Godmanchester in Bloom joined MPs, Tesco staff, and representatives from Groundwork at a celebration event at the Houses of Parliament on June 18.

The event was organised to mark the success of the supermarket’s flagship community grant scheme, Bags of Help.

The initiative sees money raised from the sale of carrier bags awarded to thousands of local community projects every year.

To recognise the success of the project so far, Tesco and Groundwork invited representatives from 50 groups to the exclusive Parliamentary event.

Godmanchester in Bloom received a £4,000 grant in 2017 to help restore he garden of a Critical Care Centre at Hinchingbrooke Hospital.

The tranquil garden area has now officially been re-opened, after hours of hard work from Godmanchester in Bloom volunteers.

The space has also been enhanced with donations of plants and furniture made in memory of loved ones who spent time at the Centre.

Jessica Dean, Local Communications Manager for Tesco in the East of England, said: “To have awarded this amount of money to thousands of groups all over Britain is a fantastic achievement – and it’s all down to our customers.

“Bags of Help continues to be a great success and we wanted to get some of our funding recipients involved in helping us celebrate. Each of the groups has a big part to play in their communities and it’s important that we brought everyone together to recognise that.

“It’s a real privilege to see community projects thriving thanks to the funding.”

At the event, the groups – who are all Bags of Help funding recipients – got the chance to meet their local MPs and to hear how the funding has impacted upon recipients all over the country.

Tesco customers get the chance to vote for three different groups each time they shop. Every other month, when votes are collected, three groups in each of Tesco’s regions are awarded funding.

Tesco works with environmental charity Groundwork to put the funding into action across Britain.

Amber Neat from Groundwork said: “Bags of Help is breathing life into community projects all over England.

“Working on the frontline of these projects, alongside Tesco, we see projects going from an idea, right through to completion. The funding is having a real impact on communities and this event will help awareness of that.”

Bags of Help funding is available to community groups and charities looking to fund local projects that bring benefits to communities. Anyone can nominate a project and organisations can apply online. To find out more visit www.tesco.com/bagsofhelp