Marks & Spencer has confirmed that all the money raised from carrier bag charging in its Isle of Man store will now stay on the Island to help support deserving local community projects.

The M&S Douglas store raises around ?20,000 annually for good causes from carrier bag charging. Until recently, this money went into a central fund, with over ?10 million raised for good causes, including Groundwork UK, WWF and Marine Conservation Society, since M&S introduced carrier bag charging in 2008.

From this month, the money raised locally will now be re-invested back into the island and the first project to benefit is well-known charity, Beach Buddies. The group, made up of local beach cleaning volunteers, will receive a total of ?5,000 to provide much-needed bins at various popular beauty spots and walking routes.

Kenny Marshall from M&S Douglas said, “Plan A is our eco and ethical programme with the ultimate goal of becoming the world's most sustainable major retailer– sourcing responsibly, reducing waste and helping communities. We introduced the carrier bag charge to our Foodhalls in 2008. Since then, it has reduced carrier bag use in our Foodhalls by 75% and raised more than ?10 million for good causes.

“We are absolutely delighted that all the money raised here at M&S Douglas will now stay on the island, as this will make such a huge difference to our home-grown community projects.

“We chose Beach Buddies as our first recipient as Plan A is our way to help protect the planet – by sourcing responsibly, reducing waste and helping communities. We launched Plan A in January 2007, setting out 100 commitments to achieve in 5 years. We've now introduced Plan A 2020 which consists of 100 new, revised and existing commitments, with the ultimate goal of becoming the world's most sustainable major retailerPlan A is our way to help protect the planet – by sourcing responsibly, reducing waste and helping communities. We launched Plan A in January 2007, setting out 100 commitments to achieve in 5 years. We've now introduced Plan A 2020 which consists of 100 new, revised and existing commitments, with the ultimate goal of becoming the world's most sustainable major retailerwe’ve had a great relationship with them for several years through our annual ‘M&S Big Beach Clean Up’ initiative in partnership with the Marine Conservation Society. Beach Buddies have been a great support in delivering the campaign for the past four years and we wanted to give something back to reward their worthwhile work.”

Bill Dale, who set up Beach Buddies in 2006 said, “We have been saying for a long time that we wanted more bins to be placed at our Island beauty spots in order to tackle roadside rubbish. Ideally, we would love people to collect plastic bottles and other debris as they walk and then have the facility to leave that rubbish at our bins. Our wish would be to have the cleanest beaches in the British Isles and these bins will certainly help us towards that goal.”

The rubbish will be collected on a regular basis by Beach Buddies. Minister for Department of Infrastructure, Phil Gawne, said: “I’d like to congratulate Beach Buddies on receiving this grant through the M&S Plan A initiative – they are a very deserving charity doing great work on the Island. We look forward to working with them in ensuring Island residents take more pride in our beautiful beaches and walkways.”

Previous projects on the Isle of Man funded by the carrier bag charge include the Garey Class project. ?25,000 donated by M&S transformed the sunken gardens on Loch Promenade into an eco-friendly space.

For more information on M&S Plan A, please visit http://corporate.marksandspencer.com/plan-a