Birmingham Store manager returns to his old school to provide donations towards care packages for pupils

Posted by james brindle | Published: 12/06/2020


A Birmingham Central England Co-op Store Manager has gone back to school to help a project providing support to pupils whose families have been hit hard by the impact of the Coronavirus outbreak and resulting lockdown.

Jamie Joyce, Store Manager at the retailer’s West Heath Road store in Northfield, was a former pupil at Kings Norton Boys School and jumped at the chance to offer support for a project his old school was undertaking.

With many families facing economic challenges as a result of the lockdown and the temporary closure of businesses, they have been only able to afford the basic necessities.

Therefore, Kings Norton Boys School has been putting together packages to give those pupils a bit of a treat they otherwise may not have had, and Jamie was happy to help, delivering a hamper of sweet treats to the school.

He said: “I was actually helping out at our Kings Norton store when I saw the letter requesting donations and I thought it would be a great thing to do for the local community and with it being my old school.

“I contacted them and said we would put together some treats and it was lovely to go along to the school to drop them off and see some familiar faces from when I was there.

“Only the children of key workers have been in school and some of the older students have been helping to put the packages together for younger schoolmates and those whose families are struggling because of the current situation with job losses and furloughing etc.

“It is really nice that they want to give their schoolmates a lift and give them a treat they might not otherwise get.”

Jamie has previously looked to support his old school through providing hot drinks for events held by the parents association such as quiz nights and said it was nice to give back to the community he grew up in, particularly at this time.

He said: “It is really lovely to be able to support the school in this way. We have had quite a tough, full-on time over the last couple of months so it’s nice to do something positive.”

People can keep up to date with what is happening in their local community by visiting a dedicated online hub at www.centralengland.coop/updates

 

Notes to editors

About Central England Co-operative

Central England Co-operative is one of the largest independent retail co-operative societies in the UK with interests in food, funeral, floral, travel and property investment.

Co-operatives have always been there for their communities; they were formed to protect them and help them flourish. 

Our 7,900 colleagues serving our Members and customers work hard to ensure that co-operative values, principles and spirit flow through everything we do to help support and improve our local communities.

Owned by hundreds of thousands of Members, we have over 430 trading outlets across 16 counties including West Midlands, Warwickshire, Worcestershire, Staffordshire, Derbyshire, Leicestershire, Rutland, Nottinghamshire, Northamptonshire, Lincolnshire, West Yorkshire, South Yorkshire, Suffolk, Norfolk, Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire. 

We are proud of our reputation for ethical business practices and corporate responsibility.

We invest a percentage of our trading profit into local communities through our Community Dividend Fund scheme, have donated over £1.3 million to our corporate charity partner Dementia UK and also operate a pioneering food redistribution partnership with FareShare Midlands so unsold food goes to those in need.

Visit www.centralengland.coop for more information or follow us on Facebook or Twitter using @mycoopfood

Press office contacts: Rob Smyth and James Brindle

Phone - 01543 421390

Email - publicrelations@centralengland.coop