Giant pick ‘n’ mix structure on the Southbank marks programme reaching 1,000 schools and nearly 20 million free portions distributed to children since 2024
Tesco is setting up a free fruit and vegetable giveaway on London’s Southbank on Wednesday 16 September 2026, offering passers-by a free piece of fresh produce as part of a one-day pop-up event marking the expansion of its schools nutrition programme to 1,000 UK schools.
The event runs from 8:30am to 6pm and is open to anyone passing through the Southbank area. No purchase or registration is required — visitors can simply choose a piece of fruit or vegetable from the display and take it away.
What Is Available and Where to Find It
The pop-up takes the form of a large-scale structure designed to resemble an oversized pick ‘n’ mix bag, presented in Tesco’s blue and white colours. The display will offer a range of fresh produce including apples, oranges, peppers, and avocados, alongside other seasonal fruit and vegetable options.
The first 100 visitors to the pop-up will also receive an exclusive Tesco fruit and vegetable plushie alongside their free produce.
The Southbank location — one of London’s most heavily used pedestrian areas, running along the south bank of the Thames between Waterloo Bridge and Blackfriars Bridge — means the event will be accessible to a large volume of Londoners and visitors throughout the day without requiring any detour from common walking routes in the area.
The Programme Behind the Event
The Southbank pop-up is connected to a broader initiative rather than being a standalone promotional stunt. Tesco’s Free Fruit and Veg for Schools programme, run in partnership with the British Nutrition Foundation, provides funding to schools where a higher-than-average proportion of pupils are eligible for free school meals.
The programme funds the provision of fresh fruit and vegetables to children during the school day — introducing pupils to a wider range of produce than many would encounter at home, including less familiar items such as blueberries, watermelon, and asparagus alongside standard staples.
Since the programme launched in October 2024, it has distributed nearly 20 million portions of fruit and vegetables to children across the UK. The Southbank event marks the programme reaching its milestone of 1,000 participating schools in its third year of operation.
Why School Nutrition Programmes Matter in London
The programme’s focus on schools with higher free school meal eligibility rates is directly relevant to London’s child poverty landscape.
One in three children in London lives in poverty — a figure that rises to nearly one in two in some London boroughs. Children from lower-income households are statistically less likely to consume the recommended daily portions of fruit and vegetables, a disparity with measurable consequences for health, cognitive development, and school readiness.
Research by the Food Foundation and others has consistently found that dietary quality in childhood is strongly correlated with income, and that interventions providing fresh produce directly in school settings — where consumption is supervised and normalised among peers — are among the more effective ways of improving dietary intake in lower-income populations.
For London specifically, where food insecurity has risen alongside the cost of living pressures of recent years, programmes that reduce the cost burden of healthy eating for families while building familiarity with fresh produce in children represent a practical response to a documented public health challenge.
The British Nutrition Foundation Partnership
The involvement of the British Nutrition Foundation — an independent charity that provides evidence-based nutritional guidance and education — gives the programme a degree of nutritional credibility beyond standard corporate social responsibility activity.
The Foundation’s partnership role includes guidance on which produce items are included in the programme and how the initiative is framed educationally for schools and children. This distinguishes the programme from straightforward food donation, positioning it as a nutrition education initiative alongside a food access one.
Getting to the Southbank on 16 September
The Southbank is one of the most accessible parts of central London by public transport:
Underground stations within walking distance:
- Waterloo (Northern, Jubilee, Bakerloo lines, and National Rail) — approximately 5-10 minute walk
- Blackfriars (Circle and District lines) — approximately 5 minute walk
- Southwark (Jubilee line) — approximately 10 minute walk
- London Bridge (Northern and Jubilee lines) — approximately 15 minute walk
Bus routes: Multiple bus routes serve the Waterloo and Blackfriars areas, with stops on the south side of Waterloo Bridge and along Belvedere Road.
The Southbank is also accessible on foot from both Waterloo Bridge and Blackfriars Bridge for those crossing from the north side of the Thames.
The Broader Context: Food and Children in London
The Tesco schools programme sits within a wider set of initiatives addressing child nutrition and food access in London that have grown in scale and ambition as the cost of living crisis has deepened over recent years.
The summer holiday period consistently generates the sharpest pressure point, when children lose access to free school meals and families face increased food costs. During term time, programmes like Tesco’s provide consistent access to fresh produce for children in schools where household budgets make it difficult for families to prioritise fresh fruit and vegetables over more affordable calorie-dense staples.
The expansion to 1,000 schools represents a meaningful increase in reach from the programme’s initial rollout, and the Southbank event — by connecting the schools-focused initiative to a public-facing activity in central London — gives the programme visibility beyond the educational settings where its direct impact occurs.
