A record-breaking number of Christian Easter eggs have been donated to food banks despite the coronavirus pandemic.
Some 3,000 Real Easter Eggs have so far been donated to food banks through The Meaningful Chocolate Company's website, surpassing all previous years.
The company's Real Easter Egg is the only chocolate Easter egg on sale in the UK to mention the Christian faith on its packaging. Each egg comes with a children's book that tells the story of Jesus and the Christian origins of Easter.
In the run-up to Easter, the Meaningful Chocolate Company gives shoppers purchasing Real Easter Eggs through its website the option of donating an additional egg to a food bank.
The eggs are then sent on to the Trussell Trust, a Christian food bank network, as well as other food banks across the UK.
The donations come at a time when the Trussell Trust is preparing for an increase in demand for emergency food parcels.
David Marshall, CEO of the Meaningful Chocolate Company, said that while the online scheme was usually "quiet", he's been "overwhelmed" by the number of eggs donated this year.
"We have been very busy over the past few weeks home-delivering thousands of Real Easter Eggs. But hundreds of people, as they have been shopping for friends and family, have been buying and donating eggs to food banks through our scheme," he said.
"Usually a couple of hundred eggs are donated in total but this year we have been overwhelmed and a record-breaking 3,000 eggs have been donated.
"What is moving is people are donating their purchase to someone they will never meet or hear from but trust that the Easter story, which come with each egg, will make a difference and the chocolate egg give a treat.
"One customer told us she had a legacy from her father and wanted to use some of it to send a pallet of eggs to those in need."
To donate an egg or sponsor a pallet to a food bank visit www.realeasteregg.co.uk
