FOUR charities have been given £500 each for their help for communities during the coronavirus pandemic.

Friends - Play for Disabled Children, Moving Senses Positive Futures, Musical Memories St Helens and Saints Community Development Foundation LTD are set to receive the donation as a thank you from Jack’s Supports Scheme.

Carmen Escalante-Callejo, Director of Moving Senses Positive Futures, said: “We applied for funding so we could continue to provide support to children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), by providing arts and crafts, sensory and cookery packages.”

Denise Adamson, Chairperson at Musical Memories St Helens, said: “We applied to the Jack's Supports as we knew it was a fantastic scheme that supports the local community and were delighted when we received the email to confirm we had been awarded £500. Due to the Coronavirus Pandemic we have been unable to meet as a group and although we have been in regular contact with our group members by telephone we wanted to do something more. We plan to produce a CD of the songs we like to sing at our group and our singing facilitator Vernon Fuller will record the CD. We hope the CD will bring some joy to our group members and lift their mood at this challenging time whilst also providing some stimulation for those living with dementia in St Helens.”

Karl Van DerLaan, Jack’s St Helens store manager, said: “We launched Jack’s Supports to give something back to the local communities that have supported us since our launch. Each of the charities involved in the scheme do fantastic work in the local area, and we’re delighted that we are in a position to be able to offer our support.”

Jack’s supermarket, part of the Tesco family, launched its Jack’s Supports scheme to donate proceeds from the sale of carrier bags to local good causes voted for by its customers.

During the pandemic Jack’s have had to adapt their Support scheme by removing voting units from all stores. To ensure charities did not miss out on this vital funding, Jack’s invited charities to apply for funding and chose four charities at random to receive the full grant.

To be considered for the next round of Jack’s Supports funding you can apply by visiting https://jackssupports.org.uk/.