Specially created film showcases success of innovative men in a shed scheme in Halesworth after £2,000 grant

Posted by rob smyth | Published: 26/06/2017


A scheme aimed at combating loneliness among elderly men continues to thrive thanks to the success of a Central England Co-operative Community Dividend Fund grant.

Halesworth Mens’ Shed, based in Norwich Road, Halesworth, were handed £2,150 as part of a bid to ensure the innovative project could continue to benefit over 40 elderly members of the community by preventing them from becoming isolated.

People who take part in the scheme can either work on their own projects or come together to help create all manner of items for the community.

Now a specially created film showcases how the grant was spent and the difference it has made to the group who originally made just woodwork based items, but have now been able to branch out into light engineering, metalwork and modelling.

Alan Richardson, from Halesworth Mens’ Shed, said: “Our members come from all works of life and bring with them a multitude of talents. 

“Some of our members, men and women, come for numerous reasons but primarily always linked to loneliness whether through bereavement, illness, redundancy or retirement. Our long-term aim would be to eradicate loneliness.”

See members of Halesworth Mens’ Shed down tools to talk about how the Community Dividend Fund helped by watching the specially created film at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gl10SgZUn-U&feature=youtu.be

In the past six months alone, £109,000 has been shared between 60 good causes, charities and community groups. Since being launched in 2007, the fund has handed out over £2 million to hundreds of different groups.

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/

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 gross sales of £927 million in 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 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 2017. 

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.

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