MAY 2018

Lincolnshire Co-op raised more than £150k
p West Street manager Mark (centre) with
new colleagues Jackie and Karl
COMMUNITY
Southern Co-op raises
funds for children’s A&E
Southern Co-op food stores in
Southampton have raised over £6,800 for
a new emergency trauma ward for children
at University Hospital Southampton A&E.
All 13 Southern Co-op stores in the city
came together following a suggestion by
City Gateway store manager Dean Millar
that the charity should receive money from
the society’s Love Your Neighbourhood
community engagement scheme, and
from charity boxes in store.
He said: “Both I and my three children
have relied on the University Hospital and
when we heard about the appeal to help
set up a new children’s emergency trauma
ward I thought it was time to take action.
“Now our colleagues at Commercial
Road have selected the charity as their
Love Your Neighbourhood partner for the
next 12 months and the fundraising efforts
have really snowballed.”
Meanwhile, the society’s store on West
Street in Ryde, the Isle of Wight, has
partnered with Solent charity Wheatsheaf
Trust to help unemployed people into
work.
The store has recruited eight new
colleagues in the last six months, with
more expected throughout the year.
Bridge2Work, funded by the European
Social Fund (ESF) and the National
Lottery, offers participants paid work,
building their confidence and resilience.
Store manager Mark said: “After a
similar partnership we ran last year with
the Shaw Trust, we looked to extend our
work experience programme with another
charity. We were lucky enough to link
up with Wheatsheaf Trust to help clients
back into a working environment.”
The project aims to support people
across the Solent area facing barriers to
work, including disability, homelessness,
long term unemployment and isolation.
Charities and groups working with older
people will share a £153,000 windfall
from a fundraising campaign by the
Lincolnshire Co-op. The fundraising drive
will help 63 friendship groups and lunch
clubs, at a time when loneliness and
isolation is affecting health and wellbeing
for many older people. More than 156,000
members helped raise the total, as well as
staff fundraising and the plastic bag levy.
Chelmsford Star Co-op makes national awards shortlist
Chelmsford Star Co-operative has been
recognised in the national Business
Charity Awards. The society recently
reported that 33p in every £1 spent in
their stores impacted the Essex economy
in some way – through community
donations; support for local food and
drink producers; charitable fundraising;
and the dividend for members.
Radstock Co-op recognised as an Investor in People
Radstock Co-operative has been awarded
silver accreditation against the Investors
in People Standard, in recognition of its
commitment to high performance through
good people management. Investors
in People defines what it takes to lead,
support and manage people effectively to
achieve sustainable results.
Scotmid backs efforts to help the homeless in Edinburgh
Scotmid Co-operative is funding a
community hub at the Social Bite Village,
a project to help homeless people in
Edinburgh. One key component of the
project is helping residents learn life skills
such as money management and cooking.
It also offers a place to meet mentors or
health visitors to help get their life back
on track.
East of England Co-op to sell fresh food beyond Best Before
The East of England Co-op will be selling
fresh food products after the ‘best before’
date. The initiative, part of the “The
Co-op Guide to Dating” scheme to tackle
food waste, saw items including tinned
goods, packets and dried food go on sale
for a month beyond the best before date.
Products will be sold for a nominal 10p.
MAY 2018 | 11