A WHITCHURCH convenience store has been giving out donations totalling nearly £5,000 to local charitable causes.

As a part of the Co-op’s membership scheme, one per cent of all Co-op purchases by members go to a selected charity with three causes available to choose from.

The Whitchurch Co-op donated £1,690 to Girlguiding, £1,515 for the Overton Playgroup, and £1,737 for Testbourne School’s Parent, Teacher, and Friends Association (PTFA).

The Girlguiding group will be using their donation to help fund residential trips away while The Overton Playgroup will be buying a new climbing frame to replace the old and worn out one it is using at the moment.

The PTFA will be using its share for new seating for the school’s theatre.

James Lovell, store manager, said: “It can make a massive difference to these groups to receive the money, and the amount that has been raised is surprising to a lot of the people receiving it. The groups are going to be able to do a lot with it.

“It’s great to be able to help out the local causes and share the customer interaction that comes from this. We had a bit of fun with some food and drink last Saturday as we gave the money out. It is great to share in the success and to be able to do it.”

Store customers who live within 15 miles of the shop are eligible to become members to help select the causes.

The three options have been available for six months and they were the second round of funding. The third round has now gone live, and will be there for double the amount of time, with the three new causes being available for a year.

This round of causes includes the Kingfisher Day Centre, which is trying to raise money to get furniture for its lunch club and increase the capacity for day care it is are able to provide.

The Whitchurch Association is one of the other options to receive the cash boost which would help to complete the association’s bid to install defibrillators across Whitchurch.

There are still four locations that could have one installed.

Whitchurch Football Club is the third local good cause aiming for funding to get portable training lights for its new pitch.