THREE West Devon groups are set to receive a share of a £12.5-million carrier bag charge fund, but are vying for shoppers’ votes to bag the biggest sum.

Tesco has teamed up with Groundwork on a Bags of Help initiative, which sees grants of £12,000, £10,000 and £8,000 — all raised from the 5p bag levy — being awarded to environmental and green space projects.

Three local groups have been shortlisted to receive the cash awards — Tavistock Community Sensory Garden, Princetown Pavilion Youth Club and Mary Tavy and Brentor Primary School — and over the next few weeks shoppers are being invited to head to Tesco Tavistock to vote for who they think should take the top grant.

Tavistock Community Sensory Garden is a project to build a sensory garden in Tavistock Meadows, which will provide a wide range of sensory experiences within a garden area that will be open to everyone and has been designed in consultation with the Tavistock Dementia Alliance.

Geri Parlby, chair of the group, said: ‘From work with dementia groups across the country I know how valuable the proposed sensory garden will be. It will be a site for families and friends to meet in and share each other’s company in a beautiful, tranquil setting with easy access to the town. The town council has worked tirelessly together with us on this project and councillor Debo Sellis has secured Devon County Council financial support.’

Princetown Youth Club is also hoping to win the top amount for its community garden project. The club has a patch of land which is overgrown with grass and brambles, which it wants to turn into a garden accessible to the whole community.

Jo Potter, lead youth worker, said: ‘We’re hoping that this funding will mean we can plant fruit and vegetables throughout the year which are available to everyone in Princetown. We want to create intergenerational learning and reduce rural isolation throughout the community.

‘We got a bit of funding last year to build a fence but nothing has been done with the piece of land since. It would be brilliant if we got the top amount but we’re delighted just to have been chosen at all. The worse case scenario is still a win.’

The final group vying for the major cash boost is Mary Tavy and Brentor Primary School which wants to install a ‘Woo Woo’ — a waterless toilet.

The eco-friendly toilet uses no chemicals and would be situated on the school field. The waste is separated and dehydrated and is then able to be composted.

Teacher Clare Carowicz said: ‘The field is about a ten-minute walk from the school. Over the past few years park rangers and the community have helped us build an allotment, pond, trim trail and woodland classroom at the field. In order to utilise the field and invite other schools to come and use it we need a toilet.

‘The toilet is solar and wind powered and means the children will learn about new ways of making energy. It’s really environmentally friendly. The one we want to buy is big enough for a wheelchair. The lowest grant is probably just about enough to cover the cost of the toilet but if we get one of the bigger amounts we plan to put on a big community event in the field.

‘We are very excited, we’ve wanted a Woo Woo for so long.’

Voting will start in store on October 31 to November 13. Customers will cast their vote using a token given to them at the check-out in store each time they shop.

This is the second round of the initiative. The first round saw approximately eight-million shoppers vote in stores up and down the country earlier this year.

Lindsey Crompton, head of community at Tesco, said: ‘The first round of the Bags of Help initiative was a fantastic success. In total, 1,170 community groups were awarded £8,000, £10,000 or £12,000 — that’s a massive £11.7-million being invested into local projects.

‘We are already seeing some great results from groups transforming their own environmental and green space areas. We are absolutely delighted to open the voting for round two. There are some fantastic projects on the shortlists and we can’t wait to see them come to life in hundreds of communities.’

Groundwork’s national chief executive Graham Duxbury said: ‘Bags of Help is giving our communities both the funding and the support to create better, healthier and greener places for everyone to enjoy. We’ve been thrilled to see the diversity of projects that have applied for funding, ranging from outdoor classrooms, sports facilities, community gardens, play areas and everything in between.

‘They’re all fantastic projects that make a real difference in our neighbourhoods. We’re all looking forward to learning the results of the customer vote and then supporting each group to bring their project to life.’