Surplus food donated to Superstars Club

Handing over the food is ASDA Cookstown Community Champion Janice Gibson, Emer Devlin ASDA Cookstown Fresh Manger and Fionnula Morgan, Asda Cookstown Produce Section Leader, to May McAvoy, Chair of Superstars and cafe trainees Keith Wylie, Lynn Shaw and Nicola Hughes.

The Fight Hunger Create Change programme, which recently marked its first anniversary, is a partnership between Asda, FareShare and The Trussell Trust to help one million people across the UK out of food poverty.

Donations of food, which are in-date and still good to eat, come from unsold instore surplus – with FareShare distributing the food from Asda, through its FareShare Go scheme, to charities throughout Northern Ireland, including Superstars Club.

May McAvoy, Chairperson Superstars Club, said: “Thanks to support from Asda Cookstown and FareShare, we are able to teach our members how to make healthy meals through fun and interactive group cooking lessons – a truly life-changing activity.

“The food donations also allow the members who cook in our social enterprise café to prepare delicious hot meals and a range of baked goods for customers.

“At Superstars, we celebrate the wonderful abilities of our members and highlight how they are not defined by their disabilities – and it’s amazing to see that Asda recognises the importance of supporting groups such as ours through its Fight Hunger Create Change programme.”

Janice Gibson, Asda Cookstown Community Champion, added: “We have already established permanent food collections instore, which customers and colleagues have generously contributed to – but Asda recognises that there is still more work to be carried out in the community to tackle food poverty.

“By putting the infrastructure in place for our store to donate surplus fresh food, which would have previously gone to waste, it allows groups such as Superstars Club to put it to good use – and make a real difference in the lives of local people with learning difficulties.

“Both my colleagues and I really enjoyed visiting the group to see first-hand the difference the donations can make – and it was great fun to meet all the lovely members!”

Charities or community groups interested in receiving surplus food from Asda can register online at: https://fareshare.org.uk/getting-food/fareshare-go-support/ or contact the Northern Ireland Community Coordinator for FareShare, Paula Gibson, on (t) 07377360029 or (e) [email protected] for more details.