Community projects in the Pembroke Dock area are being encouraged to apply for a ‘Bags of Help’ grant for their schemes.

Bags of Help is Tesco’s local community grant scheme where the money raised from the 5p bag charge in Tesco stores is being used to fund thousands of community projects across the UK.

The projects must meet the criteria of bringing benefits to the community.

Bags of Help is administered by Groundwork and is now open for applications from charities and community organisations.

Applications are assessed by Groundwork to ensure they are eligible. In areas where application numbers are high, Tesco colleagues will shortlist the projects to determine which go forward to the customer vote.

Three community projects in each local area will be voted on by customers in Tesco stores throughout the UK, with projects changing every other month. Following the vote, the project that received the most votes in its area will receive a grant of up to £4,000, second place receiving up to £2,000 and third place up to £1,000.

Grants will be awarded to voluntary or community organisations (including registered charities/companies), schools, health bodies (e.g. Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs), NHS Hospital Trust, Foundation Trust), Parish/Town Councils, local authorities and social housing providers.

This list is not exhaustive and there will be many other types of organisations that will be funded.

Applications will not be funded where: Individuals have applied, as groups must be fully constituted; Profit-making organisations are also ineligible for funding.

The types of projects funded will be very broad and will cover the direct costs needed to deliver the project, this could range from: • Purchasing items which will benefit local community groups such as sports kit, specialised medical equipment, art and crafts materials, spades, litter pickers, camping equipment.

• Improvements to a building that benefits the local community such as a Scout or Guide hut, church or village hall, changing facilities for sports.

• Developing an outdoor space play area, allotment, park, school grounds, woodland or wildlife area.

• Running a community event or activity such as fun runs, village fete, clean-up day, tree planting, bird watch.

• Supporting seasonal activities such as purchasing new Christmas lights, supporting a Christmas meal for the homeless or a Diwali celebration event for the community etc.

• Bags of Help can fund 100% 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 discrete, self-contained part of a larger scheme or part of a phased project. You will need to complete your project within twelve months of receipt of the grant.

For any projects that are making a physical improvement to an outdoor space, you will need the landowner’s permission and you might also need other permissions – e.g. planning permission.

These need to be in place before you submit your application and the landowner permission form will need to be completed and signed as part of your application.

Projects which are ineligible

Work that has already taken place;

Political donations; Fundraising activities or challenges (e.g. costs for a sky dive etc.); Running costs and organisation overheads; Conferences or seminars; Activities which collect funds for redistribution to other charities or individuals; Overseas appeals; Expeditions or overseas travel; Promotion of a religious or political cause; Marketing promotions; Research projects; Projects or activities that the state has a legal obligation to provide.

“If you experience or anticipate any barriers with our application process, require help to make an application, or accessing our services and information, please contact the Groundwork Tesco Programme Team to discuss the type of support we can provide,” said community enabler Julian Devereux of Groundwork Wales.

“The deadline for applications is today (April 10) but if interested parties contact myself, I can help with the application process and even try to offer an extension,” said Julian "The programme is going to be running for the next two years, and groups can apply at any time"“The deadline of April 10 was only for our own internal verification with regards to projects going forward to the May/June in store vote.“Any projects submitted after midnight will be considered for the JulyAugust vote and so on,” added Julian who can be contacted on 01495 222605 or via email at [email protected]

For more information on the project and how to apply visit the link https://www.groundwork.org.uk/Sites/tescocommunityscheme/pages/Category/boh-grant-for-project-tes