AN army of volunteers raised almost £900 for a veterans' charity after manning collection buckets at a superstore.

A team who gave up their time to hold Help for Heroes collection pots at Tesco in Dorchester have revealed they raised £860 in vital funds during Tesco National Collection Weekend.

Volunteers were overjoyed at the support of Tesco shoppers who gave generously across the weekend.

Alec Brown, head of local community at Tesco, said: "We’re incredibly proud to be able to support Help for Heroes with collections at Tesco stores across the country. It was great to see so many fundraisers in stores and we want to thank customers and colleagues for giving so generously to this worthwhile cause."

Help for Heroes volunteers are a vital part of the charity team – raising money to enable it to keep supporting veterans in need while making friends and giving back to those who put their lives on the line for the country.

Claire McHenry, national campaign manager at Help for Heroes, said: "The support of Tesco’s staff and customers, not to mention our own volunteers, at the Tesco Dorchester superstore over the weekend was fantastic.

"The money raised is essential to make sure we can keep giving veterans and their families the help that they need to live their lives to the full.

"Although there is no active conflict at the moment, the need for us to help them is greater than ever – seven people are medically discharged from the armed services every day, and many veterans are now coming to us for help with mental health issues that have taken years to be diagnosed."

Help for Heroes is currently recruiting more volunteers. Anyone interested giving their time can contact the Help for Heroes Campaigns team on 0300 303 9888 or campaigns@helpforheroes.org.uk.

Since 2011, collections in Tesco stores in support of Help for Heroes have raised more than £1m to help the charity support Armed Forces personnel who have suffered from injury or illness as a result of their service.