Ten projects in Leicestershire handed nearly £19k funding boost thanks to special community fund
Posted by rob smyth | Published: 27/06/2017
Ten projects in Leicestershire are celebrating after sharing over £18,000 in the latest payout from Central England Co-operative’s Community Dividend Fund.
A wide range of groups, organisations and charities were handed grants, with a total of £50,000 handed out to 32 good causes across 16 counties.
The Hero Project, based in Coalville, will use £3,300 to buy an outdoor pizza oven and ingredients to help youngsters learn more about where food comes from.
Danielle Fern, from the Hero Project, said: “The funds will go towards a pizza oven and co-operative foods.
“The project is about going around local schools and doing a pizza club, which will involve different activities such as how to grow "pizza" plants.
“This will have a massive impact on our local area in a good way.”
Northfield and District Play Association, based off Gipsy Lane, in Leicester, will use £2,000 to continue to provide a safe and stimulating environment for youngsters by purchasing special equipment to build a sensory garden.
Age UK Oadby and Wigston will spend £530 for a new laptop to allow its information and advice officer to be out and about and to help more people in the community.
Joy Husband, of Age UK Oadby and Wigston, said: “Thank you to Central England Co-operative for their kind donation of £530.
“This will go towards a laptop computer for our information and advice officer. It will allow her to work more effectively as when she attends home visits she will be able to enter information accurately without having to make handwritten notes.
“She will have access to forms for assisting elderly people in their homes and will be able to make better use of resources saving paper and time.”
St Christopher’s Church Community Development Group, in Coalville, had been handed £4,630 to pay for an exciting project aimed at extending a popular
scheme that provides a community cinema to the local residents.
Fleckney Duckpond Players Drama Group will use £1,200 to pay for a new lighting to enhance their community productions.
Budding footballers at Coalville Town Ravenettes will be playing in a new kit next season thanks to a £650 grant.
A total of £1,550 will be used by Eyres Monsell Club for Young People to pay for equipment to help keep youngsters entertained.
Belton Gardening Club, based in Loughborough, will buy a defibrillator after being handed a grant of £2,200.
The club decided to apply for funding after a member sadly passed away and health experts said his life could have been saved if a defibrillator had been nearby.
This comes after Central England Co-operative installed over 200 of the lifesaving devices across its food stores and funeral homes with funds raised from the 5p carrier bag levy.
People with disabilities will soon be able to have their own allotment after Groby Allotment Society secured £1,500 to pay for a specialised plot of land.
Girlguiding Leicestershire has been awarded £1,190 to pay for a range of materials for when youngsters head out camping
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/
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
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 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 – PR officer - Central England Co-operative - 01543 414140
Email – publicrelations@centralengland.coop