Central England Co-op donates £50,000 to support the BBC Big Night In – and is asking customers to help make a difference
Posted by rob smyth | Published: 22/04/2020
Central England Co-op is throwing its support behind the BBC Big Night In by donating £50,000 and encouraging customers and members to help support and make a difference.
The retailer, which has over 240 food stores across 16 counties, is proud to back the joint effort between Children in Need and Comic Relief that aims to raise millions of pounds for good causes impacted by the Coronavirus.
As well as donating £50,000 to the campaign, colleagues will be dressing up on Thursday, 23 April and customers and members will be encouraged to donate to the event.
The BBC Big Night In will air from 7pm on that day on BBC One and will feature an array of famous faces, live music performances and big surprises.
Also, because the Government is match funding all donations, the £50,000 donation will end up actually being £100,000.
Debbie Robinson, Chief Executive, said: “As a co-operative retailer, we want to make sure we are leading the way for our communities during this difficult time.
“This is why we have decided to support the BBC Big Night In by donating £50,000 and getting our stores involved in a great, fun way to help raise the profile of such a great event.
“Please, if you can, support this great initiative and help us all to continue to come together and help those in need at this uncertain time.”
The money raised will be split equally between Comic Relief and Children in Need and will go on to support local charities and projects in the UK and their efforts to provide vital emergency support.
Sir Lenny Henry said: “I’ve been part of the Comic Relief family for years, and at times like these it’s so important we all come together to support one another, which is why we’ve joined forces with BBC Children in Need for The Big Night In.
“We want to shine a light on the amazing things communities are doing and keep you entertained whilst you can’t leave your homes.
“Both charities will be supporting a huge number of smaller charities and projects that will be protecting the most vulnerable people in society, so it’s going to be a brilliant night for a great cause.”
People can donate and find out more information by visiting https://www.bbc.co.uk/bignightin
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, travel 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 £1.3 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