Aldi, the supermarket in Brookend is looking for local charities or a foodbank to receive regular donations of surplus food.

The store will be launching its food surplus scheme with community engagement platform, Neighbourly, from the end of July, and is calling on local charities and foodbanks to register to receive regular donations.

Following a successful trial with Neighbourly in other parts of the UK, the store will be pairing up with local good causes that will be able to collect surplus food, such as fruit, vegetables and baked goods, up to five days a week.

Last year, the supermarket donated two million meals to charities and expects to increase this by 50 per cent once all stores are donating.

Any local charities in Ross-on-Wye who are looking to partner up with an Aldi store should email [email protected] to apply.

Fritz Walleczek, Managing Director of Corporate Responsibility at Aldi UK, said: “We’re always looking for new ways to increase the amount of food we are able to donate, as a way to give back to the communities we serve and ensure that fresh, healthy food is accessible to everyone.

“We’re looking forward to launching our partnership with Neighbourly in our Ross-on-Wye store, which will enable us to redistribute even more surplus stock, whilst supporting good causes. We hope that lots of local charities will sign up to the initiative and get involved.”

Steve Butterworth, Neighbourly CEO, said: “Food surplus is a challenge Aldi is committed to playing its part to address. This approach is critical to ensure surplus food finds its way easily to the good causes supporting those communities that need it most.”

Aldi has pledged to reduce operational food waste by 50% by 2030 as part of the Friends of Champions 12.3 network. Aldi has redistributed surplus food since 2012, and is now partnering with Neighbourly to make sure that fresh, healthy food is available to the communities it serves. See this week’s paper for more stories like this, available in shops and as a Digital Edition now.