Charity starts at the checkout this month at Waitrose who are set to donate £1,000 a month to local good causes.
Community projects in Newport are set to benefit from £12,000 of funding this year thanks to a new initiative entitled Community Matters which was launched last Thursday at the Newport branch.
Each month, Waitrose Partners will choose three causes to benefit from a share of the supermarket’s £1,000 regular donation.
The first three causes to benefit from the programme are the County Air Ambulance, the Severn Hospice, which recently provided care for a member of the Waitrose team, and the Newport Gym Club, which is run by volunteers and provides gymnastic training for 20 infant and primary schools in the area.
Branch Manager of Waitrose in Newport Tracey Steele said: “Community Matters is a fantastic initiative that will make a huge difference to a lot of people in the area.
“We’re passionate about our community and as a team are very proud to be working on such a worthwhile scheme.
“We look forward to seeing lots of nominations from our customers in the coming months.”
Shoppers at the checkout will each be handed a green token which they can place into one of three labelled boxes at the store exit.
This enables them to learn about and vote for the cause they would like to support.
The more nominations a cause gets, the greater the share of the donation they will receive.
Chairman of Newport Gym Club Chris Belyavin said: “We heard about the scheme and I wrote a letter to see if we could be considered.
“We are delighted be selected as one of the first charities to receive donations and being a true community sports club we are trying to make gymnastics affordable.
“Being a smaller local charity in the town we are very grateful for the support.
“We provide for children from over 20 schools in the borough and we will use the money to invest in new equipment.”
All types of causes such as senior citizen homes, local schools and youth projects are poised to benefit from the scheme.
