ILKLEY Booths have provided 15,000 items to local food banks with “buy one give one free” initiative.

The family-owned retailer has donated the items in under three months with their community-based initiative “Buy One Give One Free.” The extra 15,000 items are on top of customer donations that continued to grow during the pandemic.

The simple and effective scheme, introduced in late November, means that for every qualifying item purchased, customers will receive another one free of charge, which they can then donate at the store’s food bank collection point after checkout.

Booths implemented the scheme to assist in the increase in demand for food banks during the pandemic, with more families needing support with essential food and hygiene products. The Buy One Give One Free encourages customers to donate food items to the collection trolley points located in each of its stores. Every Booths store is partnered with a local food bank in their area and this enables donations to be tailored to the needs of the local community.

Customer Experience Manager and pioneer behind Booths Food Bank Donation programme Colin Porter, said: “We’re overwhelmed by the support of both customers and our supplier base who have helped Booths keep local food banks topped up in times of high demand. We’re grateful for the generous donations and their continued support.”

Jane Wearing from Ilkley Food Bank said: “Booths has been working closely with Ilkley Food Bank for many years and the support of Booths in Ilkley has been absolutely vital to the work we do.

"We have 45 clients regularly using the food bank and have seen an upsurge in demand during the pandemic. We are thankful for the tremendous support we get from Booths, as the Ilkley Food Bank relies entirely on donations from the general public, so the collection point at Booths is extremely important to us.”