Football may not be coming home but we are hoping a set of specialist swings soon will be!  

Thanks to the Tesco Bags of Help initiative, the North East Autism Society is set to receive a share of £4000 to pay for specialist play equipment at our New Warlands Farm site.

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 awarded to local community projects.

Three groups in every 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.

Shoppers in the following Tesco stores will get a token each time they shop and can opt to ‘vote’ for the North East Autism Society:

 

Tesco Extra:

• Durham,  DH1 2RS.

Tesco Superstore:

• Durham Langley Moor, DH7 8JG

 Tesco Metro:

• Durham Market Place, ,  DH1 3NH.

 Tesco Express stores in:  

• Durham North Road ,DH1 4SH
• Hetten le Hole ,DH5 9PA,
• Sacriston,   DH7 6JT,
• Stockton Road, Seaham, SR7 0HJ

 John Phillipson, North East Autism Society, chief executive, said: “We are delighted to have been chosen to be part of this initiative and hope people will get behind us and use their token to vote for the North East Autism Society.

“The specialist swings will allow adults with autism, learning difficulties or disabilities to have fun, enjoy the outdoors and best of all do it safely. They’ll be located next to our training centre and short break lodges meaning a lot of people will enjoy them. Without your help things like this just wouldn’t be possible.”

Voting is open now in the selected Tesco stores until the end of August.

Tesco’s Bags of Help project has already delivered over £52 million to more than 16,000 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:“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.”

Groundwork’s National Chief Executive, Graham Duxbury, added:“We are pleased to be able to be a part of the journey and provide support and encouragement to help local communities thrive.”

For more information email or visit: www.tesco.com/bagsofhelp.