Forres Tesco community champion Anne Gordon donates items and funding to local projects

An employee at the town’s biggest supermarket is enjoying her new role helping other residents wherever she can.

Since taking on the additional title of Tesco community champion alongside customer service manager, Michael Walker, personal shopper, Anne Gordon, has relished the chance to support groups, organisations and individuals with donations of items and funding.

She explained: “It's all about giving back and helping where we can. Whether it's providing raffle prizes, donating to fundraising efforts, or supplying food parcels to those in need, I’m always looking for ways to make a difference.

“We frequently assist local charities with hygiene products, gift essential items to nurseries, and work closely with Moray Food Plus to ensure families have access to food.”

Community champions are a link between stores and the communities they serve. They have the know-how, resources and time to dedicate to customers, colleagues and the wider community.

With knowledge of programmes such as Tesco Food Collections and the store’s community grants scheme, community champions assist with grant application forms, signpost charity partners and share other tools.

They also manage a small donation budget that can be used for support for community groups or events.

“We get a quarterly budget,” said Anne. “We try to stick to it but, admittedly, this is getting harder with costs going up.”

Anne devotes around five to ten hours-a-week to the role, more in busier times.

She said: “One of the best parts of my job is getting out and meeting people, hearing their stories, and learning more about the community. Having lived in Forres all my life and worked for Tesco for 23 years, it's great to be able to help.”

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