Hucknall school wants your votes

Holgate Heroes Parent, Teacher & Friends’ Association is seeking votes to bag a share of a £12.5 million carrier bag charge fund.

The PTFA, which raises funds for Holgate Primary and Nursery School on High Leys Road, is bidding for a massive cash boost from the Tesco Bags of Help initiative.

The supermarket giant has teamed up with Groundwork on the initiative, which see grants of £12,000, £10,000 and £8,000 – all raised from the 5p plastic bag levy – awarded to environmental and greenspace projects.

Three groups in each of Tesco’s 416 regions have been shortlisted to receive the cash award.

And this month shoppers are being invited to head along to Tesco stores to vote for who they think should take away the top grant.

Holgate Heroes PTFA is one of the groups on the shortlist.

A spokesman said: “We are bidding for a community allotment and forest school area where our children can learn all about the natural world that we live in and where our food comes from.

“The allotment area will incorporate an outdoor classroom/meeting room, greenhouses, plant beds and sensory pathways and the forest school area will have den building, nature trails and mud pits.

“We hope to work with members of the local community by inviting people with experience to help us nurture and grow both areas and share their wealth of knowledge.”

Tracy Willows, from the PTFA, said: “We really hope that you will vote for us in store so that we can fully benefit from the whole grant amount.

“We believe that by creating these areas we will be giving children skills that they can take forward and use in their adult life.”

Voting is open in stores until Sunday, October 9 – customers will cast their vote using a token given to them at the check-out in store each time they shop.

This is the second round of the initiative: the first round saw about eight million shoppers vote in stores up and down the country earlier this year.

Lindsey Crompton, Tesco head of community, said: “The first round of the Bags of Help initiative was a fantastic success.

“In total, 1,170 community groups were awarded £8,000, £10,000 or £12,000 – that’s a massive £11.7 million being invested into local projects.

“We are already seeing some great results from groups transforming their own environmental and greenspace areas.

“We are absolutely delighted to open the voting for round two.

“There are some fantastic projects on the shortlists and we can’t wait to see them come to life in hundreds of communities.”