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Taverham church helps to feed the hungry 

A church in Taverham near Norwich is providing food to vulnerable members of the local community this Christmas, with help from food donations from Tesco.

St Edmunds Church in Taverham is one of a number of groups in Norfolk to benefit from Tesco’s Community Food Connection scheme, which sees surplus food distributed to local charities and community groups each day.
 
The group has been collecting fruit, vegetables and baked goods from its local Tesco store since 2016. It uses the donated food to create food parcels for its members to take to people in the community who need them. 
 
The church currently supports more than 30 local people. Some of its members suffer with health conditions such as dementia, which are a barrier to them being socially active within the community.
 
In addition to providing food parcels, the group runs a series of weekly activities and events, including a toddler group and a youth drop-in centre, offering a safe and relaxing environment for the local community.
 
The church is also hosting a community event from 2:30pm – 5:30pm on Christmas Day, where there will be music, games and a variety of refreshments.
 
Paul Seabrook, Vicar at St Edmunds Church, said: “Many of our members don’t have a family, so the festive period can be a particularly difficult time of year. With help from Tesco, we’re not only able to provide food to people in need, but also able to hold a Christmas gathering for people who would otherwise be spending Christmas Day alone.
 
“The surplus food donations really do make a huge difference to multiple people in unpredictable circumstances, and we are hugely grateful from the support we’ve received from Tesco.”
 
Community Food Connection is now the UK’s biggest supermarket food redistribution programme. Charities and local groups nationwide are able to participate in the scheme which has helped provide more than 80 million meals to more than 7,000 charities and community groups to date.
 
Nicola Mackay, Community Food Programmes Manager at Tesco, said: “It is always great to see food that may otherwise have gone to waste helping to feed people in the community and St Edmunds is just one of thousands of charities and community groups making great use of our surplus food this Christmas.
 
“We’re keen to hear from any charities which could benefit from this programme and would encourage any interested groups to get in touch with their local store.”

If you are a charity or community group that could benefit from the support of Community Food Connection, visit www.fareshare.org.uk/fareshare-go  to find out more. 

Pictured above is Rev Paul Seabrook and parishioners at St Edmunds who work with Tesco to provide food for vulnerable people.
 


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