Vote for us in Tesco's Bags of Help - voting starts 1/11/2017

                                                                                                               
The Lauriston Social Farming Initiative calls out for votes to bag a share of bag fund

The Lauriston Social Farming Initiative is bidding to bag a massive cash boost from the Tesco Bags of Help initiative.

Tesco teamed up with Groundwork to launch its community funding scheme, which sees grants of £4,000, £2,000 and £1,000 – raised from carrier bag sales in Tesco stores - being awarded to local community projects.

Three groups in every Tesco region have been shortlisted to receive the cash award and shoppers are being invited to head along to Tesco stores to vote for who they think should take away the top grant.

Lauriston Social Farming Initiative is one of the groups on the shortlist.

The project will fund free social farming taster days for adults with a learning disability at Lauriston Farm in Goldhanger.

“We have been working extremely hard this year to develop a new social (CARE) farming facility for adults with a learning disability on the Blackwater Estuary.  We are now ready to open our farm doors and invite indiviuals to enjoy a tatser day to see if they would like to attend the farm more regfularly and become a co-worker.  The Tesco fund will help to fuind these taster days so plese ask for the green coin and drop it in our box!”
Farm Director, Spencer Christy,

Voting is open in the Maldon, Burnham and Danbury Tesco stores throughout November and December. Customers will cast their vote using a token given to them at the check-out in store each time they shop.

Tesco’s Bags of Help project has already delivered over £36 million to nearly 8,000 projects up and down the UK. Tesco customers get the chance to vote for three different groups every time they shop. Every other month, when votes are collected, three groups in each of Tesco’s regions will be awarded funding.

Alec Brown, Head of Community at Tesco, said:
 “We are absolutely delighted to open the voting for November and December. There are some fantastic projects on the shortlists and we can’t wait to see these come to life in hundreds of communities.”

Groundwork’s National Chief Executive, Graham Duxbury, said:
 “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.
“We’re looking forward to learning the results of the customer vote and then supporting each group to bring their project to life.”
Funding is available to community groups and charities looking to fund local projects that bring benefits to communities. Anyone can nominate a project and organisations can apply online. To find out more visit www.tesco.com/bagsofhelp

NOTES:

• The Bags of Help initiative is supported by money raised from carrier bag sales in Tesco stores.
• So far Bags of Help has awarded £36 million to  nearly 8,000 community projects.
• For more information please visit: www.tesco.com/bagsofhelp