Connecting communities

Being connected isn’t a luxury, it’s an everyday essential.





 

 

Connecting communities

Being connected isn’t a luxury, it’s an everyday essential.















We’re helping people facing hardship stay connected.

The Trussell Trust is the UK’s biggest network of food banks. They see every day that people on the lowest incomes are facing impossible decisions about whether to put food on the table, keep warm or stay connected. This simply isn’t right.

Without access to a phone or data, people are locked out from life-changing services, held back from opportunities and cut off from loved ones. 

Digital connection can be life-changing: a single call or text can connect someone to vital advice or emergency support. Five minutes online might mean successfully finding a home, submitting a job application, or knowing that a loved one is OK.

We’re working with the Trussell Trust and their network of more than 1400 food banks to help people who don’t have enough money for the essentials we all need in life. We’re doing that in two main ways: 

The Little Helps Databank

We’re donating data loaded SIM cards to people referred to food banks so they can stay connected and more easily access further support services. We commit to help connect another 50,000 people by 2025. 

Connected food banks

We’re donating tablets, mobile wifi and SIM cards to food banks themselves, to help them provide their services as effectively as possible, and so food banks have the best practical tools to support their communities.  

Better-connected food banks will be able to better serve their communities through:  

  • Enabling referral agencies (such as schools and doctors) to refer families directly 
  • Connecting people to extra support services or local charities
  • Keeping track of allergy and dietary requirements for emergency food parcels 
  • Helping volunteers access shared systems and helpful resources

Here’s how you can help

At any time: Donate food when you’re doing your Tesco shop. Or donate Clubcard vouchers.

Watch this space for upcoming Food Collection dates.

Here’s what our byte for a bite campaign achieved

We pledged 1GB for every meal donated through the Tesco Food Collection between 1st-3rd December 2022. Together we collected a whopping 2.4 million meals, smashing our target of 2 million! That’s 53% more than last year! We continue to work closely with the Trussell Trust to connect people facing hardship in the UK.

“At the Trussell Trust we are so excited to be working together with Tesco Mobile to connect communities facing hardship across the UK. As the price of essentials continues to soar, families without enough money for life’s necessities are being increasingly caught between keeping themselves fed, warm or online. This isn’t right. We know that being online and connected can be life changing, as it allows people to apply for jobs, access information, stay connected and manage day to day life. Our partnership with Tesco Mobile will help to support and unlock opportunities for people facing hardship, while we work to build a future where everyone can afford life’s essentials.”

Emma Revie, CEO of the Trussell Trust

More about the Trussell Trust

The Trussell Trust believes we should all be free from hunger.  Through their network of 1300 local food bank centres across the UK, the Trussell Trust provides  practical support for people who don’t have enough money for the things we all need in life’ to ‘things we all need to get by. The Trussell Trust also believes that it’s not right that anyone needs a food bank in the first place – so they also work with communities across the UK to change the things that are leaving people without enough money to buy essentials.

Their network of food banks is supported by over 30,000 volunteers and around 12,000 churches, as well as many community groups, local businesses and schools. Together, they’re working to build a future where none of us need a food bank. 

If you need a little help…

We're sorry things are hard at the moment. Trussell Trust food banks work on a voucher referral system. You can find information on how to get support here: https://www.trusselltrust.org/get-help/.

We would also recommend that you contact your local food bank directly as they can let you know which agencies they work with in your area so that you can obtain a voucher for referral from your local food bank. You can find contact details for your nearest foodbank here: https://www.trusselltrust.org/get-help/find-a-foodbank/.

Here’s how we’ve been championing digital inclusion since 2020.

Our partnership with the Trussell Trust is the next step in our commitment to connecting communities. Since 2020 we have donated over £3.5 million of phones, devices and data to charities across the UK, helping vulnerable and disadvantaged people make life-changing connections. This has been through our Little Helps Scheme, which ended in December 2022, and our partnership with Crisis, which ran from March 2020 to December 2022. Through our schemes we helped over 40,000 people from 2020 to 2022, and have the ambition of helping a further 50,000 people get connected by 2025.

Frequently asked questions

Tesco Mobile committed to connect 50,000 more people by 2025. The Trussell Trust, like us, believe that everyone should be able to afford life’s essentials and has the right to be connected. That’s why we are partnering with the Trussell Trust, to keep people facing hardship connected, one little help at a time. 

The Trussell Trust is an anti-poverty charity which supports the UK’s largest network of food banks while also working towards a future without the need for food banks. Together, the Trussell Trust is more than 1,400 local food bank centres across the UK, providing practical support for people who don’t have enough money for the things we all need in life. Their network of food banks is supported by almost 12,000 churches, as well as many community groups, local businesses, schools and over 30,000 dedicated volunteers. 

Through the Little Helps Databank, Tesco Mobile will be donating data-loaded SIM cards to people referred to food banks in the Trussell Trust network. We will also be donating tablets, mobile Wi-Fi and SIM cards to food banks themselves, so that they can provide their services as efficiently as possible.  

