We are bidding for a cash boost from the Tesco Community Grants initiative.

Tesco works with community charity Groundwork to run its community funding scheme, which sees grants of up to £1,500, £1,000 and £500 awarded to local community projects. greenspace scotland is working with Groundwork to provide support to communities in Scotland.

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

Cheryl Reid, Scottish SPCA trusts officer, said, “We’re delighted to be shortlisted for the Tesco Community Grants initiative. We receive no government funding so we rely completely on generous donations from the public and initiatives like this to carry out our vital work.

“This money would enable us to provide fun, educational resources for school children with additional support needs in the Kilbirnie and Largs area.

"It is vitally important to us that our Animal WISE programme is inclusive for everyone and that is why we are looking to develop an additional enhanced toolkit for our education team to use. This will ensure that young people that have additional support needs are able to enjoy our workshops as much as their peers.

“We will produce games and activity books in braille, use film signers to accompany our videos, and provide personal tablets so that young people with visual or hearing impairments have an individual screen enabling them to view our videos and games in the most suitable resolution for their individual needs."

Voting is open in all Tesco stores in April, May and June and customers will cast their vote using a token given to them at the check-out each time they shop from 1 April until 30 June.

Tesco’s Community Grants scheme has already provided over £90 million to more than 40,000 projects across Britain. Tesco customers get the chance to vote for three different groups every time they shop. Every three months, when votes are collected, three groups in each of Tesco’s regions will be awarded funding.

Tony McElroy, Tesco’s Head of Communications in Scotland, said: “Tesco Community Grants help support local good causes but especially those projects supporting young people, those providing food, and local causes close to our colleagues’ hearts.”

Emma Halliday, Community Enabler Coordinator at greenspace scotland, said: “Tesco Community Grants continues to give local projects the boost they need to help their communities thrive. By funding services which support young people and reduce food poverty, we hope to facilitate positive change from the ground up across the UK. We are pleased to have been able to help so many local good causes over the years and look forward to seeing what community organisations can achieve in the future with the right resources.”

Funding is available to community groups and charities looking to fund local projects that bring benefits to communities, particularly those helping to provide food and giving children the support they need for a good start in life. Anyone can nominate a project and organisations can apply online. To find out more visit www.tesco.com/communitygrants.