Porthleven Gig Club has bagged a second grant in two years from from Tesco’s Bags of Help community grant scheme.

The club first won a grant of £2,000 in 2017 that contributed to the cost of new oars. This week members celebrated a second grant of £4,000, towards the cost of in-boat safety equipment, racing buoys and junior life vests.

Club secretary Renate Harrison joined regular rowers and Tesco’s local community champion Nikki Walker for a presentation to celebrate the award.

She said: “Thank you to all the customers at Tesco Helston for their votes. The gig club is a big part of the Porthleven community and it is thanks to grants like this that we can continue to provide up-to-date equipment and safe conditions for all our adult and junior rowers.”

Rhodri Evans, Tesco’s communications manager for the South West, said: “Bags of Help has been a fantastic success and we’ve been overwhelmed by the response from customers. It’s such a special scheme because it’s local people who decide how the money will be spent in their community.”

Voting ran in Helston and Falmouth Tesco stores, with customers choosing which of three local projects they would like to get the top award using a token given to them at the checkout.

Nearby Coverack Gig Club was also awarded a Bags of Help grant recently. They received £4,000 to contribute towards the cost of a new gig.

The grant scheme is run in partnership with environmental charity Groundwork, and sees money raised from the sale of carrier bags awarded to thousands of local community projects every year. Since launching in 2015, it has provided more than £48 million to over 13,000 local community projects nationally.

To nominate a project visit tesco.com/bagsofhelp.