Buxton store leading the way in new Morrisons scheme to help food banks

The Buxton store was one of the first to get involved and its community champion, Robert Harrison, explained how it works.

He said: “There is a tin, packet or toiletry in a bag which has the price on, anything from 30p to £3, and the customer picks one up and pays for it at the checkout, then puts it in our donation point.

“You do not have to spend very much but by spending a small amount it could make all the difference to a family wanting to feed their family.”

Morrisons has been helping restock the nation’s food banks during the coronavirus outbreak by producing extra food from its foodmaking sites and distributing more food from its stores.

The food goes to High Peak food bank, which is part of Zink Projects and based in Buxton, which distributes food parcels to people in crisis and helps them tackle the cause of the crisis through Zink Advice.

It also runs Zink Employability, helping people find and sustain employment that's right for them.

As the UK’s largest fresh food maker, Morrisons has been running its bakery, egg and fruit and veg packing site for an extra hour every day to make, prepare and pack food required to restock the food banks.

Morrisons has also be sending deliveries of ambient food – such as canned goods and pasta – to its stores to also give to their local food bank.

Every Wednesday, a full pallet of food arrives which gets distributed between three local community organstions – High Peak food bank, Wast Not Want Not and Charis House.

Typical items being donated include bread, eggs, orange juice and bags of pasta.

David Potts, Morrisons chief executive, said: “As a food maker and shopkeeper, we are uniquely placed to help.

"We know food banks are finding life very difficult and running our manufacturing sites for an extra hour each day to help restock them is the right decision at this time.

“The core purpose of all 96,537 colleagues at Morrisons is to play our full part in feeding the nation which is part of our #It’sMoreThanOurJob approach .”