Tesco’s St Leonards shop donated £1500 to the council’s East Kilbride Family Support Hub and gave them a welcome boost for their summer activities.

Store manager Stuart Macleod and community champion Elaine O’Donnell visited the hub to present the donation and meet staff to find out how it would be able to help local families.

Stuart said: “People will recognise the blue tokens from the scheme we run in our stores to give back to the community who have supported us with their custom, and this is a great example of the benefit that can come from that.

“Having visited the Family Support Hub and heard all about the work they do to help local people, I feel that this donation couldn’t go to a more worthy cause. I am delighted it can be put to such good use and directly help the people we are looking to support.”

The hub is run by team leaders Shona Greenan and Susan Cuthbert, of the council’s Social Work Resources.

Shona said: “This was an amazing help to us and was really unexpected. We were able to use it for extra purposes over and above our normal work, from buying supplies for our summer programme to organising extra activities that families could do together and experiences they could have themselves.

“These things make a real and positive difference to people’s lives, and I can’t thank enough the Tesco St Leonards store and all the customers who voted for us.”

Professor Soumen Sengupta, Director of Health and Social Care for South Lanarkshire, said: “Our Family Support Hubs do a vital job in their communities, and it is great to see it recognised in such a beneficial way.

“The support has come full circle and round again: the hub helps the community, the community – through Tesco’s generosity – look to help the hub in return, and that help allows the hub to help the community even more. I send my thanks to everyone involved at every stage.”

South Lanarkshire Council’s Family Support Hubs provide a range of social work and multi-agency supports including support during and after pregnancy, family group decision-making, peer support, parent support groups, therapeutic interventions, outdoor activities and advice about other services.

Requests for assistance can be made by agencies or families themselves, and further information is available on the council’s website.