Jo Platt met with Asda and Parentkind in Parliament, to celebrate the success of Cashpot for Schools, which raised nearly £5.8m for more than 22,000 schools across the UK last year – this includes £17,426 for primary schools in Leigh and Atherton.
At a drop-in event, Jo Platt heard more about the scheme, the first of its kind, and was briefed on the work of Parentkind, Asda’s Community Champions and the Asda Foundation.
Cashpot for Schools was launched by Asda in response to research that found some parents are asked to give up to £138 per year to support their children’s schools, with the research also revealing the most significantly underfunded needs are school trips (64%), books and learning materials (52%), and sports equipment (50%). Through the scheme, customers were able to donate 0.5% of the value of their shopping to a primary school of their choice – these donations were funded by Asda and distributed to schools by Parentkind.
Speaking about the drop-in, Jo Platt said: “I was pleased to be able to attend this drop-in, to celebrate the success of Cashpot for Schools.
“It is great that £17,426 will go to schools in Leigh and Atherton, for them to invest in the resources and projects they choose.
“Thank you to Asda and Parentkind for launching this scheme, and to those local customers who participated.”