Budding young gardeners in Farnham are to benefit from a grant of around £1,500 from the Tesco Bags of Help scheme, thanks to shoppers who chose the Bloomin’ Kids gardening workshops as their favourite local good cause.

Bloomin’ Kids workshops are run by Farnham Town Council and the Farnham in Bloom Community Group as a school holiday activity to get kids gardening. The project was among three community initiatives from which Tesco customers in the Farnham area could vote for to receive a grant. Bloomin’ Kids came top in the vote.

“As you can imagine, we are thrilled to come first in the public vote. I would like to thank Tesco for their generous support and Tesco customers for voting for us. Children greatly benefit from gardening: it’s fun and relaxing, educational and helps them appreciate their environment,” says Farnham’s Town Clerk Iain Lynch. He adds: “We are delighted that children can take part in Farnham in Bloom 2017 through the workshops. The award from Tesco helps keep them free for children to attend. Our next sessions are over Easter with others planned for the autumn half term.”

Tesco teamed up with environmental charity Groundwork to run its Bags of Help scheme where community groups apply for grants raised from the 5p carrier bag levy. Voting ran in stores in Farnham, Farnborough, Aldershot and surrounding areas throughout February, with customers choosing which local project they would like to get the top award using a token given to them at the check-out.

Lindsey Crompton, Tesco’s Head of Community, says: “Bags of Help has been a fantastic success. We’ve been overwhelmed by the response from our customers. The great thing about Bags of Help is that local people are invited to decide how the money will be spent in their community. We can’t wait to see the projects come to life.”

Since launching in 2015, Bags of Help has awarded more than £28.5 million across more than 4,000 local projects.

Bloomin’ Kids spring workshops take place between 11 and 13 April.