ASHFORD Carbonell Village Hall Committee is bidding to bag a massive cash boost from the Tesco Bags of Help initiative.

Tesco teamed up with Groundwork to launch the monthly funding scheme, which sees grants of £5,000, £2,000 and £1,000 – all raised from the 5p bag levy – being awarded to local outdoor community projects.

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

Ashford Carbonell Village Hall Committee is one of the groups on the shortlist.

The committee want to improve the playground at the village hall for a wider age range of children and also to provide for disabled children.

Plans include installing as ‘basket swing’ that can be used by disabled children as well as a slide and other improvements.

The playground has very limited facilities, mainly for younger able-bodied children, so they would like to widen the scope of this facility for all the children in the district.

“We want to make the area of interest to older children and to those with disabilities,” said Ishbel Yellowley, vice-chair of the village hall committee.

There is already an Awards for All grant of £10,000 in the kitty but the estimated cost of the improvements is double that and so the amount of money from Teso will determine how much of the scheme will be possible.

It is hoped to start the work during February.

Voting is open in stores until January 28. Customers will cast their vote using a token given to them at the check-out in store each time they shop.

Tesco customers get the chance to vote for three different schemes each month. At the end of each month, when votes are collected, three groups in each of Tesco’s regions will be awarded funding.

“We are absolutely delighted to open the voting for January. There are some fantastic projects on the shortlists,” said Linsey Crompton from Tesco.

Last year the Tesco scheme made possible the building of a sensory garden in Ludlow Town Centre with a grant of £12,000.

“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,” said Graham Duxbury, chief executive of Groundwork.

The Bags of Help scheme is permanently open for applications and anyone can nominate a project at any time – whether it's Tesco customers, colleagues or the community groups themselves.

It is funded by the proceeds of the 6p levy that is charged for plastic bags that are sold to customers.

So far, the scheme has supported more than 2,400 projects across the country with funding of £24 million.

For more information ask in store or visit the Bags of Help website, visitwww.tesco.com/bagsofhelp/

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