A Saturday food shop isn’t usually something to get excited about. But Saturday 16th March at Tesco Gatwick Extra in Horley, something golden was about to happen.
If you’ve seen the blue coins available at the checkout in Tesco stores, you will know that you can cast your vote for one of three projects that support young people within the community as part of the Tesco Stronger Starts scheme. On the 16th March this was taken to the next level with one gold coin available at a special golden grant event. The gold coin was in a bag with 99 blue coins and was worth £5,000 to whichever charity was chosen. We put the call out to Team Stork and as Saturday dawned, many headed to Tesco hoping to find the gold coin. Stripey was there ready and as each coin was pulled out we eagerly waited to see if it was gold.
Then came the moment. In came Ann, one of our long-term volunteers and Team Stork superstar. She picked her coin and, in a moment, when time stood still, we realised it was gold. There was never any question about which charity Ann would choose and it was a fabulous moment when she put the coin into our slot.
The £5,000 golden grant is a significant amount of money and will mean we can help many more families who are facing hardship. We help, on average, 200 families a week with the essential items that they need, including baby equipment, clothing, toiletries and school uniform. We believe that every child deserves the same start in life and that they have access to the essential things they need to develop and meet their potential. We’re only able to help these families thanks to the generous support from our fundraisers, volunteers, funders and community.
Thanks to Tesco for running the Stronger Starts scheme and giving us the opportunity to do more. Thank you for every blue coin that you have placed in out slot and of course thank you to Ann for being the lucky person to find the gold coin.
