CITIZEN readers can help give scores of disadvantaged youngsters a day to remember in Blackpool - simply by opening a new bank account.

A futuristic Bankpoint is being launched in Victoria Street by the Co-operative Bank on April 19 amid a carnival atmosphere.

To celebrate the opening, the company is donating £10 to the Variety Club of Great Britain for every new account opened on the big day.

The money will be used to help provide a Sunshine Coach which will take physically and mentally disabled as well as under-privileged children for days out during the summer months.

One of the visits will be a trip to Blackpool's various attractions, something which is organised each year and which will be boosted by the Co-operative Bank's donation.

Variety Club chairman Sandra Ellis commented: "It is absolutely marvellous news. We are able to treat children from different North West schools to various days out, from Alton Towers to Knowsley Safari Park.

"Our trips to Blackpool include a tour of the Tower and Pleasure Beach. For many it is the only opportunity they get to visit such places."

A group of youngsters will also be treated to a party courtesy of the Co-operative Bank during its open day.

A jazz band has also been lined up and prospective customers will be given the chance to find out what facilities the Bankpoint offers, from round-the-clock lobby access where they can make withdrawals, check balances or pay in cheques, to the bank's Armchair Banking Service - a direct telephone link through which customers can discuss their account

Senior personal adviser Neil Cartwright said the bank was only too pleased to help the Variety Club.

"Involving the people in Blackpool in this form of charitable donation is a way of further demonstrating the concern Co-operative Bank customers have for their community," he commented.

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