THE Aldi store in Cowdenbeath once again spread festive cheer when the supermarket donated many meals to people in need on Christmas Eve.

Aldi paired up 14 stores with local charities and food banks across central Scotland to make the most of the quality unsold fresh food after stores closed on December 24 and the Stenhouse Street facility took part in the event.

Around 48,000 meals from Aldi stores in Scotland saw charities benefitting and the Cowdenbeath store donated surplus food to the Toll Community Centre, in Burntisland.

This follows on from the successful partnership between Aldi and Neighbourly, a community engagement platform that links businesses to key charitable organisations. The initiative was rolled out to all UK stores earlier this year and Aldi has now paired up 95% with local good causes, that are now collecting surplus food up to five days a week, all year round.

Fritz Walleczek, Managing Director of Corporate Responsibility at Aldi UK, said: “By donating fresh food such as bread, fruit, vegetables and meat we’ve been able to support charities in providing warm and healthy festive meals this Christmas season.

“The feedback has been overwhelming and we’re delighted that we’ve been able to go above and beyond with our donations once again this year, and reach over 500 charities across the UK.”