THREE charities have received a share of the first £1,000 being given away by Sidmouth s Waitrose store under its Community Matters scheme.

THREE charities have received a share of the first £1,000 being given away by Sidmouth's Waitrose store under its Community Matters scheme.

Shoppers have voted for the three local charities they wanted to support.

Adrienne Seddon, chairman of the Exmouth and Exeter Friends of Children's Hospice South West, received the largest cheque, of £360, while Lynn Maxwell accepted £330 for Living with Cancer.

Phil Shepperd, helmsman, and trustee Freddy Wedderburn collected £310 for Sidmouth Lifeboat.

Mrs Seddon said: "I am very happy the public chose such a worthwhile cause. Quite a few local people in East Devon use the Barnstaple hospice."

The money will go towards building a third hospice, which will be in Cornwall.

Lynn Maxwell, secretary of Living with Cancer, said the group would use the money to help towards transport, cards and flowers to see members in hospital.

She said: "It is so kind of the community to put tokens in for our charity. I just want to say thank you to all the shoppers who donated them to us."

Phil Shepperd said money given to Sidmouth Lifeboat would be used for new crew training in sea survival and VHF radio courses in the next few weeks. He is the charity's training officer.

Waitrose manager Mark Shepherd, who presented the cheques, said: "We are giving £1,000 every month of the year to local charity and are delighted, in the current economic climate, to demonstrate our commitment to the community in such a bold way.

"Customers have the opportunity to choose charities they want to support."

Margaret Edwards-Hughes, who runs the Community Matters scheme in Sidmouth, said a committee selected each month's three charities or organisations from a list submitted.

Each month there will be three to vote for and currently they are Devon Air Ambulance, Guide Dogs for the Blind and Diabetes UK.