ALDI will be donating all its surplus fresh food from Swindon stores to local charities on Christmas Eve.

Food banks and charities that register with the supermarket are in with a chance of collecting fruit, vegetables, meat, fish and bread after the shops close at 6pm.

One good cause can be paired with each of the five supermarkets in and around town.

Fritz Walleczek from Aldi said: “We’re starting our festive donations scheme even earlier this year to give as many charities as possible the opportunity to apply.

“We want to give something back to the communities that we serve at such an important time of year. Last year we were able to reach thousands of people across the UK, and some charities were even able to prepare fresh meals that fed families well into the New Year.”

To apply for the donated food, charities should contact Aldi’s Corporate Responsibility team at Christmas@aldi.co.uk before Sunday November 18 with their organisation name, charity number, focus (eg. Soup kitchen, food bank), contact details, and the postcode of their three nearest Aldi shops (use aldi.co.uk/store-finder).

All charities that apply must be able to collect, store and distribute fresh food. Each store can be partnered with one charity only, and the pairings will be allocated on a first come first served basis.

This initiative is an extension of Aldi’s existing food donations partnerships. The supermarket works directly with FareShare and Company Shop throughout the year and has pledged to reduce operational food waste by 50% by 2030 as part of the Friends of Champions 12.3 network.