MORE than £100,000 has been handed out to good causes across Inverclyde in the last eight years by Britain's biggest supermarket chain: and a large part of the credit for that goes to Lorella Sutherland.
Lorella Sutherland is the community champion at Greenock's Tesco store, which makes her the first point of call for local groups and charities looking for support.
The Gourock mum-of-two loves helping people, and says the biggest impact the role has had on her is through the running of the Christmas toy appeal.
Customers and staff using a 'giving tree' to donate presents which are then given to children vulnerable or struggling families to ensure they have a gift to open on Christmas morning.
The appeal takes referrals from Barnardo's, Women's Aid and the Inverclyde health and social care partnership.
"That has been an eye-opener," Lorella said.
"We get a list of ages of the children, and for Women's Aid, we also get mothers a parcel too, with pyjamas, slippers and bath products.
"On one of the lists was for a wee boy who was only six months old. It was so terrible to think that a mum and her baby were in such a situation. I felt so emotional about it.
"The work Women's Aid do is amazing. They also support families when they leave the refugee and move into a flat.
"It's a good feeling to know that we can do something to help."
Through her work Lorella has also supported the Inverclyde Homeless Forum and care homes across the area.
"Since I've been there, I know we have managed to raise £100,000 for lots of different charities, from the foodbank to donating uniforms," she continued.
"It is very much a team effort. Tesco as an employer is very committed to giving something back to the community."
Lorella helps to co-ordinate collections and donations from customers and staff, while there is also a permanent food bank collection point in the store, operated in conjunction with the Trussell Trust.
"We give food as well as toys at Christmas," she said.
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"We also get late referrals for Christmas toys, and that just breaks my heart. I can't imagine not having anything for my kids on Christmas Day.
"We received a referral from Barnardo's from a wee boy who was four, asking for Thomas The Tank Engine pyjamas.
"I just felt myself welling up at that. That's a staple it's a piece of clothing. My wee boy was about the same age at that time, so it really hit home.
"He ended up getting a whole range of Thomas the Tank toys as well."
Lorella's work with one particular charity, Reach for Autism, has also taken her to the Scottish Parliament, where she performed in a play, In Our World: A Day on the Spectrum, in her role as a store worker.
She said: "It was a play about what everyday situations are like for people with autism, such as going into a shop. It was really interesting."
A favourite part of the job was visiting schools, though that's been put on hold since the pandemic.
"We used to have schools coming in for a tour of the store," Lorella said, "and then I used to go out to schools and they would swap their play pieces for fruit and healthy snacks.
"Sadly that stopped due to Covid, but it is something I really enjoyed, talking to the kids, and it's something I'd like to do again."
Lorella lives in Midton with husband Andrew, who works for Zurich Insurance, and their children Leah, 11, and Louis, 8.
She was brought up in Tower Drive with her sister Adele, though their parents, Tonino and Elaine, separated when she was young.
Lorella is proud of her Italian roots and remained closed to her father's parents, whom she called Nonna and Nonno (grandmother and grandfather).
Her family came from the La Spezia area, between Genoa and Pisa on the country's north-west coast, and she remembers her grandmother was always cooking some Italian speciality, including sauces, soups and her own pasta - in the days long before 'pasta makers' became an accessible accessory.
Lorella and Adele were also very close, being born only 15 months apart in the late 1970s, and went to the area's Italian Club with their two cousins to learn the language.
After her schooldays, which began at Moorfoot Primary, Lorella worked at her Nonno's chip shop, at the Mimtec plant in Faulds Park, and at Quincy's chip shop in West Stewart Street, before she started working in Tesco.
After a short spell on the check-outs and at the petrol station, the chance to became the store's community champion came up, and she was put forward for the job.
"At first it was quite overwhelming," she said.
"If I do a job, I need to do it right, so for the first few weeks, I was reaching out to people online, sending emails to local groups and charities, and arranging to meet up with them."
It was a step that would change her life, and never did she think that more than 20 years later she would have helped, and would be continuing to help, make such a difference to so many in the community.
Lorella, though, reckons that the philosophy of doing what you can to help others less fortunate is one that's been with her since childhood.
"When we were wee me and my sister used to hold little table-top sales," she recalled, "and we would give the money made to the McPherson Centre in the town. It was a day centre for disabled people.
"So it must have always been there."
And it's rubbed off on her family too, with Leah joining Lorella in taking part in the recent Race for Life event to support Cancer Research UK.
Lorella says she is hugely proud, not just of being the face of Tesco's local charity efforts, but of inspiring Leah to follow in her footsteps.
"People might be embarrassed about asking for help," she added, "but I would like to think that I put them at their ease. I'm the first point of contact.
"My daughter says 'everyone knows you', and I'm so proud that it's rubbed off on her and inspired her to do something for charity."
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