A TESCO store has donated thousands to local charities and causes to help them recover from the Covid pandemic.

The Bag Of Help scheme runs across all Tesco stores, each store has three local charities and cause that money will go to.

The amount of money is decided on how many in store votes the cause received from customers.

Due to Covid no voting has been allowed in the Bishop Auckland store so a panel has been meeting up and awarding £1,000 to groups who have applied, and the latest three groups received their funding.

The three charities chosen by the store include, the Angel Trust which is making and delivering food parcels.

Ellie Crampton from The Angel Trust said: “We have received a £1000 grant from the Tesco Bags of Help Scheme, this money will help us fund food parcels for members of the local community which has been an ongoing project for Angel Trust since the start of the pandemic. In addition to the food parcels the funds will also be used to support applications we receive from local community groups and members of the public that are facing hardship.

Another charity was ManHealth in Shildon to help fund more classes on mental health.

Paul Bannister of ManHealth said: “Thank you to Tesco for this Bags of Help Award. The money will enable us to continue the work we do across County Durham supporting men who identify as struggling with their mental health through our face-to-face and virtual Peer Support and the WebChat and Connect Service, which operates seven days a week from 6-10pm.”

Finally, Stanley Crook Primary received funding to carry out a Wellbeing project.

Tesco Community Champion John Bailey said: “During the uncertain times Tesco have still been awarding grants on our bags of help scheme.

“No voting has been allowed, hopefully it will be back in store in July, and customers can again choose a cause."

Applications for the Bags of Help scheme can be made via: tescobagsofhelp.org.uk/.