Staff at Tesco in Tidworth paid a visit to the NSPCC Ashdown Family Centre in the town centre to present a toddler playhouse.

The centre’s Time Together’ toddler group, which meets weekly for mums and tots welcomed the addtion to play and group work rooms.

Lisa Kennedy, Tesco’s community champion, said: “Tesco Tidworth is proud to use its scale for good, working with the local community.”

And family centre manager Sharon Skelly said: “We are so grateful to our local Tesco store for this generous donation, it really will make a difference to play time here at the centre and we really appreciate the support local companies offer to us here at Ashdown.”

The Ashdown Family Centre runs various services for families, including a new programme called Pregnancy, Birth and Beyond which aims to help participants to set a pattern of good parenting for life.

The centre also runs a successful Under Ones group with lots of mums coming back after their second baby to join the group.

Once children reach one, there are general drop-in sessions where parents and carers are encouraged to come to socialise and enjoy time with their children.

The centre also offers individual support to children who are having emotional difficulties and may be struggling with feelings such as anger or confusion.

This could be for several reasons such as a parent being deployed or a family breakdown, with this in mind the centre is are now working with a local primary school on services for military families.