Teignmouth Coastwatch, Hospiscare and Merry Go Round Toy Library announced as John Lewis' supported charities

Exeter’s John Lewis store has announced the next three charities to receive support through its Community Matters scheme.

John Lewis customers are directly involved in how much money is donated to each charity, as they are given the ability to vote through the Community Matters scheme.

The scheme enables customers to receive a token at the till, which they then pop into the box of the charity they would like to receive funds. At the end of each round of voting, John Lewis splits a £3,000 donation according to the proportion of the customer vote they received.

The latest organisations to receive support from John Lewis Exeter are Teignmouth Coastwatch, Hospiscare and Merry Go Round Toy Library.

Community Matters allows charities to receive support financially, through volunteering time from John Lewis Partners (staff), or with products from its shops.

Hospiscare gained the majority of the vote with 58%, and received a donation from John Lewis of £1,740.

John Arnold from Hospiscare said: “With this money we plan to replace our crockery, cutlery and glassware in the ward at the hospice on Dryden Road in Exeter."

Teignmouth Coastwatch received a donation of £750 after gaining 25% of the vote. With John Lewis' support the charity hope to rebuild the watchtower in Teignmouth.

Vida Bamforth who is a volunteer and also a Partner (staff) at John Lewis said: ‘’Everyone is thrilled with the amount. This will help with reaching our target for rebuilding.'’

With the remaining 17% of the vote, Merry Go Round Toy Library will use John Lewis' donation of £510 to buy new toys for the library.

Pat Cusa from the charity said: ‘’This money will help to replace some of the older toys and mean we can provide more variety for the children.’’

Kate Connock, branch manager of John Lewis Exeter, said: “Our customers are now familiar with Community Matters and the feedback has been great - people stop and take time to choose the charity they’d like to see John Lewis support.

"It is exciting for us to see how the vote has been split and for us to now make the donations to these very worthwhile community groups.”

Organisations who would like to be considered as part of Community Matters should visit John Lewis Exeter to pick up a nomination form from the Community Matters collection box by the front entrance in the store.