Two groups in Cambridgeshire handed early Christmas gift after sharing over £4,000 in funding
Posted by rob smyth | Published: 03/10/2017
Two projects in Cambridgeshire have unwrapped an early Christmas present after sharing over £4,000 in the latest payout from Central England Co-operative’s Community Dividend Fund.
A wide range of projects from across the area shared the festive funding boost of £4,200, with a total of £51,000 handed out to 30 good causes across 16 counties.
Groundwork Cambridgeshire will use £2,500 to pay for tools which will then be used by volunteer teams across the area on a variety of projects.
Hugh Cripps, operations manager at Groundwork Cambridgeshire, said: “This grant of £2,500 will be used to buy tools to equip a brand new employment team for Peterborough.
“The team’s first project will be working on two sites in Peterborough – Westgate Church to create a small sensory garden and West Raven Community Garden to construct planters and footpaths.
“For the volunteers that will be involved in the project they will benefit from the training and qualifications that will help support them to find long term employment.
“This grant has been great news for Groundwork, allowing us to expand the current work we successfully deliver in the south of Cambridgeshire into Peterborough where it has been identified that the need is even greater.”
Nene Park Trust, in Peterborough, has been handed £1,700 to support a project that will see the launch of a plant production nursery allowing volunteers to grow their own plants from seeds and cuttings.
Head of fundraising Adrian Oates said: “We are thrilled to receive this grant from Central England Co-operative Community Dividend Fund.
“It will mean that that we can buy our own portable water bowser which will be used by our Park team to ensure all newly planted trees and plants are watered easily.
“This extra care will help the plants establish and flourish for all our visitors and wildlife to enjoy for many years to come.”
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
Picture caption: Members of Groundwork Cambridgeshire and Nene Park Trust celebrate being handed their grant from the Central England Co-operative Community Dividend Fund.
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’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 Dementia UK 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