STAFF at Hexham’s Tesco are encouraging local outdoor projects to apply for grants of up to £5,000.

Three environmentally-friendly projects are chosen monthly to be voted on by customers in stores across the North-East as part of the Bags of Help scheme.

The scheme was launched when the 5p bag charge was brought in and donates funds to local projects that support the development and use of open spaces.

Shoppers in Tesco receive a blue token with each transaction which they can put into the collection pot for their favourite project.

The project with the most votes at the end of the month receives up to £5,000, while the second placed project receives £2,000 and third placed, £1,000.

But staff at the Hexham storesaid that applications are rarely made on behalf of projects in Tynedale, so money paid in by Hexham shoppers is going to projects elsewhere in the North- East.

Non-food manager at Hexham Tesco, David Longstaff, is involved with community and charity work on behalf of the store.

He said: “We want to encourage more people from Hexham and surrounding areas to apply for the grants.

“Sometimes customers will comment that the projects are in somewhere like Sunderland, but no one here is applying.

“Hexham shoppers pay in by buying bags every day, so they should be able to get something back from it.

“It could go towards a school playground, a gardening project for a youth club or any project that is environmentally friendly.”

For more information, and to take a quiz to see if your chosen project is eligible before receiving an application form, visit: groundwork.org.uk