Construction Youth Trust is bidding to bag a massive cash boost from the Tesco Bags of Help initiative. The supermarket has teamed up with Groundwork on its Bags of Help initiative, which see grants of £12,000, £10,000 and £8,000 – all raised from the 5p bag levy – being awarded to environmental and greenspace projects.
Three groups in each of Tesco’s 416 regions have been shortlisted to receive the cash award and this month shoppers are being invited to head along to Tesco stores to vote for who they think should take away the top grant. Construction Youth Trust is one of the groups on the shortlist.
Construction Youth Trust works with young people aged 14 to 30 to help them overcome barriers and access employment opportunities in the construction industry. The Trust works with young people from challenging backgrounds including young offenders, care leavers, the long-term unemployed and also those who are just unaware of the opportunities available to them within construction industry. They offer young people the chance to find out more about careers in construction by giving them experience, the opportunity to meet employers in the industry and take part in informative and practical courses. 
Jemma Bridgeman, Wales Manager at Construction Youth Trust, commented: “We are so grateful to Tesco’s Bags of Help for funding our project – we are planning to build a sensory garden. Not only will young people learn construction to help them gain employment, they will learn about the disabilities some people face and how design can help people with disabilities such as sight loss enjoy a beautiful garden.”
Voting is open in stores from 26 September to 9 October. Customers will cast their vote using a token given to them at the check-out in store each time they shop.
This is the second round of the initiative: the first round saw approximately 8m shoppers vote in stores up and down the country earlier this year.
Lindsey Crompton, Head of Community at Tesco, said: “The first round of the Bags of Help initiative was a fantastic success.
“In total 1,170 community groups were awarded £8,000, £10,000 or £12,000 – that’s a massive £11.7m being invested into local projects.
“We are already seeing some great results from groups transforming their own environmental and greenspace areas.
“We are absolutely delighted to open the voting for round two. There are some fantastic projects on the shortlists and we can’t wait to see them come to life in hundreds of communities.”
Groundwork’s national Chief Executive, Graham Duxbury, said: “Bags of Help is giving our communities both the funding and the support to create better, healthier and greener places for everyone to enjoy.
“We’ve been thrilled to see the diversity of projects that have applied for funding, ranging from outdoor classrooms, 
sports facilities, community gardens, play areas and everything in between.
“They’re all fantastic projects that make a real difference in our neighbourhoods.
“We’re looking forward to learning the results of the customer vote and then supporting each group to bring their project to life.”