Superstar DJ and Central England Co-op shopper lends support to retailer’s Christmas toy appeal
Posted by james brindle | Published: 18/11/2020
One of the country’s leading DJs who has been riding high in the charts in 2020 has urged shoppers to help give children a gift to open this festive season by backing a retailer’s special Christmas toy appeal.
Nathan Dawe has given his support to Central England Co-op’s 2020 Christmas Toybox Appeal which is running until 9 December and is asking customers and members to donate a present or stocking filler at special donation points located in all of the retailer’s 242 stores across 16 counties.
The DJ, a regular at Central England Co-op’s Stretton Precinct store in Burton upon Trent, has had a breakthrough year reaching number three in the charts with his single ‘Lighter’ featuring KSI, while he also saw Top 20 success with single ‘Flowers’ featuring JayKae and saw pop royalty Little Mix ask him to remix one of their hits.
Nathan spoke about how special Christmas was to him growing up and why he was happy to give the toybox appeal his backing.
He said: “Christmas is a special time for everybody but especially this year people are excited to wish this year away really I think and spend some time with their family enjoying Christmas.
“Growing up Christmas is what you look forward to every year. Breaking up from school for Christmas was always a special one for me and opening presents on Christmas Day and hoping you get what you wished for are my fondest memories.
“I’ve been fortunate to have great Christmases growing up so anything that is there to help those people less fortunate to have those happy times as well I’m all for supporting.
“I would encourage Central England Co-op shoppers to drop in a present to their local shop – it doesn’t have to be expensive it’s that message that means the most. Anything they can get their hands on would be amazing.
“A few quid for us could mean the world for someone else and gives children the opportunity to open something that could make their Christmas Day which is amazing.”
It will be a somewhat quieter Christmas than usual for Nathan with the usual New Year’s Eve parties unlikely to be taking place, but he said he is still looking forward to the time with his family at home in Stretton and reflecting on the many positives of the last 12 months.
He said: “I was thinking the other day it’s going to be my first new year since I was 14 that I’ve not been DJing – 12 years straight I’ve done New Year’s Eve parties so it’s a bit annoying. But I’m healthy and well so you’ve got to take the rough with the smooth.
“It’s going to be a nice time with family and give us a chance to reflect on what is positive and what has been good in life at the minute which is a lot, so I’m really lucky.
“From a music point of view, it’s been amazing, and we have some incredible things on the way and some massive songs coming. So, it’s frustrating we can’t go out of the house and perform to the masses but I’m still very grateful for what I’m doing right now. Whenever we do get back to normality it’s just going to be insane I think!”
The Central England Co-op Christmas Toybox Appeal runs until December 9. Items that can be donated have to be new, unwrapped and can include puzzles, games, soft toys, outdoor toys, books, dolls/figures, CDs/DVDs and art materials.
The major organisations being supported include Birmingham Salvation Army and Rainbows Hospice, while in Burton donations are going to support the Young Ones Project supporting disadvantaged children in the local area.
Keep posted to www.centralengland.coop and @mycoopfood on Twitter for more information and updates throughout the campaign.
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