MORE than a tonne of surplus food has been donated by M&S in York to three good causes - helping to feed more than 1,500 people in the city.

The retailer said that through its partnership with Neighbourly.com, it had been working with homeless organisation Arc Light and the Peasholme Centre, and also Clifton Green Primary School, throughout 2016 to redistribute remaining food at its stores.

“Employees have been working closely with the local community to ensure that any unsold food from the store is put to the best possible use,” said a spokeswoman.

“From the donations, Clifton Green Primary School has set up ‘The Snack Shack’, a place where children can go to pick up a healthy snack to eat on the way home from school.

“Thanks to the store, the Snack Shack currently feeds around 100 to 150 pupils each week using the donated items.

“The school also uses the food in regular cooking lessons which focus on creating healthy meals using leftovers.”

M&S Food Section Co-ordinator, Jamie Sayer, who has led the initiative in-store, said colleagues saw the food redistribution scheme as a great opportunity to provide key organisations with regular support.

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“We work hard to reduce food waste in our store and it’s great to see any surplus being put to such a good cause in York,” he said.

“Where there is food surplus, M&S’s stores work in partnership with Neighbourly to get matched with local food charities..

He added that Neighbourly.com was an internet platform that connected local projects with people and organisations who wanted to help, which M&S had partnered with to deliver Spark Something Good, an employee and customer volunteering initiative.