Scheme to get food and essentials to vulnerable people in Lichfield hits milestone of helping over 500 people in six weeks
Posted by rob smyth | Published: 13/05/2020
Over 500 vulnerable people have now been supported by a community hub scheme run by Central England Co-op and Lichfield District Council.
In just six weeks, the ground-breaking project has now helped hundreds of people after they were identified by the district council and then supported by the retailer with the creation and delivery of vital food packages from the Central England Co-op Food Store, in Boley Park.
The scheme has been such a success that it has now been rolled out across four other areas – Stafford, Derby, Burton and Leicester – with more set to follow in the coming weeks.
In total, over 890 people have been supported across all five projects in the past month and a half.
James Knight, Member and Community Relations Officer for Central England Co-op, is managing the project for the retailer from Boley Park.
He said: “I am so proud to see that our great partnership with Lichfield District Council has now helped over 500 vulnerable people.
“Our community hub at our Boley Park Food Store has allowed us and the council to come together, find the people in need and ensure we get them the food and essentials they need right to their door.
“This is a perfect example of co-operation in action and while we are living through these uncertain times we will continue to work closely with council to help those who need us the most through this project.”
Councillor Ashely Yeates, Lichfield District Council’s Cabinet Member for Communities and Housing, said: “I am really pleased that we are continuing to help people who are vulnerable and self-isolating across the district. It’s been a huge team effort with many council officers taking on new roles of manning the phone line and others who’ve been delivering the shopping.
“It’s also been a pleasure working with Central England Co-op on this innovative scheme and it’s great to have reached the 500 delivery milestone.”
The council will not ask for any payment information when they make the initial call to people it has identified.
Anyone who lives in Lichfield District and are self-isolating and do not have any outside help, can call the emergency shopping line on 0333 220 3088, which is available from 9am to 5pm on weekdays.
To find out more about the service, visit www.lichfielddc.gov.uk/coronavirushelp
Notes to editors
Picture caption: The Central England Co-op team working hard on the project at its store in Boley Park, Lichfield.
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 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 £1.3 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