The Youth Genesis Trust is bidding to bag a massive cash boost from the Tesco Bags of Help initiative.

Chillington Youth Space is one of three local groups you can vote for to win a cash grant that will help to provide a relaxed, safe space to hang out for young people living in the area.

Tesco teamed up with Groundwork to launch its community funding scheme, which sees grants of £4,000, £2,000 and £1,000 raised from carrier bag sales in Tesco stores awarded to local community projects.

The Chillington Youth Space will offer teenagers living in the village and surrounding villages somewhere to hang out, meet new friends and get involved in free activities such as music, sports, games, dance and arts and crafts.

The youth space is open every Thursday evening from 6.30pm at Chillington Village Hall and supported by a team of local volunteers.

Jonathan Oliviero, lead youth worker for the YGT, said: “The youth space will be a great way to offer young people living in a rural community somewhere fun and safe to hang out, meet new friends and get support.”

Voting is open in the Kingsbridge Tesco store for the rest of October, so there’s only a few weeks left to get votes in.

Customers will be able to cast their vote using a token given to them at the check-out in store each time they shop.

Tesco’s Bags of Help project has delivered more than £56 million to more than 16,000 projects across Britain. Tesco customers get the chance to vote every time they shop. Every other month, when votes are collected, three groups in each of Tesco’s regions will be awarded funding.

Groundwork’s national chief executive, Graham Duxbury, said: “Bags of Help continues to enable local communities up and down Britain to improve the local spaces and places that matter to them.

“The diversity of projects that are being funded shows that local communities have a passion to create something great in their area. We are pleased to be able to be a part of the journey and provide support and encouragement to help local communities thrive.”

Alec Brown, head of community at Tesco, 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. There are some fantastic projects on the shortlists and we can’t wait to see these come to life in hundreds of communities.”

Funding is available to community groups and charities looking to fund local projects that bring benefits to communities. Anyone can nominate a project and organisations can apply online. To find out more visit www.tesco.com/bagsofhelp.