Country Centre bags £600 from Tesco's Stronger Starts scheme

Aldingbourne Country Centre has received £600 from Tesco's Stronger Starts scheme to purchase new pond dipping equipment. This will be used for wildlife and nature workshops, designed to inspire all their visitors to care for the world they live in and to develop a far greater connection to nature.​

The Trust unearthed itself 46 years ago to tackle post-education opportunities for people with learning disabilities and autism. It's still one of their largest projects, offering day services, training, and employment to the people they support and also an award-winning visitor attraction site.

Visitor & Enterprise Operations Manager Karen Tyrrell said, "We are extremely grateful to receive this grant, as it will enable us to expand our innovative, stimulating, immersive, and inclusive education programme for a wide range of groups, including nursery schools, schools, home educators, youth groups, and community organisations."

To boost funds for extra food and activity equipment, Tesco is introducing a £5m grant programme, in partnership with Groundwork UK, to give children across the UK a stronger start in life. The grants will help schools and children's groups provide nutritious food and healthy activities that support young people's physical health and mental wellbeing, such as breakfast clubs or snacks, and equipment for healthy activities.

Tesco's Stronger Starts – previously Tesco Bags of Help and Tesco Community Grants - has already provided over £110 million to more than 60,000 projects across Britain. 

Claire de Silva, Tesco UK Head of Communities and Local Media, said: "Helping schools and children's groups access the food and resources they need is vitally important in getting children a stronger start in life. Children with enough food have more energy, better concentration, and ultimately achieve more too."

Graham Duxbury, Groundwork's UK Chief Executive, said: "As a community charity, we have seen first-hand how schools and other groups supporting young people have been playing a much bigger role in ensuring children are getting a healthy start to the day and getting access to spaces and services to support physical activity and mental health. Family budgets are tight and school budgets are tight, but it's so important that children stay fed, fit and focused, so we're delighted to be able to prioritise these activities alongside Tesco with the Stronger Starts programme."

Funding is available to community groups and charities looking to fund local projects that bring benefits to communities. To find out more, visit tescoplc.com/strongerstarts
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For any media inquiries, please contact Lizzie Senn at [email protected]