Tesco reveals how shoppers can donate Clubcard points to help food charities

TESCO shoppers keen to help those less fortunate than themselves may want to donate Clubcard points to charities including food banks.

If you have a Clubcard, you earn one point for every £1 you spend in-store and online at Tesco. Once you have 150 points, these are turned into a £1.50 voucher for you to spend in store.

Tesco shoppers can donate unwanted vouchers to charity - here's how — Tesco shoppers can donate unwanted vouchers to charity – here’s howCredit: Alamy

Alternatively, you can triple the value of points to spend at Tesco’s reward partners. For example, a £1.50 voucher can become £4.50 to spend on anything from meals at a Hungry Horse Pubs to Now TV passes to Legoland.

But what you might not have realised is Clubcard vouchers can be donated to charity too.

And it could be a good way to donate if you’re perhaps tight of cash yourself too as this isn’t technically costing you anything more than you haven’t already spent.

There are five charities to choose from; FareShare and The Trussell Trust, which both try to tackle food poverty, as well as the British Heart Foundation, Cancer Research UK, and Diabetes UK.

Which charities can I donate my Tesco Clubcard points to?

HERE’S which charities Tesco has partnered with under the scheme Clubcard donation scheme:

British Heart Foundation (BHF)

The BHF says it focuses on research to find cures and treatments for those suffering from heart and circulatory diseases. It also runs a helpline and has advice pages online.

Cancer Research UK

Cancer Research UK helps to fund research looking into treatments and cures for those suffering from cancer. It also runs helplines with qualified nurses and tries to raise awareness of cancer symptoms to encourage early diagnosis.

Diabetes UK

Diabetes UK is involved in uncovering new treatments to help make everyday life easier, fighting life-changing campaigns so no one is discriminated against for having diabetes, and is there to help people better understand their condition.

FareShare

FareShare says it’s the UK’s largest food redistribution charity, fighting hunger and food waste. It redistributes fresh surplus food, together with long life products, to a network of frontline charities and community groups.

The Trussell Trust

The Trussell Trust supports a network of food banks across the UK to provide emergency food and practical support to people in crisis. It also campaigns to change the structural issues that lock people into poverty.

One Tesco shopper commented online: “This is wonderful that we can give to charity using Tesco vouchers – this should be promoted more on the website and when shopping online at the checkout so you can give as you shop to help others less fortunate than you.”

While another wrote: “We used to use our vouchers for eating out, which we are not currently doing. It seems better to donate them to help people who need access to good food.”

It comes as the coronavirus pandemic has sparked the biggest surge in unemployment in a decade, according to the latest Office for National Statistics (ONS) figures with 1.52million people out of work.

Meanwhile, the number of people claiming work-related benefits rose to 2.73million in September.

There has also been a campaign spearheaded by footballer Marcus Rashford for the government to fund lunches for poor pupils during school holidays as families struggle to provide meals.

How do I sign up for Tesco Clubcard vouchers?

HERE’S what you need to know about Tesco’s Clubcard scheme and how to get rewards vouchers to spend at restaurants.

You first need to sign up for a Clubcard, which you can join online for free on Tesco’s website.

Once you’ve received it, each time you spend £1 in store and online you get one point when you scan your card or app.

You also get one point for every £2 spent on fuel.

One point equals 1p, so 150 points gets you £1.50, for example.

You have to have a minimum of 150 points to request a voucher.

Once you have enough points, you can now turn them into vouchers of the face value to spend in store, or you can triple their worth to spend at reward partners, including certain restaurants.

You can request and receive vouchers within 24 hours on your Clubcard account online or on the Clubcard app.

For full terms and conditions about faster vouchers, visit Tesco’s website.

Otherwise, you can wait to have your vouchers posted to you from Tesco, which happens every quarter.

How to donate Clubcard vouchers to charity

To donate the cash, simply login to your Clubcard account online and then visit Tesco Clubcard’s charity partners page.

Select the charity you want to donate to, and as you’re already logged in, it will tell you how much in vouchers you have available to donate.

Next you select how much in vouchers you’d like to give – the minimum is 50p – and add it to your basket. You then confirm the donation by simply “checking out”.

You’ll get an email confirmation within 30minutes.