CHARITIES in the Durham area helped Aldi to donate about 10,600 meals to needy people on Christmas Eve.

The supermarket paired up its stores with local charities, community groups and food banks to make the most of unsold fresh and chilled food after stores closed on December 24.

Approximately 210 tonnes of food were donated throughout the UK, enough for more than 500,000 meals, with more than 750 UK causes benefitting from the initiative in total.

The donation is Aldi’s largest to date and helped more than 14 charitable causes in Durham at a time when more people are experiencing financial hardship and food insecurity due to Covid-19.

This year, for the first time, the initiative has also been extended to New Year’s Eve, when Aldi expects to donate a further 200,000 meals to charitable causes across the country.

Aldi has also worked with partner Neighbourly to prioritise donations to charities and community groups focused on feeding children over the school Christmas holidays.

The festive food donations are part of Aldi’s successful partnership with Neighbourly, a community giving platform that links businesses to charitable organisations.

All of Aldi’s 900 UK stores now donate surplus food to good causes.