Many of us are probably hoping to over-indulge this Christmas, eating and drinking a little more than we normally would. Others won't be so lucky. The festive period is especially tough for the 307,000 people in the UK who are homeless or living in inadequate housing, and the growing number of people relying on food banks.
So it's pretty awesome to hear that the UK's fifth largest supermarket chain, Aldi, has pledged to donate its unsold Christmas produce to people in need. Any charity or community group which distributes food to the underprivileged is being encouraged to visit one of Aldi's 520 UK stores on Christmas Eve to pick up any leftover food and drink. They just need to make sure they've registered with Aldi by the 8th of December.
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The supermarket said in a statement: "As our stores will shut at 4pm on Christmas Eve until the 27th of December, we will have a variety of good quality surplus food products that we wish to redistribute in support of less fortunate individuals and to prevent food going to waste.
"We are unfortunately unable to deliver products on locally, so it would be essential that your organisation is able to collect. We will expect the levels of food available to vary, however estimations of around 20-30 crates will be expected from each store. If you wish to collect all products available, we would therefore recommend providing a large car or van, or being prepared to make multiple journeys."
Aldi's charitable spirit is being widely been praised on social media. "Other supermarkets should follow!" tweeted Mandeep Kaur Chahal.
Another reason to shop at Aldi. Staff get Christmas off & they're giving away food. Not sure if this will be of use to you @WSUP_Woolwich #charity #Christmas #Aldi pic.twitter.com/0ydlJCcrfn
— Jenny Thompson (@_JennyThompson_) December 2, 2017
@AldiUK Hats off time you for your initiative on Christmas Eve to give food, that would normally be wasted over Christmas to charities/groups needing it. #ChristmasSpirit #charity #Aldi
— Linda Jean Burgoyne (@lynburgoyne) December 2, 2017
S/O to Aldi for giving waste food to charity for Christmas, should happen all year round though ???
— Beka Richards (@bekarichards) December 2, 2017
Great initiative by #Aldi to help the less fortunate! Other supermarkets should follow! #freefood #charity #xmas2017 pic.twitter.com/DH9J5iQ4nd
— Mandeep Kaur Chahal (@mindymandymondy) December 2, 2017
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