The Hungerford Hub team is delighted to announce it has bagged the top prize in Tesco’s Bags of Help community grant scheme. The scheme 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 £63 million to over 20,000 local community projects.
Millions of shoppers have voted in Tesco stores up and down the country and it can now be revealed that locally, Hungerford Hub has been awarded £4,000 which will be put to immediate use updating the Hub kitchen.
The kitchen will be used by the library staff and the Hub team alike, and will be fitted out with everything that hirers might need when they are putting on an event. The Hungerford Hub team work tirelessly to raise money to keep the building open so please visit hungerfordhub.com for info on how to hire the venue for your event.
Work will begin on bringing the project to life in the new year, with the aim of having the kitchen up and running very quickly. The design of the kitchen is being masterminded by Kathy Rough, a member of the Hub team, who said “We will be installing new kitchen units with plenty of storage for new crockery and glassware. There will be a built in microwave, a new fridge and a dishwasher. In fact everything to make using the Hub a pleasure. We will be using local companies and tradesmen to source and fit the kitchen.”
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.”
Voting ran in stores throughout September and October with customers choosing which local project they would like to get the top award using a token given to them at the checkout.
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.”
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.
