Thirty volunteers from Enterprise Rent-A-Car helped food redistribution charity FareShare collect much-needed food at the Tesco Egham Superstore, as part of the Tesco Food Collection programme.

Among the volunteers were Enterprise UK & Ireland Managing Director Khaled Shahbo and FareShare Chief Executive Lindsay Boswell.

The volunteers handed out shopping lists of store-cupboard essentials and encouraged shoppers to add these to their basket and then donate them to the charity.

This nationwide partnership saw Enterprise volunteers from all parts of the country speaking to shoppers in-store to increase the level of donations to FareShare and support vulnerable people in need.

All food collected from Tesco Egham through the annual food drive goes directly to FareShare’s London Regional Centre. This will then be sent out to more than 200 charities and community organisations within Greater London who in turn help to feed up to 23,500 people each week.

In 2018, more than 3.5 million meals were collected nationwide through the Tesco Food Collection. This year, Enterprise Rent-A-Car volunteers will be looking to increase the amount of food collected by encouraging shoppers to contribute items such as pasta, tinned food, tea and coffee. These much-needed items are especially important to help vulnerable people during the winter months and Tesco will top up all donations by an additional 20 per cent.

Volunteers play a key role in encouraging the public to donate, increasing the volume of donations considerably. In a typical three-hour shift, a volunteer can help to collect 600 meals worth of food. Therefore, over the course of the drive, Enterprise Rent-A-Car employees helped to collect more than 18,000 meals for those in need.

Khaled Shahbo, Enterprise Rent-A-Car UK’s Managing Director, said: “Giving back to the communities that we serve is part of Enterprise’s DNA and we are happy to be able to support our partner FareShare during the Tesco Food Collection. Food insecurity affects many communities across the UK and we are committed to supporting charities that are delivering genuine change on this issue. FareShare stops good food from going to waste by redistributing it to those who need it the most. This is an excellent cause that Enterprise Rent-A-Car is proud to get behind.”

Lindsay Boswell, Chief Executive at FareShare, said: “We are hugely grateful to Enterprise Rent-A-Car for its continued support over the years in helping us combat hunger here in the UK. It is wonderful to see so many passionate people at Tesco Egham lending a hand to help support us in collecting food for the thousands of people in desperate need.

“Every single item donated by customers will be redistributed by FareShare to charities such as domestic violence refuges, lunch clubs for older people, breakfast clubs and homeless hostels. Keep an eye out for these wonderful volunteers in your local Tesco and help us improve the lives of so many.”

Enterprise Rent-A-Car became involved with FareShare in 2016, during the company’s 60-year anniversary. The Enterprise Rent-A-Car Foundation has allocated £3 million to FareShare over six years as part of the company’s wider Fill Your Tank initiative, which is a US$60 million programme to address food poverty internationally.

In the UK, the Fill Your Tank initiative is carried out in collaboration with The Global Food Banking Network (GFN), a non-profit that accelerates the development and growth of food banks in more than 30 countries around the world, including the UK.

In addition to the donation, Enterprise employees volunteer regularly at FareShare warehouses to help distribute food to local charities.

Doing the right thing isn’t just another corporate talking point to us – it’s what we were founded on. Doing right by our customers and employees is something we do all the time, even when no one’s looking. If you want to join a company where giving back to the community is part of your everyday search and apply for our graduate roles based in any one of our 470 branches and offices across the UK.