PEOPLE have been treated to a Christmas Dinner at a Community Shop in Beechwood this year, thanks to food donated by local Tesco stores.

For many Community Shop members, the meal may be the only Christmas Dinner they have this year, and the occasion gave them a chance to relax and socialises with other members.

A total of 1700 dinners were served up nationally, as Community Shop has hosted 29 Christmas Dinners for its members across the UK.

The award-winning social enterprise works with retailers, manufacturers, food service and logistics providers to find good use for surplus stock, which may otherwise go to waste.

Community Shop members have access to a range of surplus products from well-known brands at deeply discounted prices, helping stretched budgets go further while fighting food waste.

David Ford, Communications Manager for Tesco in the North of England, said: "Community Shop provides such a vital support network for its communities and Tesco is delighted to have partnered with them to help deliver Christmas dinners across all their stores.

"Christmas can be a very challenging time for lots of people and its fantastic to help bring a bit of festive cheer with these Christmas events.

"After a difficult couple of years were pleased to be able to help support Company Shop, here's to a better 2022!”

Joseph Chow, Community Shop's social impact and development manager, said: "We're hugely grateful for the food donated by Tesco which allowed our members to get together after a tough 12 months due to the pandemic.

"Community Shop relies on surplus food donations from organisations such as Tesco and it was amazing to see even more support.

“Our members had a great time at the Christmas Dinner and we’ve already had some fantastic feedback.”