Festive funds for Sussex’s food banks as Christmas appeal launches

Launched on 28th November and running right up to Boxing Day, the Morrisons Foundation Christmas Appeal will offer online customers the opportunity to add a donation of £1, £3, £5 or £10 to their shop. Every pound raised will then be matched by the Foundation and donated to the Trussell Trust who will use the funds to provide vital food and support to families in hardship in communities all around the UK.

The Christmas Appeal comes at a time when food banks need support most. The Trussell Trust forecasts that more than 600,000 people will need the support of its food banks over a three-month period.

Food banks across the Trussell Trust network are expecting to provide more than one million emergency food parcels between December 2023 and February 2024 – the most parcels ever provided across this period. This equates to an average of one food parcel every eight seconds (11,500 a day) and 7,000 people seeking support each day.

Emma Revie, CEO of the Trussell Trust, said: “We don’t want to spend every winter saying things at food banks are getting worse, but they are. Food banks are not the answer in the long term, but while we continue to fight for the change that could mean they can be closed for good, your local food bank urgently needs your support.

“One in seven people in the UK face hunger because they don’t have enough money to live on. That’s not the kind of society we want to live in, and we won’t stand by and let this continue. Every year we are seeing more and more people needing food banks, and that is just not right.

“Our food banks desperately need donations of food for emergency parcels and money to meet the shortfall in donations they are currently experiencing, which is why we are thrilled that Morrisons customers and the Foundation will be supporting the Trussell Trust again this year.”

David Scott, Morrisons Foundation Trustee said, “We are delighted to once again be teaming up with the Trussell Trust for our Christmas appeal. By match funding the generous donations of Morrisons online customers we hope to make a difference to people in hardship this winter."

The Trussell Trust operates a number of food banks across Sussex. Collection points include Worthing Food Bank based on the 1st Floor at Guildbourne Centre, Littlehampton and District Food Bank based at Littlehampton United Church and The Clarendon Centre Food Bank in Shoreham. There are many other collection points across the region. For further details and opening times of your local food bank, please visit trusselltrust.org/get-help/find-a-foodbank/

Morrisons customers who shop online are invited to support the Christmas Appeal by adding ‘Trussell Trust’ vouchers to their shop from 28th November to 26th December 2023.