Young carers and vulnerable children from across the UK are receiving much-needed support from a New Forest charity during lockdown thanks to a series of grants.

The Honeypot Children’s Charity received £2,500 in five £500 grants from Tesco’s Bags of Help Covid-19 Grants to help youngsters aged 5-12.

This funding has enabled the charity’s New Forest centre to post out letters, postcards, books and even Lego sets to the young carers it supports.

It has also been able to launch a digital support programme – Wrap-Round – to reach those children it couldn’t otherwise support because of their geographic location.

Viv Carter, Regional Community Fundraising Officer, said: “We are so grateful to Tesco for all their support in helping us to give young carers the opportunity to make the most of their one chance at childhood.

“These children are amazing, but what many of them lack is confidence. That’s why it’s so important that they receive support from an early age.

“Many of these children care for a chronically or terminally ill loved one, or have a parent with drug, alcohol or mental health problems. Some have been in a caring role from as young as 5 years old, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

“Our support reduces these feelings of isolation, so we'd like to thank Tesco Bags of Help Covid-19 Grants for helping us to keep in touch with Honeypot young carers and bring smiles to their little faces.”

Before the Covid-19 pandemic hit, Honeypot Children’s Charity gave young carers fun-filled breaks from their stressful responsibilities at home by providing a safe, nurturing environment where children could develop their full potential.

The residential breaks involved using trampolines, building dens, climbing trees, swimming in the charity’s pools, making new friends, all of which helped them to gain confidence and build self-esteem.

Keith Jackson, Bags of Help Manager at Tesco, said: “Young people have been among the most affected by the pandemic in the last year, be it due to school disruption or vital services stopping.

“We’re therefore very pleased to see so many charities and community groups coming forward for support, all of whom carry out vital work for young people in the UK, and delighted to be able to provide much-needed funding for many of them, including Honeypot Children’s Charity.”

Alex Forrester Corporate Partnership Manager from Groundwork added: “We have seen a wide variety of groups come forward for funding, including outdoor activities, mental health charities, young carers, bereavement counselling, and charities working with vulnerable children.

“We see day to day the incredible work these groups do, but also how much they need Forfunding to operate, which is often hard to come by, so it is fantastic to work with Tesco to be able to give a little help to some of them.”