GL11 Community Hub calls out for votes to bag a share of Tesco’s bag fund!
Voting will take place in Cam and Wotton Tesco stores in January and February 2019.
Tesco teamed up with Groundwork to launch its community funding scheme, which sees grants of £4,000, £2,000 and £1,000 raised from carrier bag sales in Tesco stores awarded to local community projects.
Three groups in every Tesco region have been shortlisted to receive the cash award and shoppers are being invited to head along to Tesco stores to vote for who they think should take away the top grant.
The project GL11 would like support with is The GL11 Shed. The aim is to create a better space for vulnerable and disadvantaged people using the GL11 shed, to help improve their mental health through practical and emotional projects and support.
The GL11 Shed provides a place for a variety of vulnerable members of our community to get together to make and mend, invent and create, meet, talk and share with each other. The Shed hosts our ‘Men’s Shed’ group for local and unemployed men, and ‘She Shed’ projects which are targeted at getting women involved in practical hands on projects. Young people and adults with learning disabilities also use the space for creative and making activities.
Due to this significant demand, The Shed needs to be improved so we can continue to offer projects and courses in this space and also utilise it more effectively. By improving The Shed, we will be able to offer more activities, especially in the colder months of the year.
These activities will help our beneficiaries to increase confidence through making new friends and building networks. The practical projects will help them to feel useful and purposeful whilst developing or maybe even sharing their practical skills. By getting out and getting involved in the community it will help to reduce stress, anxiety and isolation for these beneficiaries, and may also be a stepping stone to further activities and within the wider community.
‘I felt hopeful for the first time in a long time. I love everything about GL11 – the diversity of the people, how the staff make you feel welcome, happy and safe! I would recommend it to anyone. There’s so much positivity at GL11 that you would be almost guaranteed to gain something from it.’ (Rose)
‘GL11 made a big difference to my wellbeing, I felt I can come here and not be judged, it has helped with my mental health, it makes me feel worth something.’ (James)
‘GL11 has opened me up, I felt so excited when I first came, it is wonderful! I was closing up on my own, I have learnt how to talk again, learning to do things for myself, feel part of the community for the first time in 30 years.’ (Dorothy)
Voting is open in all Tesco stores in January and February 2019 and customers will cast their vote using a token given to them at the check-out in store each time they shop. Supporters can vote for GL11 at the Cam superstore and at the Wotton Under Edge Express store.
Tesco’s Bags of Help project has already delivered over £63 million to more than 20,000 projects across Britain. Tesco customers get the chance to vote for three different groups every time they shop. Every other month, when votes are collected, three groups in each of Tesco’s regions will be awarded funding.
Alec Brown, Head of Community at Tesco, said:
“Bags of Help has been a fantastic success and we’ve been overwhelmed by the response from customers. It’s such a special scheme because it’s local people who decide how the money will be spent in their community. There are some fantastic projects on the shortlists and we can’t wait to see these come to life in hundreds of communities.”
Indigo Redfern GL11’s Manager says
“We have our roots very much in the community, responding to what the community wanted. We’re trying to empower people to enable them to find out what they want to be doing in their lives, and then support them to make those changes – people coming into their own confidence and their own ability on how they want to move forward in their lives.”
