Hospice’s ‘virtual’ Christmas party boosted by donation of 300 boxes of mince pies from Central England Co-op teams

Posted by james brindle | Published: 15/12/2020

A Leicestershire hospice’s ‘virtual’ Christmas party for its families has been supported by Central England Co-op with a huge donation of mince pies.

Rainbows Hospice for Children and Young People, in Loughborough, holds a huge annual Christmas bash for all of its families giving everyone cared for by the hospice the chance to have fun and celebrate the festive season.

Due to the Coronavirus pandemic the event cannot go ahead in the same way this year, but the families will still be able to celebrate together at an online event, with the hospice providing party packs to each family to join in the fun at home.

When colleagues at retailer Central England Co-op’s Knightthorpe Road Food Store and its Pinfold Gate Funeral Home in Loughborough heard about the event, the kind-hearted teams jumped at the chance to give their support.

They joined together to organise a donation of 300 boxes of mince pies to go to the families enjoying the party at home, with the retailer’s Leicester-based distribution team making a special delivery to the Lark Rise-based hospice.

Paul Simpson, Store Manager at Central England Co-op in Knightthorpe Road, said: “It was our pleasure to join together with our funeral colleagues to make this donation happen to such a fantastic cause.

“We are proud to be part of a great community in Loughborough and know how much Rainbows Hospice means to people in the area so when we heard about the Christmas party we were determined to help in any way we could to ensure families can have a great time.”

Pam Sheppard, Senior Funeral Director at Central England Co-op Funeralcare in Loughborough, was also ‘more than delighted’ to continue their close links with Rainbows.

She said: “Our funeral homes in Loughborough have been keen supporters of Rainbows over the years - the work that the team at Rainbows undertakes every day is quite simply amazing and the impact they have on youngsters and their families is vital.

“In these uncertain times my colleagues and I were more than delighted to have the opportunity to give our support again to the hospice and the families it supports by helping to provide some festive treats to make their virtual Christmas party a really enjoyable event after such a challenging 2020.”

Hayley Purser, Corporate Partnerships Fundraiser at Rainbows Hospice, said: “We are so grateful to the Central England Co-op teams for their generous gift. The mince pies will help our families to celebrate at the Rainbows Virtual Christmas Party this year and create some special memories.”

Find out more about how Central England Co-op is supporting its communities this Christmas at https://www.centralengland.coop/food/christmas/

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 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 who serve 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 £1.4 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