Central England Co-op donates £7k to boost five charity and community projects in the West Midlands

Posted by rob smyth | Published: 23/04/2018


Five projects across the West Midlands are celebrating after sharing nearly £7,000 in the latest payout from Central England Co-operative’s Community Dividend Fund.

A wide range of groups, organisations and charities were handed grants, with a total of £45,000 handed out to 40 good causes across 16 counties.

Birmingham Federation of Clubs for Young People will use £2,500 to pay for new lighting to ensure its work to offer residential visits, activities and support for young people can continue.

A project designed to help solve the rising issue of homelessness among young people in Birmingham has been handed £1,500.

Start Again CIC will use the money to buy new laptops to support work to help people in need get support and accommodation.

Youngsters at Tyburn Amateur Boxing Club, based in Erdington, has been handed £680 to pay for new headgear and skipping ropes to ensure that they stay safe while learning a new skill and keeping fit and healthy.

The revamped library at Turves Green Primary School, in Northfield, will soon be filled with brand new books after the school were awarded £1,250 to buy a range of new titles to help improve reading levels among pupils.

A total of £1,000 will be used by Vision Care for Homeless People to help provide eye tests and glasses for vulnerable people.

Chelmsley Wood store manager Nicola Collins said: “We are delighted that these great projects and good causes have been handed a grant for the great work they do in the community.

“Community Dividend Fund grants like this showcase how being a member and continuing to support Central England Co-op helps us as a Society continue to invest and fund vital projects in the local area.”

Grants of between £100 and £5,000 are handed out every three months to a wide range of applicants.

The fund guarantees that at least one per cent of the Society’s trading profit is reinvested in local communities in a bid to help projects to thrive across its trading area of 16 counties from the Midlands to the east coast.

People can apply for funding by visiting https://communities.centralengland.coop/

Becoming a member of Central England Co-operative offers a whole host of benefits ranging from collecting points every time you spend in store to earn a share of the profits, access to members activities and community initiatives including the Community Dividend Fund, which hands out grants of up to £5,000 to charities and good causes across the Society’s trading estate.

Find out how to become a Central England Co-operative member by calling 0800 0501 601, emailing members@centralengland.coop or visiting https://www.members.coop

 

Notes to editors

 

Picture caption: Members of five groups across the West Midlands celebrated being handed their grant from the Central England Co-operative Community Dividend Fund.

 

About Central England Co-operative

 

Central England Co-operative is one of the largest independent retail co-operative societies in the UK. 

 

It is a modern, forward-looking organisation employing over 8,000 staff, with the Society’s principal areas of activity being food, funeral services, and property investment.

 

Central England Co-operative has over 400 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.  The Society has an ambitious food store development programme for 2018.

 

Central England Co-operative is proud of its reputation for ethical business practices and corporate responsibility.  It is a member of Business in the Community, the membership organisation that stands for responsible business, and has also won many business awards for excellence.  The Society supports a number of charities including Dementia UK and invests a percentage of its trading profit into local communities.

 

Becoming a member of Central England Co-operative offers a whole host of benefits ranging from collecting points every time you spend in store to earn a share of the profits, access to members activities and community initiatives including the Community Dividend Fund, which hands out grants of up to £5,000 to charities and good causes across the Society’s trading estate.

Find out how to become a Central England Co-operative member by calling 0800 0501 601, emailing members@centralengland.coop or visiting https://www.members.coop

 

For more information visit www.centralengland.coop, follow Central England Co-operative on Twitter: @mycoopfood, and on Facebook: facebook.com/centralenglandcooperative

 

Rob Smyth / Heather Clapton at Central England Co-operative on 01543 414140

 

Email –publicrelations@centralengland.coop