Two projects in Burton and South Derbyshire share £7,000 funding boost

Posted by nathan lloyd | Published: 10/04/2017


Two projects in Burton and South Derbyshire are celebrating after sharing over £7,000 in the latest payout from Central England Co-operative’s Community Dividend Fund.

1st Rolleston Scouts and Rosliston Astronomy Group were both handed grants, with a total of £52,000 handed out to 26 good causes across 16 counties.

Rosliston Astronomy Group has been handed the maximum grant of £5,000 to pay for special interactive screens and a new pathway to help people young and old
learn and gain accessto an observatory as part of ongoing effort to teach more in the community about astronomy.

Heather Lomas, group treasurer, said: “We are extremely grateful to the Central England Co-operative for awarding us £5,000 towards our project to build and equip an observatory at Rosliston Forestry Centre.

“We are really excited by the award. Although astronomy is a very popular subject on TV, not many people have the opportunity to observe the galaxies and stars in the night sky in their full glory.

“We would not be able to achieve this without your grant as it will provide a crucial piece of equipment, not affordable without your help.

“Everyone deserves to have a 'wow ' moment in their lives, as well as having the chance to increase their knowledge and understanding – the grant from Central
England Co-operative has given us a massive boost to make this possible.”

A total of £2,484 was donated to 1st Rolleston Scouts to pay for a raft of equipment ranging from a catering size cooker to replacement tents.

Graham Jacks, Group Scout Leader at 1st Rolleston Scouts, said: “We would like to say a massive thank you to Central England Co-operative for granting the sum of £2,484.

“We, like many other charities, receive no government funding so all our fundraising efforts are carried out by volunteers and grants like this are so welcome.  The money will be spent in two parts.

“The first part will be used to purchase one of two large commercial cookers to be fitted in our headquarters to be used by all sections and other local organisations that use our building. 

“The second part will be used to buy some additional tents for the group.  We have over 180 young people in our group and over 40 adult volunteers so these will be a great addition to our kit and replace some of our well used and tired tents.”

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/ or heading in store to pick up an application form.

Potential applicants have to have been a Central England Co-operative member for six months, the project should be in the trading area of a Central England Co-operative store and all applications will need a referee.

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 http://www.centralengland.coop follo,w 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