The Little Helps Databank is how we will donate SIM cards to people referred to food banks, to help them stay connected to loved ones and access vital support services. Tesco Mobile will provide the SIM cards and data, and this connectivity will be distributed to those who need it most via food banks in the Trussell Trust network.  So like a food bank, but for data. 

Connected food banks is the name of Tesco Mobile's scheme to offer devices and connectivity to food banks in the Trussell Trust network. We will be offering a tablet, mobile Wi-Fi device and SIM card to each food bank in the network, to help food banks provide their services as effectively as possible, providing them with the best practical tools to support their communities.  

Digital inclusion is having access to, and being able to use, digital devices, such as computers, smart phones and the internet. In this age, digital connection is one of life’s essentials, because without it, people can be locked out of life-changing services, held back from opportunities and cut off from loved ones. 

Connectivity is one of life’s essentials, like a loaf of bread. People need food banks when they don’t have enough money for life's essentials, whether that's food, heating or connectivity. Without being online and connected, we're locked out of life-changing services and support, held back from opportunities and cut off from loved ones.  

We have committed to distribute an initial 2m GB of data through the Trussell Trust because connection is one of life’s essentials. Without it, people are locked out of life-changing services, held back from opportunities and cut off from loved ones. We’ve pledged a byte for a bite. So, for every item donated through the Tesco Food collection (1-3 December 2022), we are giving someone a free byte too. 2m is the number of equivalent meals Tesco was hoping to collect through this Tesco Winter Food Collection, so we pledged 1GB for every equivalent meal.

We’re donating 1GB of data for every equivalent meal donated to the Tesco Winter Food Collection (1-3 December 2022), to encourage more food donations, at a time when the cost of living is driving more people to need food banks, and to raise awareness of the importance of connectivity as one of life's essentials.

‘Food donations’ is often expressed in the number of equivalent meals to help provide a sense of scale and a more relatable figure. Tesco uses a conversion factor of 420g of uncooked food = an average meal size, the equivalent to 1 meal, in line with the guidance from WRAP.

Typically, a 1GB data plan will allow you to browse the internet for around 11 hours, to send 16,000 emails without attachments or 300 with attachments, download 17 songs or watch 40 minutes of TV. Taken from Understanding data 

The Tesco Food Collection, held in partnership with the Trussell Trust and Fareshare, encourages Tesco customers to donate long-life food items over a three-day period, with the help of volunteers across the UK.

To make your donation, just head to your local Tesco store, pick up an item or two from the list of your local food bank’s most needed items, and simply hand them to the volunteers or pop them in the collection point. Full details regarding the Tesco Food Collection can be found here.

The Trussell Trust has created a shopping list to help you choose which items to donate which will be available in stores during the collection. Check with your local food bank to see what is needed in your area specifically, and find other ways to support here.

In addition to the Tesco Food Collection events, you can drop off food item donations year round at the collection points available in all Tesco stores. You can also support the Trussell Trust by donating your Clubcard points here or supporting their Emergency Appeal here.

The Trussell Trust is celebrating a 10-year relationship with Tesco in their joint efforts to ensure our communities are free from hunger, and now Tesco Mobile will be partnering with the Trussell Trust to keep people facing hardship connected. Our initial partnership will last until the end of 2023.

Whilst the cost-of-living crisis is impacting all of us, for people on the lowest incomes, it’s simply impossible. As the price of essentials continues to soar, families are being increasingly caught between keeping themselves fed, warm or online. This simply isn't right. People need food banks when they don’t have enough money for life's essentials, whether that's food, heating or connectivity.  

The data will be distributed from January 2023 through SIM cards donated to local food banks, all registered charities or charitable organisations, which are part of the Trussell Trust network.  

The data that we donate through the Trussell Trust food bank will be distributed by the food bank network, at their own discretion. The Little Helps Databank distribution will not be limited to any specific food banks in the Trussell Trust network.  

Tesco Mobile is proud of our positive impact to date through the Reconnects programme, Crisis charity partnership and Little Helps scheme, that have helped over 36,000 people and 4,000 charities since 2020. The partnership between Tesco Mobile and Crisis was a huge success, with Crisis members receiving over £941,000 worth of devices, data and connectivity across the two-year partnership.  To date we have donated over £3m worth of devices and connectivity, and have launched a new commitment to help connect another 50,000 people by 2025. 

Terms and Conditions

The Trussell Trust Reg. Charity in England & Wales (1110522), Scotland (SC044246). For every meal donated to the Tesco winter Food Collection, we matched it with a free GB, up to 2 million GB of data. Data to be distributed from January 2023 through SIM cards to local food banks – a registered charity or charitable organisation which is part of the Trussell Trust network. Any donation via Clubcard is subject to the Clubcard scheme terms and conditions found at Terms and conditions.