Gracehill Primary School in Ballymena is celebrating after being selected by a young Tesco customer to receive a £5,000 donation.
On Saturday 21st September, Tesco customers at Carniny Express were given the chance to take part in a lucky dip to find a specially created gold version of Tesco’s famous blue voting token.
Gracehill Primary School was one of three local charities that customers could vote for to receive the £5,000 Golden Grant as part of Tesco’s Stronger Starts scheme.
Zach Alexander, a P2 pupil at the school, picked the winning gold token with the help of his little sister Hope!
Commenting on the exciting win Judith McCann, Chair at Gracehill Primary School PTA, said:
“This money will go considerably to finishing off our grass pitch and woodland area which has go unused for sporting activities for many years due to the overgrowth. This area will then be used for our after-school sporting actives and clubs, sports day and can be used for football and rugby matches. The woodland area will be used for the likes of hedgehog hotels and nature walks and our eco Council team aim to focus on this to spruce it up.”
Zach Alexander, a P2 pupil at the school, little sister Hope!
Over one hundred Tesco stores across the country took part in the Golden Grants event, with £500,000 in total being donated to good causes that help children and young people.
Stronger Starts grants 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, as well as purchasing equipment for healthy activities.
Claire De Silva, Tesco Head of Communities said:
"We know that £5,000 can make a huge difference to a school or community project, so we are incredibly proud to have been able to award Golden Grants to over one hundred schools and local projects to support the vital work they do for our children and communities.
“Our Stronger Starts programme continues to support our local communities year-round, and we encourage all customers to get involved by using a blue token to vote for a local project they feel will benefit people in their community."
Since Tesco launched its Community Grants programme in 2016, more than £120 million has been given to more than 67,000 local schools and community groups.