Central England Co-op donates £6,000 to boost four projects across Cambridgeshire

Posted by rob smyth | Published: 19/01/2018


Four projects in Cambridgeshire are celebrating after sharing nearly £6,000 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 £57,000 handed out to 36 good causes across 16 counties.

A community café based at Beyond the Wall, a day service for people with disabilities in Eye, has been handed £2,110 to support the project.

Sharlene Budd, finance officer, said: “Beyond the Wall is a charitable project based at the Thornham Estate's Walled Garden. The charity works primarily with people between aged 16 to 60 with mixed disabilities.

“Our aim is to unlock future opportunities in mainstream education, sheltered volunteering or employment by providing a working environment for people to gain real work skills, improve their basic skills and gain self-confidence.

“The community café will be a great benefit to our clients. It will give them the opportunity to work in the café, taking orders, serving food, handling money and social interaction with the community.”

Oundle Bowling Club will use £2,000 to improve facilities to make it easier for people with disabilities to take part.

Peterborough Northern Star Ladies Football Club will be heading out on the pitch in a new strip thanks to a grant of nearly £880.

A total of £870 has been handed to March Street Pride in Bloom to pay for a new storage shed to store equipment.

John Fielding, Member of March Street Pride in Bloom Group, said: “We are delighted and hugely grateful to Central England Co-operative for the award we have received from the Community Dividend Fund.

As a small, voluntary group founded in 2008, we carry out litter-picking, planting and weeding activities to help improve the environment for the community of March.

The funding awarded will be used to buy a much-needed storage shed for our equipment and consumables.”

In 2017, a total of 122 groups and organisations shared £209,000 to spend on a wide variety of projects.

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: “The Community Dividend Fund reflects a key principle of our society, in that we reward the loyalty of our customers by investing in and supporting local communities.

“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 Fund 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 four groups across Cambridgeshire celebrated 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 the Society’s principal areas of activity being 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 2018.

 

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