Tesco colleagues welcomed the first customers to their new store in Staines-upon-Thames on Friday.

The brand-new store in the Elmsleigh Shopping Centre opened its doors last week and in addition to serving the local community with a wide range of fresh food and other supplies, the store team will also be working hard to support local charities and good causes.

To mark the opening of the new store, £500 worth of much-needed essentials will be donated to local charity Shooting Star Children’s Hospice, a local charity that supports 700 babies, children and young people with life-limiting conditions, and their families living in London and Surrey.

Sophie Folgate, the store’s manager says the new store will provide a real boost for employment in the area, creating 12 new jobs and helping to train and provide jobs to local people.

She added: “Our Covid safe measures are in place and remain a priority and we’re keen to remind customers of the importance of wearing face coverings. We’re operating in line with Government guidance at all times to ensure our customers and colleagues feel safe.”

She added: “We’re also excited about encouraging our customers to take part in our community initiatives too by voting in store for local good causes that can benefit financially from our Tesco’s Community Grants scheme.”

Since 2016, 119 local groups in Staines have received £249,307 through Tesco Community Grants (previously known as Bags of Help). Local groups are invited to apply for community funding through the scheme which sees three local projects voted on by customers in store every three months, with first place awarded £2,000, second place £1,000 and third place £500.

The store will also donate surplus food via the Tesco Community Food Connection scheme run in partnership with food redistribution charity FareShare. Each day Tesco redistributes surplus food from its stores across the UK to provide millions of meals to charities every year.

385,964 meals have already been donated in Spelthorne through Community Food Connection since the scheme began in 2015.

Cllr Lawrence Nichols, Leader of Spelthorne Borough Council, said: “I believe Staines-upon-Thames will benefit from the presence of this new Tesco and it will add to the wide range of shops that we already have at the Elmsleigh Centre.

“I am confident that the opening of this store will benefit the wider local economy and provide jobs for Spelthorne residents.”