Cornwall’s Tesco customers have voted to help the county’s homeless, people with dementia and teach schoolchildren about plastic pollution.

Tesco marked its centenary year with two special Bags of Help funding rounds, with a £100,000 funding pot in Cornwall.

And the winners of the second round have now been revealed.

In first place, St Petrocs homeless charity has been awarded £25,000. In second place, the Sensory Trust received £15,000. In third place, Beach Guardian CIC got £10,000.

The Centenary Grants reached more than 30 regions, with £3,300,000 up for grabs in total. The winners of the first round of Centenary Grant funding in Cornwall last year were Cornwall Air Ambulance Trust, Cancer Research UK and Cardiac Risk in the Young.

St Petrocs will use its funds to provide Cornwall-wide support for people experiencing homelessness.

Dave Brown, the charity’s communications manager, said: “We’re really grateful to Tesco and their customers for this funding. A great many people in Cornwall find that they have nowhere to call home, and can end up having to sleep outside.

“We can use this money to fund services which will offer assistance to some of Cornwall’s most vulnerable citizens, offering them shelter and help finding somewhere to live.”

The Sensory Trust will use its funds to create a series of dementia-friendly activity groups meeting across Cornwall every week – providing social support and time outdoors for those living at home with dementia.

Victoria Hutchinson, development manager at the Sensory Trust, said: “We are delighted to be selected as one of the recipients of Tesco’s Centenary Bags of Help funding. This is a massive boost for the organisation and will make such a huge difference to our dementia-friendly outdoor activity groups across Cornwall.

“We already run eight groups who meet weekly or fortnightly, and this will help us reach even more socially isolated people living with dementia and their carers across the county. Thank you so much, Tesco.”

Beach Guardian’s money will go towards visiting Cornwall schools to engage, educate and empower children against plastic pollution.

Rob Stevenson, co-founder of the charity, said: “We are really grateful to Tesco for this funding. It will make a big difference to many people’s lives. The money will go towards school workshops in Cornwall to ensure that children can Engage, Educate & Empower Against Plastic Pollution.”

Keith Jackson, Tesco Bags of Help Manager, said: “Congratulations to the recipients of our Bags of Help Centenary Grants. They’re all worthy winners and we hope this funding helps them continue their important work in our communities.

“The Centenary Grants are a huge part of our celebration of a century of delivering great value for our customers. And Bags of Help applications have opened again for 2020, as we aim to support more groups and organisations helping to make a difference across Britain this year.”

Graham Duxbury, national CEO of Groundwork, said: “This funding will go a long way in enabling more local communities to improve the local spaces and places that matter to them. We look forward to seeing the final results of the projects and the positive outcome the funding will have on local communities.”

Bags of Help applications have opened for 2020 and customers are invited to vote for the project they wish to receive the top prize using blue tokens handed out at checkouts. Three groups will be awarded grant amounts of £2,000, £1,000 or £500 every three months.

Find out more about Bags of Help at www.tesco.com/bagsofhelp