Devon public urged to back local charity in chase for £5,000

A Devon community group has called on the county’s residents to back its quest to win top prize in a nationwide competition – and with it £5,000.

Punk Against Poverty CIC is one of 12 finalists from around the UK going before a public vote in the Selco Community Heroes competition, which attracted nearly 2,000 entries.

Leading builders merchants Selco Builders Warehouse – which has a branch in Exeter on Filmer Way - has organised the competition, designed to support charities and community groups during the financial turmoil.

A team of Selco judges selected a dozen causes to receive £500 worth of building materials and now the shortlisted groups will be aiming to top a vote and land a cash windfall.

A second prize of £1,000 is also available for the runner-up.

To vote, visit: https://www.selcobw.com/info/selco-community-heroes

Voting is open until midnight on February 28. 

Punk Against Poverty provides support to families in Exeter and Torquay, including by supplying free school uniforms to children in need.

A £5,000 windfall would allow the group to make vital repairs to its fundraising shop in Torbay.

Stefanie Curran, who helps to run the community interest company (CIC), said: “We’re delighted to be a finalist in the Selco Community Heroes competition.

“There is high demand for our free school uniform bank, which is helping to relieve the financial burden on families and enables children to focus on their education.

“While we focus on breaking the poverty cycle for young people, our work also spans to the elderly, by helping them to access emergency grants. We are the go-to organisation in times of need and this funding assistance is greatly appreciated as it helps us to continue our work.

“The £5,000 would enable us to carry out some much-needed repairs to our base in Torbay.”

Carine Jessamine, marketing director at Selco, added: “Our Community Heroes campaign has been hugely successful. We were inundated with a record-breaking number of applications from a host of good causes with outstanding credentials, so Punk Against Poverty CIC has done extremely well to be shortlisted.

“They do excellent work in the community and hopefully the whole of Devon will get behind the organisation in their quest to win an amount of money which would make a huge difference to the work they do.”

With hundreds of trade brands always in stock, Selco’s 74 UK branches are firmly focused on helping tradespeople complete their jobs as quickly and effectively as possible.

As well as offering trade services, Selco also has a strong digital presence including Click & Deliver, a Click & Collect service and a new website.

For more information on Selco visit www.selcobw.com