L-R: Katie Evans, Ruby Evans, Elina Herbert, Kian Dally, Evalyn Dally, Noel Jones, Sophie Boyd and Olivia Smith who all attend youth programmes organised by SYA
Shoppers in Shrewsbury are being urged to vote for a charity project to help fund activity trips for young people with special educational needs and disability
SYA – All About Youth has been accepted by the Tesco Community Grants Scheme, meaning its SYA SEND Days Out project will now be put to a public vote alongside other projects and be decided by shoppers at the retail giant’s three stores in Shrewsbury.
SYA is raising money to organise three activity trips for young people from a Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) background. The activities will be chosen by the young people and their parents.
Shrewsbury-based SYA supports youth clubs, groups and organisations in the provision of often life-changing opportunities for children and young people across Shropshire and Telford & Wrekin
To vote in the Tesco Community Grants Scheme, shoppers will need to make a purchase at one of the three stores – Tesco Express on Pride Hill, Tesco Express in Ditherington Road or Tesco Extra at the Cattle Market in Harlescott. They will then be given a token to cast their vote.
Voting has just opened and will close at the end of March. The project with the highest number of votes across the region will receive £1,500, or the amount that was requested up to this value, the second placed project £1,000, or the amount requested up to this value, and the third placed project £500.
Richard Parkes, SYA Chief Executive Officer, said: “We are delighted to have been accepted by Tesco as one of the community projects put forward for a public vote and are now calling on Tesco shoppers in Shrewsbury to get behind us and vote for SYA SEND Days Out.
“The activity days we are raising money for make such a difference to the lives of those young people involved and their families – memorable occasions which are eagerly anticipated and enjoyed so much by everyone.
“Funding is vitally important to us in meeting the needs of what we are trying to achieve now more than ever and it would be amazing if we could gain financial support through the Tesco Community Grants Scheme.
“Shoppers at the Tesco stores on Pride Hill, Ditherington Road and the Harlescott Cattle Market have the opportunity to help us help those young people with special educational needs and disabilities by voting in-store.
“It’s a unique scheme in that shoppers will already have made a purchase when they receive their token – all they have to do is use that token to vote for us. It is a really deserving cause and we, along with those young people involved in the activity days, really would be most grateful.
“Voting runs from mid-January until the end of March and there will be plenty of in-store publicity about the scheme, the projects and what to do. Shoppers will receive one token per transaction and only need to make one purchase to get their token and then vote. It’s that simple but will mean so much to us and the young people we are trying to help.”
The Tesco Community Grants Scheme has been running across the UK since 2016 and to date has supported 40,000 community projects and delivered more than £90m in grants. A total of £2m is donated in each funding round.
For more about SYA, call 01743 730005, email [email protected] or visit https://sya.org.uk/.
