KIND-hearted Tesco shoppers helped create a beautiful sensory garden for patients at St Ann’s Hospice in Little Hulton.

Customers at the nearby Walkden store voted for the charity to receive a £12,000 grant as part of Tesco’s Bags of Help funding initiative, in which a 5p bag levy is awarded to local outdoor community projects.

Elaine Fox, community champion for the Walkden store, said: “It’s wonderful to see the sensory garden come to life as I’ve followed progress very closely. We’re hugely excited about Bags of Help and the potential it has both to grow, and to help even more local community projects across the UK.”

“Patients and their loved ones also find time to reflect, addressing their psychological, spiritual and social needs. Sensory gardens are proven to be a great source of enlightenment and we’d like to thank Tesco, Groundwork and the store customers for thinking of us.”

Lindsey Crompton, Head of Community at Tesco, said: “Bags of Help has been a fantastic success. We’ve been overwhelmed by the response of our customers and it’s been great to give people a say on how the money will be spent in their community. It’s nice to see the projects come to life.”

Three groups in each local area are awarded grants every other month. Since launching in 2015, Bags of Help has awarded more than £33 million across more than 6,300 local projects.