Tesco opened its first West Wight store in Freshwater earlier today (Thursday) – the supermarket giant’s 5th store on the Isle of Wight.
3 leading Isle of Wight charities have received special grants to mark the opening of Tesco’s Freshwater superstore on Afton Road, which has replaced the former Co-Operative.
The store, which is now open between 07:00-22:00 Monday to Saturday and 10:00-16:00 on Sundays, employs more than 70 local people including 60 who have transferred from the Co-Op.
FYTbus, West Wight Nursery and West Wight Time Bank were today awarded £1,000 cheques from the store’s team in recognition of the essential work they do for the community.
Kevin Smith, Store Manager, praised the work of volunteers across the Isle of Wight and described how the store will help towards funding other local charities in the coming months. He’s said:
“We are incredibly proud to support these very special local charities and to have presented them with the community grants today. We know this money will make a real difference to the groups.
“We are extremely excited to have opened our Freshwater superstore. The new store offers the community a brilliant service, a broad range of products, the Post Office, as well as available free-to-use EV charging points. We’re thrilled to be welcoming the first customers through the door.”
The store will be part of the Tesco Community Grants scheme, which has donated a total of £184,041 to projects and local causes on the Isle of Wight to date. The scheme enables Tesco customers to vote for 3 different groups every time they shop. Any local groups that would benefit from this funding are encouraged to apply at www.tescocommunitygrants.org.uk.
The Freshwater store is also a part of Tesco’s Community Food Connection, which takes surplus food that is still fit for use, and donates it daily to local groups and food banks to help those who need it most in the community.
Tesco can also be found at Ryde (Extra) and in Express formats in Wootton, Lake and Ventnor.
About the charities
FYTbus, a volunteer-run transport service operating in West Wight, aims to improve access to health, social, retail and leisure amenities for residents and visitors.
Hilary Benns, who works for the charity, has said:
“This funding will help ensure this vital service continues to operate and will help us smarten up our bus stops by adding new weatherproof, up-to-date timetables and completing important repair work at one of our shelters.”
West Wight Nursery is a community nursery welcoming all children between the ages of 3 months and 12 years.
Kim Tyrell, Nursery Manager at the local nursery, said:
“We’re thrilled to receive this support and will use the funding to support the mental and physical health and wellbeing of the children through activities such rock climbing, swimming, mindful yoga and PE. We’re also planning a session at the fire brigade so the children can learn about safety.”
The West Wight Timebank is an inclusive community project which helps link people in the community with others who can teach them new skills.
Sally Gaeta, Managing Director at the West Wight Timebank, said:
“We are delighted to receive the funds from Tesco to continue our community work and to provide 12 weekly food parcels for families from the West Wight who are struggling at this difficult time.”
Nice one Tesco. A nice new store for the West Wight. Tesco provide lots of donations to local charities which many people are not aware of