WALES Air Ambulance is one of three North Wales charities to benefit from funding by supermarket giant Tesco.

Tesco customers have been casting their votes this summer to help community projects in North Wales bag up to £25,000, with the vital life saving service being awarded first prize.

The supermarket chain is marking its Centenary year with two special Bags of Help funding rounds, with a huge £100,000 funding pot in North Wales. The first of these special rounds concentrated on groups delivering health and wellbeing benefits. In first place, Wales Air Ambulance has been awarded £25,000, in second place, The Osborne Trust has been awarded £15,000 and, in third place, Cruse Bereavement Care North Wales has been awarded £10,000.

Bags of Help, run in partnership with Groundwork, sees funding awarded to thousands of local community projects every year. So far, Bags of Help has awarded more than £5m to groups across Wales since it launched in 2016.

Wales Air Ambulance will be using the £25k to continue its mission to provide fast critical care to relive illness and injury wherever and whenever anybody in Wales might need them.

Wales Air Ambulance North Wales Fundraising Manager, Lynne Garlick said: "We are over the moon to be awarded this incredibly generous amount.

"Throughout late summer and autumn, we kindly asked the people of North Wales to vote for us whilst they were grocery shopping at their local Tesco. The unwavering support of the people across North Wales has helped us secure this amazing sum of money. We cannot begin to thank everyone who voted for us and also Tesco for their incredible support.

"In 2018 alone, we responded to over a thousand missions across North and Mid Wales, accounting for nearly half of the total number of Wales-wide missions we attend. As a result, this area is really important, so having the support of the shoppers across North Wales has ensured we can be there for people when they need us most."

The Osborne Trust is using the funding through Tesco to support the emotional wellbeing of children and young people during a parent's cancer treatment.

Emma Osborne, from The Osborne Trust, said: "We would like to thank Tesco customers for voting for us with their blue tokens which secured us £15,000.

"As a small charity, being able to support many more children across North Wales affected by their parents’ cancer is so important to us. The money we’ve secured as a result of your votes means we can widen our support to even more families that need support."

Cruse Bereavement Care will be putting its donation towards improving bereavement support services in the community. The group aims to support more bereaved children, young people and adults when they need it most.

Dan Scrase, Area Coordinator said: "We’re thrilled to receive £10,000 through the Tesco Bags of Help scheme, which will make a huge difference to so many people in the community.

"The funding will transform the support we offer to bereaved people, putting them first and treating them with the respect and dignity they deserve. We want to empower everyone to choose the support that is right for them and challenge the stigma around death and grief."

Geraint Hughes is a Tesco Enabler for Groundwork North Wales, he travelled to Tesco stores across the region to provide the grants for all the charities and to Caernarfon to present the cheque to the Wales Air Ambulance at the group’s base.

Geraint said: "It’s been wonderful to see the three great charities across North Wales get funding to support the amazing work they do improving the health and well-being of people across North Wales."

Keith Jackson, Tesco’s Bags of Help Manager, added: "Congratulations to the recipients of our first Centenary Grant voting round. They are all worthy winners and we hope these awards help them continue their important work in our communities.

"In 2019, we are celebrating a century of delivering great value for our customers. And what better way to celebrate this occasion than by using our flagship community grant scheme, Bags of Help to support even more groups and organisations who are helping to make a difference across Britain."

The first special Bags of Help rounds concentrated on groups with a particular focus on groups tackling cancer, heart disease and diabetes, in line with Tesco’s National Health Partnership.

Another voting round is underway in stores now, with even more projects sharing in the cash. Customers are invited to vote for the project they wish to receive the top prize using blue tokens handed out at checkouts.

The funding will reach more than 30 regions, with an incredible £3,300,000 up for grabs in total.

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