SHOPPERS from across Chester have helped raise hundreds of thousands of pounds for good causes and donated enough meals to feed the city’s residents more than three times over, according to figures from Tesco.

The stats show the retailer’s Bags of Help grant scheme, run in partnership with Groundworks, has over the last five years donated more than £170,000 to dozens of grassroots groups and charities across the area.

And since its launch in 2015, the quantity of redistributed surplus food received by the city’s community groups from Tesco’s Community Food Connection scheme amounts to 303,831 meals, the equivalent of giving 166 people a meal every day.

Since its launch Bags of Help grants in Chester have gone towards:

• Upton Westlea Primary School – To provide new science equipment and opportunities for students

• Upton Junior Football Club – To expand opportunities for girls to participate in grassroots football

• Chester Used Furniture Enterprise – To provide disability bicycles and sessions to ensure cycling is accessible and affordable to disabled people across Chester

Warren Sheady, store manager at Tesco’s Sealand Road superstore, said: “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 Chester. 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 Cheshire-based charity Deafness Support Network (DSN), which has put the extra funding towards wellbeing packs for vulnerable service users.

DSN 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.

Jenna Wallace, head of research at the charity, which supports hundreds of people living with sensory loss across Cheshire and North Wales, said: “The pandemic meant that we were unable to conduct our weekly social groups, which were crucial for reducing social isolation among our members.”

“With the help from Tesco, our wellbeing packs have offered new ways to stimulate our members, while also letting them know that there is still someone that cares about them.”

Mr Sheady added: “With £170,000 and 300,000 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."

Any local groups that would benefit from Bags of Help funding are encouraged to apply here: www.tescobagsofhelp.org.uk

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.

The Community Food Connection scheme is run in partnership with food redistribution charity FareShare. Each month more than a million meals of food are donated. To find out about the scheme, please visit: https://www.tescoplc.com/sustainability/product/food-waste/supporting-customers-communities/community-food-connection/