Help us make a supermarket sweep at Tesco

THE Wiltshire Bobby Van Trust has been chosen by supermarket Tesco to be a candidate for Stronger Starts funding at two of its stores.

Stronger Starts offers funding of £1,500, £1,000 or £500, with one of three charities or groups to receive the most being chosen by shoppers’ votes. Each time someone makes a purchase they are given a blue Stronger Starts token, which they put into the box of the charity they want to support. The group with the highest number of tokens wins the largest amount of money.

The voting period runs between the first week of October and mid-January 2025. The two featured stores are the Tesco Extra in Amesbury and the Tesco Express in Durrington.

Bobby Van Director Jennie Shaw said the money will help support the work of the charity, which works in partnership with Wiltshire Police. Its operators, who are former police officers, visit homes across Wiltshire and Swindon to offer free practical home security measures and fire safety assessments for people over 60, those at risk of domestic abuse or over 18 with a registered disability.

It also has a team of Stay Safe Online volunteers who visit older and vulnerable people in their homes and give talks to groups about preventing online fraud.

She said: “I’d like to appeal to anyone who shops in either of the Tesco stores, or has friends of family in the area, to think of us and the good this extra money will do when they are shopping. Just a few extra tokens could make all the difference.”