THE Warrington Visually Impaired People charity is bidding to bag a massive cash boost from the Tesco Bags of Help initiative.
The supermarket has teamed up with Groundwork on its Bags of Help initiative, which see grants of £12,000, £10,000 and £8,000 – all raised from the 5p bag levy – being awarded to environmental and greenspace projects.
Three groups in each of Tesco’s 416 regions have been shortlisted to receive the cash award.
At the end of this month shoppers are being invited to head along to Tesco stores to vote for who they think should take away the top grant.
Warrington Visually Impaired People (VIP) is one of the groups on the shortlist. The VIP project is to create a peaceful courtyard at their Museum Street premises shared by charities where members and friends and family can relax in a tranquil space.
VIP manager, Gail Bretherton said: “We are delighted to have been selected. The funding means that we can develop the courtyard for our members and other charities that share or visit our premises.”
Voting is open in stores from 31 October to 13 November. Customers will cast their vote using a token given to them at the check-out in store each time they shop.
This is the second round of the initiative: the first round saw approximately eight million shoppers vote in stores up and down the country earlier this year.
Lindsey Crompton, Head of Community at Tesco, said: “The first round of the Bags of Help initiative was a fantastic success.
“In total 1,170 community groups were awarded £8,000, £10,000 or £12,000 – that’s a massive £11.7 million being invested into local projects.
“We are already seeing some great results from groups transforming their own environmental and greenspace areas.
“We are absolutely delighted to open the voting for round two. There are some fantastic projects on the shortlists and we can’t wait to see them come to life in hundreds of communities.”
Groundwork’s national Chief Executive, Graham Duxbury, said: “Bags of Help is giving our communities both the funding and the support to create better, healthier and greener places for everyone to enjoy.
“We’ve been thrilled to see the diversity of projects that have applied for funding, ranging from outdoor classrooms, sports facilities, community gardens, play areas and everything in between.
“They’re all fantastic projects that make a real difference in our neighbourhoods.
“We’re looking forward to learning the results of the customer vote and then supporting each group to bring their project to life.”
