The Royal Star & Garter Homes is bidding to bag a massive cash boost from the Tesco Bags of Help initiative.

Tesco teamed up with Groundwork to launch its community funding scheme, which sees grants of £4,000, £2,000 and £1,000 raised from carrier bag sales in Tesco stores awarded to local community projects.

Three groups in every Tesco region have been shortlisted to receive the cash award and shoppers are being invited to head along to Tesco stores to vote for who they think should take away the top grant.

The Royal Star & Garter Homes is one of the groups on the shortlist.

The Charity cares for ex-Servicemen and women and their partners living with disability or dementia. Money from the Tesco Bags of Help initiative will go towards funding a new minibus for the Home in Surbiton.

Caley Eldred is Director of Supporter Engagement at the Charity. She said: “We’re so excited to be part of the Tesco Bags of Help programme. We need to replace our minibus so we can continue taking residents on outings. We’re hoping as many people as possible can pop their tokens in for The Royal Star & Garter Homes.”

Voting is open in all Tesco stores from 1 January to 28 February and customers will cast their vote using a token given to them at the check-out in store each time they shop.

Tesco’s Bags of Help project has already delivered over £63 million to more than 20,000 projects across Britain. 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.

Alec Brown, Head of Community at Tesco, said: “Bags of Help has been a fantastic success and we’ve been overwhelmed by the response from customers. It’s such a special scheme because it’s local people who decide how the money will be spent in their community. There are some fantastic projects on the shortlists and we can’t wait to see these come to life in hundreds of communities.”

Groundwork’s National Chief Executive, Graham Duxbury, said: “Bags of Help continues to enable local communities up and down Britain to improve the local spaces and places that matter to them. The diversity of projects that are being funded shows that local communities have a passion to create something great in their area. We are pleased to be able to be a part of the journey and provide support and encouragement to help local communities thrive.”

Funding is available to community groups and charities looking to fund local projects that bring benefits to communities. Anyone can nominate a project and organisations can apply online. To find out more visit www.tesco.com/bagsofhelp

You can vote for The Royal Star & Garter Homes at the following Tesco stores:

• Chessington Hook Express, Hook Road, Chessington
• Tesco Express, Richmond Road, Kingston
• New Malden Express, High Street, New Malden
• Norbiton Express, The Triangle, Kingston
• Surbiton Hook Road Express, Hook Road
• Tolworth Esso Express, The Broadway, Tolworth
• Worcester Park Express, Malden Road, Worcester Park