The Royal Star & Garter Home in Surbiton is delighted to receive £4,000 from Tesco’s Bags of Help community grant scheme.

Tesco customers had been given the chance earlier this year to vote for the Charity and two other local good causes at Tesco Express stores using blue tokens at the check-outs. It has now been revealed The Royal Star & Garter Homes received the most votes, and with it the biggest slice of the grant.

The Charity cares for ex-Servicemen and women and their partners living with disability or dementia. The Bags of Help grant will go towards a new minibus to take residents on outings and to medical appointments.

Caley Eldred, Director of Supporter Engagement at the Charity, said: “This is such wonderful news for the veterans we look after. Our current minibus is at the end of its useful life, so we’re raising money for a new one, which will play a key role in the quality of care we provide. We’d like to thank Tesco for this generous grant, and all those who voted for us and urged their friends and family to support us.”

Bags of Help is run in partnership with environmental charity Groundwork, and sees grants awarded to thousands of local community projects every year. Since launching in 2015, it’s provided more than £71 million to over 23,000 local community projects.

Voting ran in stores throughout January and February with customers using their tokens to choose which local project they would like to get the top award.

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.

The Home in Solihull is also taking part in a Bags of Help scheme, with voting taking place throughout March and April.