Children and young people with sight loss and additional disabilities in an East Lancs town will benefit from a grant voted for by Tesco shoppers.

Henshaws, one of the oldest charities in the North, received the much-needed £1,500 grant to go towards funding one of its summer school programmes for children with sight loss and a range of other disabilities in Accrington.

The money will help the young people enrolled in the programme to learn independence skills, including cooking, baking, and completing general day-to-day tasks.

Melanie Scholefield, fundraising development manager at Henshaws, said: “Henshaws charity supports children and young people with sight loss and a range of other disabilities.

"From the moment of diagnosis throughout every stage of their lives, we are by their sides.

“Imagine the challenges with sight loss as a young person visiting a supermarket independently.

"In 2020, Covid-19 made this even more challenging with the introduction of one-way systems, new outdoor queueing barriers, and green and red-light entry admission systems that were put in place.

“For someone with sight loss, these changes can cause a loss of confidence which contributes to wanting to isolate themselves from the outside world.

“Each year we hold our summer holiday activities, so children get to meet each other and form friendships.

"We offer training on day-to-day tasks, for example how to pour a drink, make a sandwich, bake and cook simple meals. Activities that we just take for granted. We help teach independence.

“Our main aim during school holidays is to ensure each child and young person has access to learn how to cook a nutritionally well-balanced diet in a safe environment.

“Part of our independence training for our children is how to bake and the children prepare an afternoon tea on their last day of the course, which is a wonderful surprise for everyone.

“To participate in this residential course, Henshaws does not ask for any funding from their carers, parents, or guardians, we provide everything the children and young people need while in our care.”

Claire De Silva, head of community at Tesco, said: “We’re delighted that we can help charities such as Henshaws who really are at the heart of their community.

“Tesco Community Grants invites our customers to vote using their blue token for local schemes that they feel are important to help our communities thrive, and it’s good to see the impact that the funding makes.”