Charity ready for first collection event in a year

Help for Heroes will be holding the collection at Stafford’s Chetwynd Centre Tesco Extra store on Saturday, June 26 and Sunday, June 27 as part of the Tesco National Collection for Help for Heroes.

Volunteers will be in store to greet Tesco customers, who have supported the charity during the previous six National Collections, with £1.4m having been raised to date at these events.

After a difficult financial year due to Covid-19, Help for Heroes has said it is delighted the collection is now able to take place at the Tesco store on Armed Forces Day.

The charity said it was also particularly grateful to Staffordshire residents who have stepped up following an urgent appeal for volunteers to ensure that the collection could happen.

Help for Heroes area fundraising manager for Stafford, Trevor Fudger, said: "After such a difficult year, it’s great that we can once again be welcomed into Tesco stores to raise money for veterans with mental or psychological injuries.

"We hope that anyone in or near Stafford at the weekend remembers those who have been wounded as a result of serving their country by popping into the Tesco store at the Chetwynd Centre and donating what they can."

Like the majority of the charity’s fundraising initiatives last year, the Tesco National Collection for Help for Heroes had to be cancelled due to coronavirus restrictions.

Help for Heroes relies on the generosity of the public for the majority of its funding and saw a loss of approximately 75 percent to its income from national collections during 2020 as a result of the pandemic.

Anyone who wishes to donate to support Help for Heroes on Armed Forces Day, but is unable to visit a Tesco store, can donate by visiting gtap.uk/62/tes258 .