A care home is just one of a growing number of organisations in Suffolk that are benefiting from surplus food donations from Tesco.

St Barnabas Southwold facilitates professional care and support for 14 full-time residents as well as admitting day care visitors for respite care or just some much needed company and a change of scenery.

Funded through charitable donations, the home is staffed by 34 employees, from the care staff that help provide a range of activities – such as movie nights and afternoon tea – to a dedicated cook to provide the residents with nutritious meals.

St Barnabas has been using Tesco's Community Food Connection scheme, run in partnership with FareShare, for more than a year now, with staff collecting surplus food from Tesco in Southwold every week.

Community Food Connection means good causes are able to link up with local Tesco stores via an innovative app that allows store teams to alert them to surplus unsold food items available at the end of each day. Not only does the scheme benefit the community groups involved, but it also prevents unsold food going to waste.

This provides residents with a well-stocked morning tea trolley each Thursday with the choice of a collection of cakes, bread, doughnuts and croissants that help keep residents and visitors relaxed and able to enjoy their retirement.

Nicki Fountain, St Barnabas Southwold's house manager, said: 'The Community Food Connection scheme has been an excellent service for us at St Barnabas. It's lovely to see our residents and daily visitors enjoy themselves during lunch time.

'It's the small things like having a cake or doughnut with your tea that lets our residents feel more comfortable and able to enjoy their time.'

If you are a charity or community group that could benefit from the support of Community Food Connection then visit www.tesco.com/community-food-connection to find out more.