THE Tesco "Bags of Help" Scheme is accepting applications again after a short pause while the Centenary Celebration Grants were being voted on and distributed.

The scheme, in which local organisations can apply for grants of £2,000 - £1,000 and £500, is back in both Crediton Tesco stores with local groups encouraged to apply for funding to help or complete planned projects.

Successful applications see the lucky groups chosen being voted on by customers of the stores via the "Blue Tokens" handed out at the checkouts, and self-service areas.

Since its inception in 2016 the Crediton stores have been responsible for 60 local projects being voted on and, in total, receiving more than £228,000.

In Tesco stores across the South West region, 3,376 projects have benefited from more than £9.7m to help their local communities.

Applications, (or a checking facility for eligibility), can be found at: www.tescobagsofhelp.org.uk .

Tesco Community Champion for the Crediton area, Andrew Drayton, encourages any local group to apply for the scheme saying, “the beauty of the Bags of Help scheme is that the groups that make the voting stage in the Crediton stores are organisations that will have a direct impact on our local community.”

He continued: “The variety of projects that have won funding in the past is enormous and there is a specific area on the website for you to check if you qualify before filling out the full application.”

One of the benefits of the Bags of Help Scheme is that Bags of Help can fund 100 per cent of your project costs so you do not have to have any match funding.

However, if you secured additional funding, there is no limit to what this amount can be and any funding awarded by Bags of Help can form part of your wider project costs.

Your project can be a stand-alone project or discreet, self-contained part of a larger scheme or part of a phased project. You will need to complete your project within 12 months of receipt of the grant.

Andrew finished by saying: “There are not many funding schemes out there that are so focussed on small local organisations that may just be chasing funding for small community beneficial projects.

"If you feel that you, or an organisation that you know are doing good work in our area then I would point them in the direction of the Bags of Help Scheme.”ORDER YOUR DIGITAL EDITION HERE