Dudley’s Salvation Army will benefit from donations of fresh food after teaming up with a local supermarket.

Sainsbury’s store at intu Merry Hill is offering its surplus stock of bread, cake and produce – which is within its use by date and would otherwise have gone to waste – to the North Street charity as part of its food donation scheme.

To help provide even more food for those in need, the supermarket has also installed a donation drop off point at the front of the store for customers who may be willing to buy an extra item during their shop.

Generous customers can also donate any well dated, unopened, long life food and soft drinks, such as pasta, rice, cereal, tea, coffee or sauces, to the charity. Yvonne Artiss, PR ambassador for Sainsbury’s, said:

“We hate wasting food and really believe that old saying ‘waste not, want not’. We are really happy that local charities, within our community, can benefit from our food donations scheme.

“There are hundreds of hungry mouths to feed in your local community and by donating food to charities and organisations we are saving thousands of tonnes of food needlessly going to waste.”

Staff at Sainsbury’s Merry Hill chose Dudley Salvation Army to be their new food donation partner last month, with the charity now getting the benefits from the regular donations of the store’s surplus food.