Because Everyone Counts charity calls out for votes to bag a share of Tesco’s community Fund

BECS Inclusive Play Centre is one of the groups on the shortlist to receive funding.

Tesco works with community charity Groundwork to run its community funding scheme, which sees grants of up to £1,500, £1,000 and £500 awarded to local community projects. Greenspace Scotland is working with Groundwork to provide support to communities in Scotland.

Three groups in every community have been shortlisted to receive the cash aware and shoppers are being invited to head along to Tesco stores to vote for who they think should take away the top grant.

BECS Inclusive Play Centre is one of the groups on the shortlist for the Inverurie store.

BECS are to hold opportunities for the community to come together through storytelling and singing which will be adapted through the world of Makaton, being inclusive to all.

BECS is the first inclusive play centre in Scotland. The activity centre has been created based on the ethos of including and supporting families using specialist play equipment to provide a safe facility for children through which the whole family benefits.

The playworkers provide practical advice or strategies to empower individuals and families to engage in child lead play. They assist with integrating ASN children and young people into the community as inclusion is its primary focus; abilities are not the focus.

Voting is open in all Tesco stores throughout August and September and customers will cast their vote using a token given to them at the check-out each time they shop.

Tesco’s Community Grants scheme has already awarded over £96 million to more than 46,000 projects across Britain. Tesco customers get the chance to vote for three different groups every time they shop. Every three months, when votes are collected, three groups in each of Tesco’s regions will be awarded funding.

Megan Linklater, Head of Fundraising for BECS, said: “We are delighted to be one of the shortlisted groups for our local Tesco store.

"Having been closed for over 15 months due to COVID-19, community grant programmes like this are crucial to the survival of BECS.”