Scout group hopes to bag cash to buy camping equipment

Tesco teamed up with Groundwork to launch its community funding scheme, which sees grants of £4,000, £2,000 and £1,000 – all raised from the 5p bag levy – 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 during July and August for who they think should take away the top grant.

Leagrave Scout Group is one of the groups on the shortlist. Their bid is for modern camping equipment to allow the Scouts to escape their urban surroundings and take part in adventure and challenges in the great outdoors.

Scout leader Gary Sturrock, on behalf of the group, said: “In the past couple of years Leagrave Scout Group, which covers most of Luton North, has seen a huge growth in the numbers of young people joining us. We now have over 100 young people making us one of the biggest Scout groups in Luton. Although we do as much as we can to raise funds, we are in desperate need of a range of additional new and replacement equipment to take the place of the old gear we currently use. This will allow us to bring more adventures and Bear Grylls’ challenges to our growing family of Scouts.”

Voting is open in all Tesco stores throughout July and August. 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 £30 million to more than 4,600 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.

Lindsey Crompton, head of community at Tesco, said: “We are absolutely delighted to open the voting for July and August. 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: “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