Avon & Somerset Search & Rescue

We were awarded £4000 from Tesco’s Bags of Help community grant scheme thanks to their customers voting for us.

Bags of Help is run in partnership with environmental charity Groundwork, and sees grants raised from the sale of carrier bags awarded to thousands of local community projects every year. Since launching in 2015, it’s provided more than £40 million to over 9,700 local community projects.

The grant will be used to purchase specialist cliff-face kits in ‘grab-and-go’ bags and helmets that are kept in the team’s technical rescue vehicle.

Chris Thring, Chairmen of ASSAR, said, “We’ve had a busy year for callouts and as you can imagine we get through kit quickly so it’s fantastic that Tesco and their customers have helped like this. Replacing technical rescue kit is expensive and we rely entirely on the generosity of others to help keep this volunteer search and rescue service helping the community.”

Tesco customers get the chance to vote for three different groups each time they shop. Every other month, when votes are collected, three groups in each of Tesco’s regions are awarded funding.

We are delighted to announce we have bagged £4000 from Tesco’s Bags of Help community grant scheme.

Bags of Help is run in partnership with environmental charity Groundwork, and sees grants raised from the sale of carrier bags awarded to thousands of local community projects every year. Since launching in 2015, it’s provided more than £40 million to over 9,700 local community projects.

Millions of shoppers have voted in Tesco stores up and down the country and it can now be revealed ASSAR has been awarded £4000.

Work will now begin on bringing the project to life.

Avon & Somerset Search and Rescue help people far from help across the area. It is an emergency service staffed by volunteers who are on-call 24/7, 365 days a year. They search for and rescue people from cliffs and floods and other difficult situations in the countryside typically getting called out over 30 times a year. Sadly Avon and Cheddar Gorge, along with other cliffs and quarries, are often used by people attempting to commit suicide or where people get stuck. The grant will be used to purchase specialist cliff-face kits in ‘grab-and-go’ bags that are kept in the team’s technical rescue vehicle.

Chris Thring, Chairmen of ASSAR, said, “Thanks so much to Tesco and all their customers in the Thornbury area. This grant helps us to continue our important work supporting the police with our specialist search and rescue skills. We’re all volunteers and rely entirely on the support of the communities we help to keep us going financially.”

Alec Brown, Tesco’s Head of Community, 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. We can’t wait to see the projects come to life.”

Voting ran in stores throughout September and October with customers choosing which local project they would like to get the top award using a token given to them at the checkout.

Tesco customers get the chance to vote for three different groups each time they shop. Every other month, when votes are collected, three groups in each of Tesco’s regions are awarded funding.

Groundwork’s National Chief Executive, Graham Duxbury, said:

“Bags of Help continues to enable local communities up and down the UK to improve the local spaces and places that matter to them. The diversity of projects that are being funded shows that local communities have a passion to create something great in their area. We are pleased to be able to be a part of the journey and provide support and encouragement to help local communities thrive.”

Funding is available to community groups and charities looking to fund local projects that bring benefits to communities. Anyone can nominate a project and organisations can apply online. To find out more visit www.tesco.com/bagsofhelp.