Staff at a Harrogate care home for people with disabilities are celebrating after local people voted for them to be awarded £2,000 from Tesco’s Bags of Help community grant scheme.

The home is run by the disability charity United Response – a charity which supports people with learning and physical disabilities. The grant will help to make the home’s garden accessible for people with profound disabilities and complex health needs.

Service Manager Susie Harrison said: “We are incredibly grateful for this much-needed donation. It’s going to ensure those with disabilities live their lives to the full.

“We’d like to thank everyone who was involved in the fundraising – it’s been a great help to us towards dramatically improving our outdoor area.”

United Response cares for four people at its care home in Harrogate which it has been running since 1998.

Bags of Help is run in partnership with environmental charity Groundwork, and sees grants awarded to thousands of local community projects every year. Since launching in 2015, it’s provided more than £67 million to over 21,000 local community projects.

Millions of shoppers have voted in Tesco stores up and down the country throughout November and December 2018, choosing which local project they would like to see awarded a special grant. Shoppers in Harrogate voted for the supermarket chain to award United Response’s local team £2,000.

Alec Brown, Tesco’s Head of Community, said: “Bags of Help contributes funds to community projects up and down the country and we’ve been overwhelmed by the response from customers voting in their local stores. We’re looking forward to seeing more projects brought to life.”

Groundwork’s National Chief Executive, Graham Duxbury, said: “Bags of Help continues to enable local communities up and down Britain to improve the local spaces and places that matter to them. The diversity of projects that are being funded shows that local communities have a passion to create something great in their area. We are pleased to be able to be a part of the journey and provide support and encouragement to help local communities thrive.”

United Response is a top 100 national charity that provides person-centred support to around 3,000 adults and young people with autism, learning disabilities, mental health needs or physical disabilities – including some of the most vulnerable people in the UK.

The charity’s team in Harrogate is looking for new staff and volunteers who want to help make a difference. If you can help, contact Susie Harrison on 07528 930772 or 01423 867 109.

To learn more about United Response, visit www.unitedresponse.org.uk.