[C]umbria Wildlife Trust is delighted to announce that it has been selected for the Tesco Bags of Help grant scheme – but now needs the help of local people. Throughout May and June, shoppers in Tesco stores throughout Barrow and Ulverston are being urged to vote for the charity’s South Walney Nature Reserve.
Each time shoppers make a purchase in-store they will receive a token which they can place in a box to vote for their favourite local community project. The project which receives the highest number of votes will receive up to £4,000, the project in second place up to £2,000 and in third place, £1,000. The more votes South Walney Nature Reserve receives, the more money will be spent on this fabulous local visitor attraction.
The money, which is raised from the plastic carrier bag levy, will be used to kit out two stunning new observation hides on the popular shingle island nature reserve. Hazel Jones, Senior Fundraising Officer at Cumbria Wildlife Trust explains: “We are delighted to have been selected by Tesco for their Bags of Help scheme. This will enable us to furnish two striking new family-friendly hides with a wealth of information and fun ways to experience nature.”
The hides have been designed by the Barrow-based group Art Gene. One is easily accessible as it is close to the entrance and the other overlooks Cumbria’s only colony of grey seals. Visitors can’t get close to the seals as that would disturb them but from the hide they can view the seals at a safe distance, against a spectacular backdrop of Piel Castle and Morecambe Bay.
Hazel continues: “The growing seal colony is hugely popular and we also have thousands of seabirds throughout the year, for instance in spring you can see huge numbers of courting eider ducks and in summer the flocks of oystercatchers and ringed plovers are wonderful to watch. What better way to view them than in one of our new hides? I urge everyone to vote for South Walney Nature Reserve and for these great new resources, which will help even more people get close to nature.”
Lindsey Crompton, Head of Community at Tesco, said: “We are absolutely delighted to open the voting for May and June. There are some fantastic projects on the shortlists and we can’t wait to see them come to life in hundreds of communities.”
Tesco’s Bags of Help project has already delivered over £28.5 million to more than 4,000 projects up and down the UK. Tesco customers get the chance to vote for three different groups every time they shop. Every other month, when votes are collected, three groups in each of Tesco’s regions will be awarded funding.
Voting starts on Sunday 7 May and voters need to make a purchase within a Tesco store. They will receive one token per transaction (it’s not necessary to buy a carrier bag to receive a token). Shoppers can vote for South Walney Nature Reserve in the following Tesco stores until the end of June:
- Express, Rawlinson Street, Barrow
- Extra, Corner House Park, Hindpool Road, Barrow
- Metro, Flass Lane, Barrow
- Express, Ocean Road, Walney
- Express, Market Street, Ulverston
