A trio of Chesterfield schools and good causes are in the running for much-needed funds to help young people.
St Mary’s Catholic Primary School], Lenthall Infant and Nursery School and Burngreave Foodbank have been selected in the latest round of voting in Tesco’s Free Fruit & Veg grants programme with £500, £1,000 and £1,500 available – and customers can now vote for the one they want to support.
The programme is open to initiatives in Chesterfield that have a food focus for young people, including breakfast clubs, holiday food provision, access to healthy snacks for youth groups, community pantries, cookery and nutrition sessions, and food-growing projects that help children learn where food comes from.
The grants form part of Tesco’s Free Fruit & Veg for Schools programme, giving schools and community groups funding for healthy food projects as the retailer works to help more than one million schoolchildren get fruit and vegetables through its school and community programmes, ran in partnership with community charity Groundwork.
St Mary’s Catholic Primary School’s funding so that it can continue to deliver its “Cook Fresh Project”, which brings children and their families together to learn how to prepare a diverse range of healthy, affordable and quick meals that can be easily recreated at home.
Also in line for funding is Lenthall Infant and Nursery School, which is looking to use the money it receives to expand its “Fuel for Learning Club” by providing fruit and vegetables as part of the free breakfast club, ensuring more children access nutritious food while supporting their health, wellbeing and readiness to learn.
Lastly, Burngreave Foodbank will use the grant it gets to help provide healthy food to families with children, reducing stress for parents and ensuring they have access to nutritious meals throughout the week.
Claire de Silva, head of community at Tesco, said: “Every child deserves the chance to enjoy healthy food and build the foundations for a stronger future, so we want to support the brilliant schools and community groups in Chesterfield helping children and young people access nutritious food.
“Whether that’s a breakfast club, a pantry, cookery sessions or a project that helps children grow and try new foods, we’d encourage local organisations to apply for the grants – and we’d love shoppers to get involved when the customer vote comes to their local store.”
Customers can vote for the good cause they want to support by dropping the Tesco token they receive at the checkout into the relevant voting box as they leave the store. Each funding round features three local projects, with grants awarded based on the number of tokens received.
Schools and community groups in Chesterfield can apply for funding in future rounds via Tesco, as the retailer looks to support more local projects helping children and young people access healthy, nutritious food. In recent years, thousands of pounds have been donated to Chesterfield good causes.
For more information about the Tesco Free Fruit & Veg for Schools programme and find out how to apply for a grant , visit: https://www.tescoplc.com/fruit-and-veg-grants
