SPAR invests back into the local communities we serve, looking after our shoppers and helping to build and strengthen our local neighbourhoods.
The SPAR Community Cashback scheme has awarded 30 grants in total to local voluntary or community organisations who need it the most from all geographical regions across the UK. Amounts awarded have been 5 x £10,000, 5 x £5,000, 5 x £2,000 and 15 x £1,000.
Consumers applied for a grant for an organisation they felt deserved funding, by sharing the exceptional contribution they have made to their community and what the grant would be put towards.
Over 4,000 applications from consumers all over the UK were received during the process which ran from 14 April – 4 May and today the five worthy winners of £10,000 have been revealed.
Bags of Love
Bags full of love is an organisation based in West Dunbartonshire that aims to give every child entering foster care a new backpack filled with new comfort and personal care items. When children are removed from their home most of them will either have the clothes they stand in or a carrier/bin bag of their belongings, we are trying to break this practice. Since many of the children entering the care system have been neglected or abused, we will try to give them a sense of self-respect by providing brand new items which they can call their own. The grant would enable us to purchase more clothing to enable us to give the children coming in to foster care a full outfit along with pyjamas and toiletries.
Woodlanders Pre School
Woodlanders Pre School provides an essential service for families in Ashburton. We are a pre-school providing early years education for children aged 2-5. We are an independent registered charity (number 1176342). We have a beautiful site where children learn through play, music, gardening, arts and choose their own activities while learning to manage risks. Our team are dedicated, motivated and committed to high quality outcomes for children and their families in our community. We are Ofsted registered and received their good rating in 2019. We currently support 70 families and have a further 25 on our waiting list. We were established in 1999 and in addition to preschool care we provide holiday clubs, parent and toddler groups, forest school, French language and yoga classes for our children. A crucial part of Woodlanders is specialising in supporting children with Special Educational needs. Just like our wonderful SPAR store we are rooted in our community, supporting our primary school, and working to improve the intergenerational gap in our community we take our children to visit the park and residents in Ashburton House.
Northumberland Blood Bikes
NBB are completely run by volunteers. The charity relies completely on donations. They cover every night 7 to 7am and 24 hours over weekends and Bank Holidays delivering life saving blood platelets and plasma to hospitals across the region, Collecting urgent samples and equip to ensure people in need of8 a rapid responsive service with often a vital life saving response. Life saving blood is delivered throughout the week to Great North Air Ambulance, to deliver blood for it to carry on board for roadside transfusions. NBB often relays with other BloodBikes from other regions to "relay" blood, plasma across the country, human baby milk is often another request. During Covid pandemic the volunteers carried Covid samples for urgent analysis and screening increased workloads in the communities. NBB saves the NHS thousands of pounds allowing them to invest in other services. Without doubt I nominate this organisation which relies totally on donations to keep the motor cycles and cars maintained and filled to provide a vital money saving service to the NHS.
Stoke & Staffodshire Downs Syndrome Social Group
We would like to use this grant to help our members connect during these times of uncertainty in the pandemic. As most of our members are people with Down Syndrome they are particularly vulnerable to serious illness if infected with viruses such as Covid. This has made group sessions quite difficult as members are anxious about mixing with larger volumes of people. As a result a lot of our members are suffering with greater feelings of isolation in an already lonely world for them. We would use the grant to hold more frequent sessions for our members with smaller group sizes, helping them to feel connected once more to the world and to people who have similar experiences to them. Sessions would range from casual social meet ups in a safe space, Frontline dance sessions, excessive and educational opportunities. Our community really needs this right now and would be so grateful of your support. Thank you.
The Community Rescue Service
The Community Rescue Service (CRS), a volunteer search and rescue service that operates throughout Northern Ireland, received the impressive top £10,000 grant to help them continue to provide their search and rescue services for high-risk, vulnerable and missing members of the community, including dementia patients, children and people in crisis.
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