A FOODBANK in Worcester has received a donation of nearly £36,000 thanks to Asda’s ‘Fight Hunger Create Change’ campaign.

Worcester News reported back in February 2016 on the public outcry following Asda’s short-lived policy of removing public, unmanned donation points at its stores.

Asda said at the time the move was to be “fair and consistent” to all charities, but Graham Lucas, manager of Worcester Foodbank was left feeling “sad and disappointed at the scrapping of a vital donation point".

Mr Lucas said of the £36,000 donation from Asda: “The money has helped us to purchase a new van for food collections and the distribution of food parcels. The van is a great step forward and something which will allow more freedom to help those in the local area who need our support.”

Andy Murray, chief customer officer at Asda, said: "I’m incredibly proud of the progress we’ve made to change the face of food poverty in the UK.

“We’ll continue to provide not just meals for people but support to help them out of poverty, and we thank our customers and colleagues for their ongoing support in our challenge to fight hunger.”

The supermarket is working in partnership with the Trussell Trust, which runs many foodbanks in the UK, and Fareshare, whose remit is to tackle food waste.

The partnership will research what factors influence people’s use of foodbanks.

Lindsay Boswell, CEO of Fareshare, said of its impact on communities: “The Fight Hunger Create Change programme is already enabling unprecedented transformation for the UK’s charities and community groups."

Emma Revie, the Trussell Trust’s chief executive, said the long-term aim was to ensure that people no longer need to use a foodbank.

“We work in the long-term to tackle the structural issues that lock people in poverty. Food banks will be able to provide even more vital support to people referred.”