South Shropshire MP Philip Dunne is encouraging local charities, groups and projects to apply for funding from Bags of Help - the scheme that distributes funds raised by the 5p carrier bag charge in Tesco stores.
In the first round of funding, Tesco shoppers voted to allocate over £11.7 million to 1,170 local projects nationally. These included Grow Cook Learn at the Discovery Centre in Craven Arms, and Stanmore Country Park in Bridgnorth. The latest Bags of Help funding round is now open for community nominations, with groups having until 3rd June 2016 to submit their application.
Applications will be whittled down to three good causes in each of the 442 Tesco areas. Customers can then vote for their favourite local project with the amount of funding available ranging from £8,000 to £12,000.
Mr Dunne said: “The 5p carrier bag charge, compulsory for businesses with over 250 employees, was introduced to make people think twice before throwing bags away, helping protect the environment.
But they also have the positive effect of raising funds to be put back into worthy community projects, as we have seen in Bridgnorth and Craven Arms already.
So I encourage groups, projects and charities in the Ludlow Constituency to apply for the next round of funding.”
After successful applications have been selected, customers will vote in-store from 1st to 9th October this year. The recipient of the most votes will receive £12,000, second place will receive £10,000 and third place £8,000. More information on how to apply can be found at www.groundwork.org.uk/tesco.