Member Article

Impact of community initiatives in Hertfordshire revealed by Tesco

Over the last five years, shoppers from across Hertfordshire have helped raise hundreds of thousands of pounds for good causes and donated more than one million meals, according to figures from Tesco.

The stats show the retailer’s Bags of Help grant scheme, run in partnership with Groundworks, has to-date donated £2,172,827 towards 752 projects run by charities and community groups across the area.

And since its launch in 2015, the quantity of redistributed surplus food received by the county’s community groups from Tesco’s Community Food Connection scheme amounts to 1,002,447 meals, the equivalent of giving 657 people a meal every day.

Since its launch in 2016, Bags of Help grants in Hertfordshire have gone towards: • The Friends of Mill Mead School – To create an outdoor play area and learning space for children to use in all weather conditions

• Active in the Community CIC – To provide sport and physical activity opportunities for disabled people

• Autism / ADHD Parent Carer Support – To launch a specialist support group for parents and carers of children with ADHD and Autism to meet and discuss the ways they can help their children

Amber Andrews, Store Manager at Tesco’s Herford Superstore, comments: “All the colleagues across our store, are so proud to be able to support the community directly in this way.

“The figures are excellent to see, and it shows the what impact five years of hard work and an ‘Every Little Helps’ mentality can have on a community like ours in Hertford. We hope to continue helping people in the local community for many years to come.” A local group, which recently benefitted from the Bags of Help grant, is the charity Carers in Hertfordshire.

The charity took part in Tesco’s recent Covid19 support, which provided emergency grants of £500 to charities across the country to help mitigate the impact the outbreak had on charities.

Liz Alderson, Fundraising Manager at Carers in Hertfordshire, said: “We are so grateful to Tesco for their support. This grant has provided our volunteers with equipment to make vital Keep in Touch calls to our older and extremely vulnerable unpaid carers.

“Thanks to the funding, our fantastic team of 40 volunteers have been able to support nearly 5000 unpaid carers since lockdown began.

She concludes: “Unpaid carers struggle under normal circumstances but Coronavirus has only exacerbated this. Our calls are crucial to reminding them they are not forgotten and to reduce that feeling of isolation and risk of a carer breakdown. Thank you Tesco for making this happen!”

Another group benefitting from the initiative is Future Living Hertfordshire, a charity supporting victims of domestic abuse. The group, which experienced a 600% increase in cases during lockdown, received a grant from Tesco which helped to fund free to access counselling services. Sandra Conte, Chief Executive Officer at Future Living Hertford, said: “We’re extremely grateful to Tesco for appreciating the needs of their communities by providing some important funding.

“The grant has helped to improve the mental wellbeing of many people in unpredictable circumstances. As a result of the work we were able to do, we were awarded the prestigious Hero of Hertfordshire award, which commended us for our service to the people of Hertfordshire.”

Amber Andrews, Store Manager at Tesco’s Herford Superstore, adds: “With more than £2 million worth of funding and more than a million meals donated, I’d like to say a particular thanks to our Tesco staff and customers who have made this achievement possible. On a weekly basis, we’re always hearing anecdotally, from our customers, just how important these initiatives are for the area.”

Through distribution partners, FareShare and Groundwork, local groups across the country are dedicated to ensuring that the most vulnerable within our communities are supplied with essentials even if they cannot leave home.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Louise Taylor .