TESCO'S fundraising appeal has provided a £3 million boost to three well-known health charities.

Between September 1-13, stores across Wales supported the Tesco Health Charity Partnership’s appeal to raise money for Cancer Research UK, the British Heart Foundation and Diabetes UK, which saw customers reaching the incredible total by rounding up their in store shop to the nearest £1.

Over the 13-day in-store appeal, customer donations amounted to nearly £1.5 million, with the supermarket giant matching contributions to bring the total charity donation to £3 million.

All funds will go directly to the three charities and will be split equally.

Oonagh Turnbull, head of health campaigns at Tesco, said: "We are really delighted that our customers have been so generous in supporting these three very deserving charities.

"This has been an incredibly tough year for many so far and hopefully this donation of £3 million will help those directly affected by cancer, heart and circulatory diseases or diabetes."

Due to the pandemic, each charity expects to see a steep decline in its income this year due to the cancellation of fundraising events and temporary closure of shops.

The support shown from Tesco customers at this critical time will help each charity continue its vital work to save and improve lives.

Caro Evans, director of partnerships at Cancer Research UK, said: "We want to say a huge thank you to Tesco customers for raising such a fantastic amount of money.

"Covid-19 has severely impacted our income and we need help now more than ever before to continue our vital research.

"We won’t stop working towards making progress for people affected by cancer and the amazing generosity of Tesco customers will help us continue our life-saving work."

Commenting on the total raised, Amanda Bringans, director of fundraising for the British Heart Foundation, said: "We have been amazed by the incredible generosity of Tesco customers.

"The Covid-19 pandemic means we face an agonising drop in our income, meaning every penny donated will be vital to us continuing to fund life saving research into new ways of preventing, diagnosing and treating heart and circulatory diseases.

"Thank you to each and every person who donated."

Kath Abrahams, director of engagement and fundraising at Diabetes UK, added: "We want to thank all Tesco customers whose generous support will help contribute to changing and savings the lives of millions of people with diabetes in the UK.

"This year we’ve seen demand for our services reach record levels, while our own funding has been significantly impacted.

"The money raised will help fund vital work to support those who need us the most – today more so than ever."

Donations can still be made via justgiving.com/campaign/tescoappeal or by texting DONATE to 70507.