CUSTOMERS at Sainsbury’s in Melksham have voted the Royal United Hospital’s Forever Friends Appeal as their chosen charity of the year.

The charity was voted in by customers in store and online with a total of 262.

The Forever Friends Appeal is hoping to raise £8m to help build a new cancer centre at the hospital.

To celebrate the announcement, a launch day will take place at the Melksham branch on the weekend of July 31 as Big Ted will be visiting the store on the Saturday.

Customers get a chance to meet representatives from the charity and learn more about the work they do. The store team will also be fundraising for the new charity by holding an activity weekend with bag packing and offering gift items for sale.

Bev Viveash the Local Community Fundraiser from Bath RUH Forever Friends Appeal said:

“We’re absolutely thrilled to be chosen as the Sainsbury’s Melksham Local Charity of Year. We can’t wait to work together and raise the profile of our charity over the next year. Thank you to all the customers that voted for us, we really appreciate the support.”

The local charity scheme is now in its seventh year and this year for the first time, customers got the chance to vote for their favourite charity from a shortlist put together by their local store. The scheme has raised over £7 million to support local charities since 2009.