Powys Lidl shoppers help donate to Welsh families in need

Lidl GB donated 273,760 meals to Welsh families between April and September. This comes against the backdrop of Trussell Trust research finding that an estimated 753,000 people across the nation – one in five adults or their households – experienced food insecurity in the twelve months to mid-2022.

Shoppers at the Newtown Lidl store contributed to these heart-warming stats, with the Llanidloes Road chain donating 5,826 meals. Oswestry’s Victoria Road venue, meanwhile, contributed too, with 11,350 meals.

Lidl is working with local charities to pass on its surplus food and ‘Good to Give’ customer donations, in partnership with giving platform Neighbourly.

Since 2017, the discounter has donated more than 26 million meals across the UK. ‘Good to Give’ is its ongoing campaign to increase the nutritional variety of food parcels given to those in need. In Lidl stores, shoppers can spot signs near products most needed by charities, which they can drop off at donation points past the checkouts.

Mark Newbold, senior customer service manager at Lidl GB, said: “Our stores are part of local communities they serve, so it’s incredibly important to us that we do our bit to help those facing food insecurity – both by making donations directly and by encouraging our shoppers to donate where they can.”

Over the last six months, close coordination between local community groups and the supermarket’s store teams has helped to increase the amount of food reaching those hit hardest by the cost of living crisis.

The supermarket has made the process of local charity donation an integral part of training for store colleagues, and also ramped up frozen food donations.

As a result, Lidl now expects to donate an extra 1,000 tonnes of food annually across the UK – equivalent to an additional 2.4 million meals on top of the usual amount. It hopes to continue driving these efforts and provide 10 million meals overall across Great Britain each year.