A KIDDERMINSTER supermarket has pushed the boat out to offer a rescue team a year’s worth of fund-raising and support.

Sainsbury’s has picked the Severn Area Rescue Association(SARA), an inshore rescue boat and land search organisation, as its new local charity partner.

Customers also helped the store choose the worthy cause by voting in store and online in May.

Helen Bower, PR ambassador for Sainsbury’s, said: “We’ve had a great response from our customers and we’re delighted to have chosen a charity which many of our customers and colleagues can associate with.

“We will now be working closely with the charity to ensure they really benefit from the local charity partnership”.

The charity scheme, which started in 2009,has raised more than £5 million to support local communities in the last four years.

The Kidderminster store raised £6,304 last year for charity partner Hand on Heart, which gives funding for defibrillator packages to secondary schools, allowing four packages to be put into local secondary schools.