£9,500 Asda Foundation donation to Thurlaston Village Hall

Our Fosse Park store's community champion Debbie Kenney presented the team running Thurlaston village hall with an Asda Foundation grant for £9,500 to help pay for a much-needed new kitchen.

The hall is used by the local community and surrounding district for meetings, playschool, classes, drama, music groups, village events and private parties.

Marion Tarratt, from the village hall's committee, said: "We're so pleased to receive such a generous donation from Asda.

"The kitchen is old and outdated and without this funding we would not have the opportunity or resources to renovate it.

"Our village hall has been a huge part of the community in Thurlaston for decades. It's a place where families can come and use the space for an affordable price."

Debbie helped the group apply for their grant – and Marion said: "It's great to see the Leicester store offering its support, as I'm sure many Asda shoppers have attended and will visit the hall themselves over the years."

Debbie said: "It was a pleasure to present the cheque. The villagers came out in force to welcome me and thank me for the Asda Foundation' s generosity."

Roni Tinsley, village hall bookings clerk, said: "We were absolutely thrilled with the donation. The kitchen is past its best and on the small side. We are actually losing bookings because of the size of kitchen.

"We hope to have the new kitchen up and running by the end of August. We'd like it done before the village scarecrow festival in September."