NUNEATON CHARITIES BENEFIT FROM THE LATEST HELPING HEARTS DONATIONS

Charities and community groups in Nuneaton are among the latest to share a cash windfall of more than £7,000 from the Heart of England Co-operative Society’s unique Helping Hearts scheme.

The scheme, launched nine years ago, pledges every penny of the Society’s tobacco profits to worthy causes across the trading area in Coventry, Warwickshire, south Leicestershire and Northamptonshire.

Earlier in the summer Helping Hearts celebrated a landmark total of £500,000 pledged to groups since its launch.

Among the charities to benefit in the latest round were the Anmol Day Care Centre, Arbury Medical Centre, Atherstone Pensioners, Bulkington District Guides, Nuneaton Amateur Operatic Society and the Ley Group Young People’s Project.

Staff and pupils at Tiny Tots Nursery with Jo Dyke, Community and Membership Adviser, Heart of England Co-operative Society.

Tiny Tots Nursery Group, Help 4 Heroes, Nuneaton and Bedworth Leisure Trust’s Walking for Health Project, St Paul’s Church in Stockingford, Middlemarch School, Jason Rice Opticians, Nuneaton Gym Club, the League of Friends at George Eliot Hospital, Nuneaton Fire Station and Weavers Restaurant also benefited.

Nuneaton and Bedworth Leisure Trust received £200 of gift vouchers which will be used to provide free fruit for participants in the Walking for Health project. Bulkington District Guides also received £200. This will be used towards events and trips as part of their Centenary Year celebrations, which began in September.

Nuneaton Amateur Operatic Society will spend its £200 towards buying radio microphones while Anmol Day Care Centre will use its £100 towards installing a new lift.

Atherstone Pensioners received £25 of goods for fundraising towards Christmas activities. The Ley Group Young People’s Project will use its £50 towards refreshments for its meetings. Tiny Tots Nursery Group in Stockingford was awarded £100 towards a gardening project. And Weavers Restaurant, within the Heart of England Co-operative Society at Nuneaton, will use its £100 towards basic essentials for troops in Afghanistan. The League of Friends, Jason Rice Opticians and Nuneaton Gym Club also received £100 each.

Nuneaton Fire Station received a £50 gift voucher towards fundraising and Help 4 Heroes received £25 towards ongoing fundraising. Arbury Medical Centre also received a gift voucher, worth £20. This will be used towards a charity evening in aid of the Warwickshire and Northamptonshire Air Ambulance.

Jo Dyke, Community and Membership Adviser at the Heart of England Co-operative Society, said: “Once again the groups benefiting from the latest round of pledges from Helping Hearts are wide and varied and each strive to make life better for different groups of people within our community.

“This is excellent news as it means every penny of our tobacco profits is reaching thousands of people across our trading area and the most deserving people within the area are benefiting.

“As a community retailer it is only right we share our profits with these organisations so they can continue in the excellent work they do, helping to benefit some of the most vulnerable people in the Coventry, Warwickshire and south Leicestershire areas.”

Grants range from £10 to £1,000. Application forms are available from any of the Society’s 55 branches.