A book swap scheme run by Tesco at Westwood has resulted in a £439 donation to The Kitchen CT9 in Cliftonville.
The Kitchen chef Ann Newstead was awarded with the donation by Tesco community champions Sue Dent and Cynthia Smith .
The second hand book swap at the store runs in support of a different local charity each month. The Kitchen CT9 works closely with residents in Cliftonville to provide nutritious, low cost food with many of their customers generously paying forward meals for those less well off.
Through their parent charity, Thanet Iceberg Project, they also have a furniture bank and a liaison service that helps people to access any local services that they may require.
Tesco’s have been actively involved in supporting The Kitchen CT9 with weekly donations of their surplus produce. The community fridge can often be seen stocked with produce kindly donated by the local supermarket and anyone who has had one of chef Ann’s famous omelette or scrambled egg dishes has Tesco to thank.
Ann said: “This £439 is a really helpful contribution to our fundraising. We are in the process of installing an odour control system that will cost us £3,500. We are also looking to buy a portable aluminium ramp for the front of the store to make us fully accessible by those in wheelchairs and this donation by the customers and staff of Tesco really goes some way to help us in our efforts.”
Ann Newstead and the team receive food through Tesco’s Community Food Connection scheme, which is run in conjunction with charity FareShare.
Ann added: “Tesco is one of our key suppliers. We rely heavily on the surplus donations that we receive from them.
“A simple example of our relationship with them occurred when during the very bad weather the local Tesco store had to temporarily close because of damage to the roof. The store called us daily and passed on food and drinks that could have otherwise gone to waste. Because of this we were able to give more than 100 pints of milk to local residents through our community fridge.”
The Thanet Iceberg Project celebrated its first anniversary in March, and the Kitchen CT9 opened its doors in the same month.
Tesco is keen to hear from any charities that could benefit from the food share programme. Interested groups can get in touch with their local store or visit www.fareshare.org.uk/fareshare-foodcloud to register
Find out more about The Kitchen CT9 on their facebook page here