Thistleyfield in full bloom, thanks to Tesco Bags of Help

Activity Coordinator Rachel Saunders, Resident Kitty Hall, Resident Stephen Newall, Resident Reg Griffiths, Scheme Assistant June Jones, Resident Wyn Sykes, Tesco Front End Manager Christina Morgan, Scheme Manager Sheila Greenwood, Tesco Services Manager Lucie Brennan, Tesco Store Manager Pam Taylor, Groundwork Trust Land Manager Adam Holt and Angela Gilbertson from Tesco.

Thistleyfield in Bloom has now unveiled its commemorative plaque on site, marking a grant received from Tesco.

Rochdale Borough Housing’s Thistleyfield in Bloom project was awarded £1,000 through the supermarket’s Bags of Help initiative.

Tesco teamed up with Groundwork to launch its Bags of Help funding scheme, which sees grants being awarded to fund local community projects – all raised from carrier bag sales in Tesco stores.

Rochdale Borough Housing have used the funding to improve its Thistleyfield sheltered housing and accommodation by updating its outdoor spaces for residents. The housing now features newly refreshed outdoor space, including raised flower beds and ornamental garden.

Angela Gilbertson, Community Champion, Lucie Drennan, Service Manager, and Christina Morgan, Front End Manager, all from Tesco in Rochdale, joined Rochdale Borough Housing representative Rachel Saunders and Scheme Manager Sheila Greenwood for the plaque presentation.

The specially designed plaque was donated by Tesco as a permanent record that the project was chosen and backed by the local community.

Rachel Saunders, Activity Coordinator at Rochdale Borough Housing, said: “We’re so grateful that we were shortlisted by Tesco to receive one of the Bags of Help grants. We’ve been able to put the money to good use by improving the outdoor spaces for our residential housing, providing them a more enjoyable area to live in – it’s been a hit all round.”

Since launching in 2015, Bags of Help has awarded more than £33 million across more than 6,400 local projects in 600 communities.

Mark Thomas, Corporate Affairs Manager for the North for Tesco, said: “It is wonderful to see this project come to fruition, showing first-hand how a Bags of Help grant can help transform local communities.

“There has been great enthusiasm for the initiative from both Tesco colleagues and our customers.

“This is just the beginning for Bags of Help and we are hugely excited for the future as the scheme continues to grow and help even more groups across the UK.”

Bags of Help provides thousands of projects with vital funding every year.
Three community projects in each local area will be voted on by Tesco customers every time they shop, using a blue token given to them at the checkout – the projects being voted on change every other month.

1. Community groups and charities can apply for funding and Tesco customers and colleagues can nominate projects that they’d like to see receive some cash, just ask in store for more information or visit the Bags of Help website.