A Time For Giving: Retailers Spread Festive Cheer Among Communities In Need
- gillmcshane
- 21 hours ago
- 3 min read
Aldi, Asda, Morrisons, and Tesco have announced measures to support communities over the winter months by offering everything from free Christmas meals to wonky Christmas trees to raise spirits, spread kindness, and combat loneliness during the season of giving.
Aldi – Christmas Lunches
Aldi will donate around 2,500 free Christmas lunches to people in need at 15 Community Shops across the UK between 16 and 18 December.
Under its partnership with Community Shop, the discounter will provide the festive trimmings, while Bernard Matthews will donate the turkeys to feed low-income communities.
“This is the third year we’ve supported the Community Shop’s Christmas Lunches, and it’s set to be the biggest yet,” revealed Luke Emery, national sustainability director at Aldi UK.
“We’re increasing the number of meals and donating to more Community Shops, so even more people can enjoy a Christmas dinner on us.”
The initiative reduces waste from Aldi’s Regional Distribution Centre while making food go further for people who need it most.
Members of Community Shop can also sign up for free meals in stores.
Asda – Community Grants
Asda and Asda Foundation have invested over £500,000 in an effort to combat loneliness among older people this Christmas.
The funding will support more than 550 community groups via the retailer’s Better Together grants.
The retailer is also inviting over 60s to visit their local Asda store with a café to enjoy a ‘Winter Warmer’– a £1 deal that offers over 60s soup, bread, unlimited tea and coffee.
Last year research conducted by Asda found that almost one in five (17%) of over 60s experienced days of not speaking to anyone in the run up to Christmas.
One in ten (15%), meanwhile, reported that they went to the supermarket just to talk to someone.
“We are going all out to bring as many people together as possible this Christmas,” said Tracy Butler, senior manager for the Asda Foundation.
Asda employees can also choose to wear a ‘Happy to Chat’ badge, and choirs and bands will be invited to perform Christmas carols and songs in stores.
Morrisons – Talking Tills
During the festive season Morrisons is rolling out Talking Tills to provide a slower checkout experience for customers keen to strike up a conversation with store assistants.
Running from 4 to 7 December nationwide, the dedicated tills form part of Good Morning Britain’s 1 Million Minutes campaign which aims to increase socialisation and support over Christmas.
“We know that for many people, especially at this time of year, a simple conversation can make a real difference,” explained David Scott, corporate affairs director at Morrisons, in a press release.
“The Talking Tills campaign is designed to create space for those meaningful moments, offering customers the chance to slow down and chat if they’d like to.”
Through a partnership with age UK, Morrisons is also offering 400 free Christmas meals in its cafés.
The Morrisons Foundation has donated £50,000 to fund 100 Royal Voluntary Service festive spreads too.
Tesco – Wonky Christmas Trees
Tesco is giving away hundreds of Perfectly Imperfect Christmas trees at select stores tomorrow (Saturday 6 December) to encourage the nation to embrace the magic of imperfection this festive season.
As part of its ‘That’s what makes it Christmas’ campaign, customers will have the option of making a donation to Tesco’s food charity partners, Fareshare and Trussell, who are helping people facing hunger in the UK this winter and beyond.
According to a Tesco survey, 87% of people agree that Christmas doesn’t need to be ‘perfect’ to be special, plus 74% believe that it is the little imperfect moments that really make it feel like Christmas.
From unevenly spaced branches, to leaning ever-so-slightly to the side, Tesco said in a press release that the wonky Christmas trees wouldn’t normally make the cut to go on sale in stores but are “perfectly imperfect in their own way”.