Tesco to use money raised from 5p bag charge to fuel local community projects
Tesco has promised to direct the money it raises from the government’s 5p bag charge to local community projects as it continues to eye opportunities to rebuild trust in the brand.
Last week, the fruits of a year-long overhaul to the supermarket’s marketing strategy were revealed, with marketing boss Michelle McEttrick stating that Tesco now wants to be known for serving people not running shops. Rebuilding trust, however, remains a key objective as the brand battles to revive sales and turn around perception following the £250m accounting scandal last year.
The recent introduction of the bag charge - which fuelled a spate of basket thefts at some of its stores, leading to widespread mockery across social - has proven a good opportunity to reignite its relationship with local community groups.
From today (19 October), people across the UK can apply for grants or nominate the local projects they want to see benefit from a grant of between £8,000 and £12,000. The types of projects that are expected to get the green light include new pocket parks, sports facilities, woodland walks and community gardens.
A shortlist will be drawn up for each region before being put to a nationwide vote in early 2016. Six projects will receive funding in each of 428 regions annually, which means that around 2,500 different projects will receive funding from the bag charge after just one year.
“It’s incredibly important we do our bit to reduce our impact on the environment,” said Rebecca Shelley, group communications director for Tesco.
“We’re going to work together with our customers in to make sure the millions of pounds that will be raised from the bag charge goes towards making a real difference for our local communities.”
Tesco is working with environmental charity Groundwork to administer the scheme.