Pitmedden pupils supported by scheme to create garden space
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Staff and pupils in Pitmedden are backing a £5 million scheme aimed at giving youngsters a fulfilling future.
The team at Pitmedden School Nursery is supporting the Tesco grant programme to provide extra food and activity equipment so they can get a stronger start in life.
The scheme comes after the school nursery received £1500 from Tesco to help create an outdoor garden space that is used daily to encourage children to play outdoors, support their learning through sensory experiences and grow their own fruit and vegetables for snacks.
Claire Rennie, early years senior practitioner at Pitmedden School Nursery, said: “We’re really grateful to Tesco for the funding we received.
"It’s meant that the children who attend the nursery can enjoy this fantastic outdoor garden space both to elevate their play and their learning.
“The space has been a massive community effort and we’ve worked very closely with local families to help create a safe, stimulating environment that will promote exploration, development and learning experiences.
"We are very thankful to Tesco and all of their customers for nominating us in the grant scheme for this fantastic funding.”
Tesco’s Stronger Starts grants will help schools and children’s groups provide equipment for healthy activities or nutritious food and healthy activities, such as breakfast clubs or snacks, to support young people’s physical health and mental wellbeing.
Customers can support their local school and children’s groups by dropping the Tesco blue token they receive at checkout into the relevant voting box as they leave the store.
The Stronger Starts scheme, supported by UK community charity Groundwork, will replace the current Tesco Community Grants funding programme.
Recent research from Groundwork found that 78 per cent of schools are currently having to provide food for children from their own budget.
The Stronger Starts research found that more than half (51 per cent) of parents agree that their child struggles to concentrate at school if they do not have breakfast.
Jason Tarry, Tesco UK CEO, said: “Helping schools and children’s groups access the food and resources they need is vitally important in getting children a stronger start in life.
"Children with enough food have more energy, better concentration and ultimately achieve more too.
“As a business that is at the heart of communities across the country, we know that urgent action is needed to support the development and prospects of young people.
"We hope our initiative will help families that are struggling to keep children fed and active.”
Schools and children’s groups will be able to apply via Groundwork for a grant of up to £1500. Grants are for activities that focus on providing food to kids such as fruit for breakfast clubs or snacks to enjoy throughout the day, and for equipment for outdoor and indoor activities.
Graham Duxbury, Groundwork’s UK chief executive, said: “Since 2016, working with Tesco, we’ve supported more than 50,000 groups making life better in their local communities.
"Recently we’ve seen how schools and other groups supporting young people have been playing a much bigger role in ensuring children are getting a healthy start to the day and getting access to spaces and services to support physical activity and mental health.
“Family budgets are tight and school budgets are tight, but it’s so important that children stay fed, fit and focused, so we’re delighted to be able to prioritise these activities in the new Stronger Starts programme.”
Stronger Starts is being supported by Kiss FM presenter Jordan Banjo, who said: “It’s hard for kids to dream big when they’re hungry but by nominating your local school or children’s group, you can make a massive difference to the lives of thousands of youngsters.”
Successful applications will go to a customer vote in their local Tesco store. Two out of the three blue token voting boxes by the checkout will be dedicated to local schools with the third given over to local community projects nominated by each store’s colleagues.
Customers can then choose which of the three projects they would like to support by voting with a blue token.
Schools can visit tescoplc.com/strongerstarts to apply for funding.
