Lichfield Football Club handed an early Christmas present by Central England Co-operative
Posted by nathan lloyd | Published: 31/10/2016
Youngsters from a Lichfield football team have unwrapped an early Christmas present as part of latest payout from Central England Co-operative’s Community Dividend Fund.
Members of Whittington Blades Football Team under 9s were delighted to receive a festive funding boost of £800, with a total of £42,555 handed out to 26 good causes across 16 counties.
The funds will be used to help pay for new kits for the up and coming team.
Carl Evans, from Whittington Blades, said: “Winning the Central England Co-operative Community Dividend Fund means so much to our boys.
“The Whittington Blades are a hard working dedicated group of under nine year old boys who love playing football, learning and improving their skills each week.
“This funding opportunity means that we can not only provide them with a full away kit, but much needed rain jackets as the weather turns to winter.
“We are proud to be associated with Central England Co-operative and are thrilled to be part of their Community Dividend Fund and look forward to be part of a winning team together.”
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.
Martyn Cheatle, Chief Executive of Central England Co-operative, said: “I would like to urge all of our members to get in touch and put forward a community cause close to their heart for the Community Dividend scheme.”
People can apply for funding by visiting https://communities.centralengland.coop/ or heading in store to pick up an application form.
Potential applicants have to have been a Central England Co-operative member for six months, the project should be in the trading area of a Central England Co-operative store and all applications will need a referee.
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. It is a modern, forward-looking organisation employing over 8,000 staff, with projected gross sales of £958million for 2016/17. The Society recently celebrated being named Leading Co-operative of the Year 2016 by Co-operatives UK. The Society’s principal areas of activity are food, funeral services, and property. Central England Co-operative has more than 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. The Society has an ambitious food store development programme for 2015/16.
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 Newlife Foundation for Disabled Children and invests a percentage of its trading profit into local communities.
For more information visit http://www.centralengland.coop follo,w Central England Co-operative on Twitter: @mycoopfood, and on Facebook: facebook.com/centralenglandcooperative
Rob Smyth / Jo Baldock at Central England Co-operative on 01543 414140
Email –publicrelations@centralengland.coop