A CHARITY in Bishop Auckland which provided hampers of goodies to hundreds of families in need at Christmas is now appealing for help from the public.

Feeding Families distributed more than 1,100 hampers filled with essentials and treats via 600 families who signed up to build and make the donation to another family in their local area.

Now the charity, founded by Juliet Sanders, is calling for votes from shoppers at Tesco stores in Bishop Auckland, Darlington and Newton Aycliffe after being nominated for the Tesco Bags of Help initiative.

The scheme sees grants of £4,000, £2,000 and £1,000 raised from carrier bag sales in Tesco stores awarded to local community projects.

Three groups in every Tesco region have been shortlisted to receive the cash award and shoppers are being invited to head along to Tesco stores to vote for who they think should take away the top grant.

Mrs Sanders said: “This initiative demonstrates that there is power in community.

"Through the kindness of strangers we meet the needs of our neighbours and remind ourselves that life can be unpredictable and we never know when we ourselves may need help from others. "Together we can make a difference.”

Voting is open in January and February and customers will cast their vote using a token given to them at the check-out in store each time they shop.

The Tesco’s Bags of Help project has already delivered more than £63 million to more than 20,000 projects across Britain.

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