatives designed to tackle food insecurity in the future, ensuring communities have access to balanced, nutritional, and sustainable food sources.
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Customers can support the Nourish the Nation programme by making donations to Comic Relief instore and online at Sainsbury’s, instore at Argos, or by donating Nectar points. They can also donate food at the food donation points instore, which will go to local food charity partners.
“With more challenging months ahead, support for those facing food poverty has never been more critical,” said Sainsbury’s director of corporate responsibility and sustainability, Ruth Cranston.
“We know how difficult the rising cost of living is for so many communities across the country which is why we’ve launched our new community programme Nourish the Nation, to help ensure that people have access to the food they need right now, while also helping to prevent those who are most at risk from facing food insecurity in the future.
“We are dedicated to supporting the communities we serve and through our large-scale work with longstanding partners Comic Relief and FareShare, while supporting local projects with Feeding Britain and The Bread and Butter Thing, we hope we can go some way in providing relief to vulnerable communities up and down the country over the coming months and beyond.”
Comic Relief CEO Samir Patel said: “Right now people need our support more than ever as the rising cost of living pushes them beyond breaking point.
“We are incredibly pleased to be working with Sainsbury’s on their Nourish the Nation programme and coming together to focus on tackling food poverty at this crucial time. Funds raised will be absolutely vital to the millions of people who are facing the toughest time of their lives, now and in the future.”
