Care for the Carers bags £6,000 from Tesco’s community grant scheme

Monday 22 October 2018

Care for the Carers is delighted to announce we have received a donation of £4,000 from Tesco’s Bags of Help community grant scheme, which was running in Bexhill’s Tesco stores.

A further award of £2,000 was awarded by Tesco stores in Crowborough, after we also secured votes from shoppers to support activities for carers in the Crowborough area. We are now seeking votes in the Uckfield area, to help carers in that region.

Bags of Help is run in partnership with environmental charity Groundwork, and sees grants raised from the sale of carrier bags awarded to thousands of local community projects every year. Since launching in 2015, it’s provided more than £60 million to 18,000 local community projects.

Millions of shoppers have voted in Tesco stores up and down the country and it can now be revealed Care for the Carers has been awarded £6,000 as a result. Work will now begin on bringing the projects in Bexhill and Crowborough to life.

Voting ran in stores throughout July and August with customers choosing which local project they would like to get the top award using a token given to them at the checkout.

Tesco customers get the chance to vote for three different groups each time they shop. Every other month, when votes are collected, three groups in each of Tesco’s regions are awarded funding.

How the money will be spent

This funding award will enable us to establish a monthly support group in Bexhill for unpaid carers of people with dementia, to meet together, receive advice on supporting themselves, and the person they care for.

In Crowborough, Care for the Carers plans to use the funding to extend its countywide activities programme and offer a range of free local activities to support unpaid carers in Crowborough, reaching more unpaid carers in need.

Jennifer Twist, CEO of Care for the Carers: “We are delighted to receive this generous funding from our local Tesco branches in Bexhill and Crowborough. We are very touched by the general public’s support for these projects and unpaid carers. Having the chance to feature in our local Tesco stores has not only allowed us to raise much needed funds, but the profile of unpaid carers and our work in East Sussex, enabling us to reach and support more people. Thank you.”

Alec Brown, Tesco’s Head of Community, said:

“Bags of Help has been a fantastic success and we’ve been overwhelmed by the response from customers. It’s such a special scheme because it’s local people who decide how the money will be spent in their community. We can’t wait to see the projects come to life.”

Shoppers at Uckfield’s Tesco stores now also have the opportunity before the end of October to vote for Care for the Carers to help fund its work in developing specialist support groups, and providing information and advice for unpaid carers in Uckfield.

Groundwork’s National Chief Executive, Graham Duxbury, said:

“Bags of Help continues to enable local communities up and down Britain to improve the local spaces and places that matter to them. The diversity of projects that are being funded shows that local communities have a passion to create something great in their area. We are pleased to be able to be a part of the journey and provide support and encouragement to help local communities thrive.”

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