LOCAL charities and organisations who have benefitted from Waitrose's Community Matters scheme in the past year celebrated its success at a tea party last week.

The store held the event to celebrate giving out £16,000 to support community projects in the Okehampton area throughout 2012.

Representatives from organisations as diverse as the North Dartmoor Search and Rescue Team to Okehampton Children's Centre attended the celebration.

Launched in 2008, the Community Matters initiative invites customers to collect a token from the till on a visit to the store, and decide how to distribute a £1,000 monthly total between three local charities and organisations.

Damien Heard, the outgoing branch manager, said: 'It is lovely to be able to help so many charities and community groups throughout the year. It is very important to us as a business and particularly as a branch to do this.

'Last year, Waitrose gave approximately four and a half million pounds to charities through the Community Matters scheme alone — long may that continue.'

Among those in attendance was town mayor Cllr the Rev Mike Davies. The party gave him a chance to meet charity representatives and learn more about the scheme.

He said: 'Community Matters is a fantastic idea, and it helps so many charities and groups throughout the year.

'As mayor, people expect you to know everything there is to know about Okehampton. During my year as mayor I've realised I knew less than I thought! I have met with and seen so many community groups I knew little or nothing about, and seen some of the fantastic work they do on behalf of our community.

'They all need money, and without this sort of support, a lot of great work would not be able to go ahead.'

You can continue to support the local causes of your choice at Waitrose by dropping your green token into the bucket of your choice. Keep an eye out in store to see which organisations are currently being supported by the scheme.

If you are part of an organisation that could benefit from the Community Matters scheme, visit http://www.waitrose.com">www.waitrose.com or drop into the Okehampton branch for more information.