A CHARITY is urging shoppers to donate to its appeal which helps wounded veterans get back into work.

The Tesco Bags of Help initiative aims to get its Bracknell and Ascot customers to cast a vote through using a token and popping it in the charity boxes.

Deirdre Mills, chief executive of The Poppy Factory, said;: "We are delighted to have been chosen and I would urge people in Bracknell and Ascot to cast their votes for The Poppy Factory.

"The cash raised through this fantastic initiative could help us make a real difference to veterans living in the area who have a mental or physical health condition and who want to get back into meaningful employment."

The Poppy Factory is an employability organisation which helps veterans with mental and physical health conditions.

The organisation works with businesses across the country recruit people with these conditions and has helped more than 1,000 individuals into work through its Getting You Back to Work programme in 2010.

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

Throughout January and February, customers can use a token given to them at checkout in any of the Tesco Superstores in Whitton Road Bracknell, County Lane in Warfield or the Express stores in Ascot Highstreet and Horndean Road in Bracknell.

Alec Brown, head of community at Tesco, said: "Bags of Help has been a fantastic success and we have been overwhelmed by the response from customers.

"It is such a special scheme because it is local people who decided how the money will be spent in their community. There are some fantastic projects on the shortlists and we can not wait to see these come to life in hundreds of communities."

Tesco Bags of Help has already delivered over £63m to more than 20,000 projects across the UK.