Little Angel Theatre is celebrating after being selected by a Tesco customer to receive a £5,000 donation.
On Saturday 21st September, Tesco customers at Cally Road Esso Express were given the chance to take part in a lucky dip to find a specially created gold version of Tesco’s famous blue voting token.
Little Angel Theatre was one of three local charities that customers could vote for to receive the £5,000 Golden Grant as part of Tesco’s Stronger Starts scheme.
Imogen Newman, Community Engagement Manager at Little Angel Theatre, said: “Spectrum Summer School (SSS) is an incredible opportunity for young people in Islington to take part in a magical week filled with puppetry design and performance, in a space that caters to their specific needs. At Little Angel Theatre, with support from Whittington Health and Smoking Apples Theatre Company, we create a very accessible space that is directly catered to the needs of our participants. During the week, we have ear defenders on hand, quiet spaces, and lots of facilitators – with many participants having access to 1-1 support.
I supported with SSS in August 2024, and I was lucky enough to see first-hand how important and transformative creative, accessible spaces like this can be. On day 1, when our participants were waiting in the garden, you could see that they were all very nervous and looking at their phones thinking ‘why has my mum brought me here’. But, after just one session they were all exchanging numbers and laughing out of the door. Some parents even said this was the first time they had seen their child exchange details in this way. It is really special to see these young people grow into themselves over the course of the week. We even had an ex-Spectrum Participant help us to facilitate the sessions, which I thought was very special and is something we will definitely continue to do for years to come.”
Over one hundred Tesco stores across the country took part in the Golden Grants event, with £500,000 in total being donated to good causes that help children and young people.
Golden Grants are awarded twice a year as part of Tesco’s £8 million Stronger Starts grant programme, in partnership with the charity Groundwork UK.
Stronger Starts grants help schools and children’s groups provide nutritious food and healthy activities that support young people’s physical health and mental wellbeing, such as breakfast clubs or snacks, as well as purchasing equipment for healthy activities.
Claire De Silva, Tesco Head of Communities said: “We know that £5,000 can make a huge difference to a school or community project, so we are incredibly proud to have been able to award Golden Grants to over one hundred schools and local projects to support the vital work they do for our children and communities. Our Stronger Starts programme continues to support our local communities year-round, and we encourage all customers to get involved by using a blue token to vote for a local project they feel will benefit people in their community.”
Since Tesco launched its Community Grants programme in 2016, more than £120 million has been given to more than 67,000 local schools and community groups.
