Tesco carrier bag fund sees £30,000 handed out to Hartlepool good causes

The supermarket teamed up with Groundwork to launch the second round of its ‘Bags of Help’ funding initiative, which sees grants of £12,000, £10,000 and £8,000 - all raised from the 5p bag levy - being awarded to outdoor community projects.

In Hartlepool, Friends of Hartlepool’s Wild Green Spaces took home the top grant of £12,000 which it will spend on its project- ‘Burn Valley Garden Enhancements.’

The runners-up were Hartlepool Borough Council, which bagged £10,000 for its Waverley Terrace Allotment Project and Friends of Ward Jackson Park, which received a grant of £8,000.

Mark Thomas, Tesco corporate affairs manager for the north of England, said: “Bags of Help has been a fantastic success. We have been overwhelmed by the response of our customers and it’s been great to give people a say on how the money will be spent in their community.

“We can’t wait to see the money being used to bring these projects to life.”

Tesco estimates that around six million votes were cast from October 31 to November 13 in stores across the country- with customers choosing which local project they would like to get the top award using a token given to them at the check-out in store.

Since it’s launch the project has awarded more than £24m across 2,421 local projects and now customers will get the chance to vote for worthy causes all year round.

To find out more visit: www.tesco.com/bagsofhelp<http://www.tesco.com/bagsofhelp>