Blue token vote will decide which St Austell project gets £1,500

That small blue token you get at the Tesco checkout in St Austell has a job to do right now. Where you drop it will decide how much money three local projects get to put healthy food in front of children.

One will walk away with £1,500. The other two get £1,000 and £500. And shoppers decide which is which.

The three projects on the shortlist

Bugle Library of Things CIC, Friends of St Stephen Churchtown Academy and Pelynt Academy have been picked for the latest round of voting in Tesco’s Free Fruit & Veg grants programme.

Bugle Library of Things CIC

The community interest company wants to provide healthy meals and snacks at its after-school, weekend and holiday clubs, so children can take part in fun activities without going hungry.

Friends of St Stephen Churchtown Academy

The school’s friends group is hoping to buy a polytunnel. It would give children at the school hands-on learning about gardening, food production and the natural world.

Pelynt Academy

Pelynt Academy plans to create a productive kitchen garden for pupils with special educational needs, giving them the chance to grow, harvest and prepare their own food.

How to vote

Every customer is given a Tesco token at the checkout. On the way out of the store, drop it into the voting box for the project you want to back.

Each funding round features three local projects, and the grants are handed out according to how many tokens each one collects.

What the grants are for

The money comes from Tesco’s Free Fruit & Veg for Schools programme, run in partnership with community charity Groundwork. Tesco says it is working to help more than one million schoolchildren get fruit and vegetables through its school and community programmes.

The grants are open to initiatives in St Austell with a food focus for young people. That covers breakfast clubs, holiday food provision, healthy snacks for youth groups, community pantries, cookery and nutrition sessions, and food-growing projects that help children learn where their food comes from.

Want to apply for a future round?

Schools and community groups in St Austell can apply for funding in future rounds. Tesco says thousands of pounds have gone to local good causes in recent years.

Full details, including how to apply, are on the Tesco Free Fruit & Veg grants page.

What Tesco says

Claire de Silva, head of community at Tesco, said: “Every child deserves the chance to enjoy healthy food and build the foundations for a stronger future, so we want to support the brilliant schools and community groups in St Austell helping children and young people access nutritious food.

“Whether that’s a breakfast club, a pantry, cookery sessions or a project that helps children grow and try new foods, we’d encourage local organisations to apply for the grants, and we’d love shoppers to get involved when the customer vote comes to their local store.”