People in Belfast can vote for local projects supporting children’s access to healthy food

A trio of Belfast schools and good causes are in the running for much-needed funds to help young people.

Ligoniel Improvement Association, East Belfast Mission and Irish Medium School Bunscoil Mhic Reachtain have been selected in the latest round of voting in Tesco’s Free Fruit & Veg grants programme with £500, £1,000 and £1,500 available – and customers can now vote for the one they want to support.

The programme is open to initiatives in Belfast that have a food focus for young people, including breakfast clubs, holiday food provision, access to healthy snacks for youth groups, community pantries, cookery and nutrition sessions, and food-growing projects that help children learn where food comes from.

The grants form part of Tesco’s Free Fruit & Veg for Schools programme, giving schools and community groups funding for healthy food projects as the retailer works to help more than one million schoolchildren get fruit and vegetables through its school and community programmes, ran in partnership with community charity Groundwork.

Ligoniel Improvement Association is keen to receive funding for its Nourish to Flourish project, a fun, hands-on cooking programme teaching children how to make healthy meals on a budget, building skills for life and supporting families facing food poverty.

Also in line for funding is East Belfast Mission, which is looking to use the money to fund fresh produce for their Community Fridge, helping to tackle food poverty among local families.

Lastly, Bunscoil Mhic Reachtain will use the grant it gets to help their Breakfast Club and provide daily, free, healthy and nutritious breakfast and snacks to all children at the school.

Claire de Silva, head of community at Tesco, said: “Every child deserves the chance to enjoy healthy food and build the foundations for a stronger future, so we want to support the brilliant schools and community groups in Belfast helping children and young people access nutritious food.

“Whether that’s a breakfast club, a pantry, cookery sessions or a project that helps children grow and try new foods, we’d encourage local organisations to apply for the grants – and we’d love shoppers to get involved when the customer vote comes to their local store.”

Customers can vote for the good cause they want to support by dropping the Tesco token they receive at the checkout into the relevant voting box as they leave the store. Each funding round features three local projects, with grants awarded based on the number of tokens received.

Schools and community groups in Belfast can apply for funding in future rounds via Tesco, as the retailer looks to support more local projects helping children and young people access healthy, nutritious food. In recent years, thousands of pounds have been donated to Belfast good causes.

 For more information about the Tesco Free Fruit & Veg for Schools programme and find out how to apply for a grant, visit: https://www.tescoplc.com/fruit-and-veg-grants