A centre at a Douglas school which is devoted to pupils identified as having complex needs is celebrating a £5,000 windfall.

Orry’s Room, Henry Bloom Noble Primary School’s specialist provision centre, is celebrating after being selected by a Tesco customer to receive a £5,000 donation.  

On Saturday, September 21, Tesco customers in Douglas 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. 

Orry’s Room 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. 

Manager at Orry’s Room, Hannah Duke, said: ‘We are absolutely delighted to have been chosen as the Golden Grant winners.

‘It will make such a difference to the wonderful pupils we work with in Orry's Room.

‘Our aim is to create a safe outdoor area where pupils can extend their learning in the outdoors and which supports their sensory needs. This grant will go a long way to helping us do this and we are extremely grateful.’

More than 100 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.  

The 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. 

Tesco’s head of communities Claire De Silva 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 more than 100 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.

Schools and children’s groups can apply for a Stronger Starts grant of £500, £1,000 or £1,500 by going to www.tescoplc.com/strongerstarts