THE search is on for charities to receive a share of the money that shoppers donate to the Trafford Centre fountain.

intu Trafford Centre is inviting local, North West based charities to apply to be the new recipients of its Fountain Fund for 2020 - 2022.

Three local charities will be selected to receive a share of the coins that are dropped in the centre’s spectacular fountains located around the centre.

Every single coin generously dropped into the water by shoppers is washed, cleaned and donated to the centre’s current nominated causes.

Since intu Trafford Centre opened in 1998, nearly £1million has been collected in total.

As well as coin donations via the fountains, the chosen charities will also receive support in other ways including in-centre fundraising events, free promotional spaces on the malls, and opportunities to publicise activities to colleagues and customers.

Alison Niven, centre director at intu Trafford Centre, said: “With people at the heart of what we do, guided by our strong culture and community values, we’re passionate about supporting local charities that do amazing work in their areas.

“As one of the biggest shopping centres in the UK, a vast number of coins are dropped into our centre’s fountains each year.

"However, the additional appeal of the Fountain Fund project is the long-term support of our team who will work with the winning charities on fundraising and awareness-raising campaigns.”

Applications are open to registered charities within the North West, charities interested in applying should visit intu.co.uk/traffordcentre/news/were-looking-for-three-local-charities-to-benefit-from-our-fountain-fund for full details.

All shortlisted charities will be announced via the intu website in late October, following which the final charities will be selected via a public vote. The successful charities will be revealed by the end of 2019.

The charities benefiting from the Fountain Fund in 2018-9 were Once Upon a Smile, British Army charity ABF The Soldiers’ Charity and Trafford Domestic Abuse Service.