Thanks to local Tesco shoppers, Welton Primary School has benefitted from £4,000 to go towards its outdoor learning facility.

The area, which is being developed with help from the PTA, includes the creation of a digging zone and sandpit for pupils to be both creative and active outdoors. The current area allows for campfires, building dens, wooden swings, carving toasting sticks for the campfire and a mud kitchen. As well as going towards this facility, the £4,000 donation will help to pay for an expert to visit the school and pay for resources to deliver outdoor learning classes. It will also mean that each class in the school can enjoy two sessions outside.

Ian Seymour, Lead Manager at the local Tesco store, told The Journal that community projects are often shy to ask for the full amounts on offer, only for what they need, but should ask for full amounts when applying. He said: “We are so lucky that we have the public’s support, so that when they shop, they are also voting for a project locally – it enables Bags of Help to support the communities in which we live – some of our staff at Tesco will have children at the school, or may once have been pupils there themselves, perhaps!”

Beckie Eschle, Community Champion for Tesco, adds: “We are open to any local charity or cause with grants of up to £4,000, £2,000 or £1,000 – so if you are one of the three chosen in any particular round, you are guaranteed at least £1,000.

“What is nice about the process is that the general public are voting – and we have a local panel here in store that decides which three projects will be chosen at any particular time.

“We have quite a debate choosing them – we are right in the heart of the community and are really proud to support it in this way.”

The Tesco Bags of Help scheme is administered by Groundwork, a UK Environmental charity. It is estimated that so far, more than £43 million has been invested in local projects across the country. Proceeds generated from the sale of plastic bags go into the Bags of help community grant scheme.