BCHC Charity Calls for Votes for Tesco’s Stronger Starts Scheme
BCHC Charity is bidding for a cash boost from the Tesco Stronger Starts scheme.
Stronger Starts provides grant awards of up to £1,500 to local community projects, with a particular focus on children and young people. Three groups in every community have been shortlisted to receive grant awards and Tesco customers can vote for the group they think should take away the top award in their local Tesco store.
BCHC Charity is one of the groups on the shortlists in the Sutton Coldfield and Quinton areas, for their projects to provide activity packs for children with special educational needs & disability living in temporary accommodation. These families are from a wide range of backgrounds; asylum seekers and refugees, some have fled domestic violence, and others have lost their homes as their landlord has sold it.
NHS Specialist Health Visitor for Homeless Families, Nikola Demetrius, approached the charity with the idea; “Living in temporary accommodation limits the children due to lack of space, finances for educational toys, and families having a limited understanding of play ideas/activities which can be due to language barriers or difficulties accessing local services. Having an activity bag will support a SEND child with their anxiety and fine and gross motor skills”.
The drawstring bag will contain a collection of sensory toys and other activities which may vary depending on the age and needs of the child. Sarah Binks, Charity Manager with a professional background in Speech and Language Therapy for children with learning disabilities said; “Providing SEND children with these basic items at an early age will stimulate their development. Homeless families are already at a disadvantage; the activity bags will go towards preventing developmental delays and emotional problems later in life”.
Voting for BCHC Charity's projects is open in Tesco stores from April until the end of June. Customers can cast their vote using a blue token given to them at the check-out each time they shop; simply pop your token into the voting booths near the store exits.
You can vote for the project that will cover Sutton Coldfield, Erdington and Kingstanding (New Oscott) in the following stores:
- Erdington Express B23 5TW
- Kingstanding Express B44 8PP
- Birmingham Road, Wylde Green B72 1QL
- Boldmere Road B73 5UB
- New Oscott B73 6RB (the main Tesco Extra)
- Streetly Express B74 3NA
- Walsall Road, Four Oaks B74 4QY
- Whitehouse Common Road B75 6HD
- Hagley Road East B16 9RR
- Hagley Road B17 8DJ
- Quinton B32 1EG (the main Tesco Extra)
- Bristnall Hall Road, Oldbury B68 9TX
This £5m Stronger Starts grant programme, delivered in partnership with Groundwork UK, helps 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 sports equipment for after school clubs.
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, 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 tescoplc.com/strongerstarts