HUNDREDS of pounds have been awarded to nine local charities as a result of a supermarket community scheme. The Community Matters Scheme organised by Waitrose donates �1,000 a month to local charities and invites customers to nominate charities to benefit

HUNDREDS of pounds have been awarded to nine local charities as a result of a supermarket community scheme.

The Community Matters Scheme organised by Waitrose donates �1,000 a month to local charities and invites customers to nominate charities to benefit from the scheme.

Shoppers are handed a token at the checkouts which they place in the Community Matters box for the local cause they wish to support.

The largest amount of money, �515, went to Macmillan Cancer Support St Albans and District while the remainder went to the Herts Society for the Blind, St Albans Beekeepers Association, Home Start St Albans, Herts branch of the National Autistic Society, Earthworks, St Stephen's Church, St Albans Toy Library and HCPT, the Pilgrimage Trust.

The nine cheques were presented to the charities by Jane Winters, Waitrose marketing coordinator, at a ceremony attended by St Albans MP Anne Main.