Central England Co-op issues ‘help your community to eat’ plea this Halloween as part of ghost pumpkin charity donation campaign

Posted by rob smyth | Published: 01/10/2020


Central England Co-op is asking shoppers to ‘help your community to eat’ this Halloween by picking up a special white ghost pumpkin to tackle child food poverty.

The retailer, which has over 260 stores across 16 counties, is working with long-term partner FareShare Midlands to provide vital food packages during the autumn and winter months that will help ensure young people at risk continue to eat well and stay healthy during the coming months.

Customers visiting stores in the run up to Halloween can lend their support by buying a special ghost pumpkin when in store (£3.50), which will then see Central England Co-op donate 50p every time to benefit FareShare and its amazing work in the local area.

In the past 12 months alone, the Society’s links with the charity have resulted in the creation of over one million meals, feeding over 213,000 people and supporting over 50 different groups.

Hannah Gallimore, Central England Co-op Corporate Responsibility Manager, said: “We are extremely proud of our long-standing relationship with FareShare and the life-changing impact we have been able to have over the past few years of working together.

“This Halloween, we are looking to continue this great work and we know our kind-hearted customers will be more than willing to support by picking up a special ghost pumpkin to give the charity a boost and ensure that youngsters do not go hungry during the holidays.”

This continued focus on holiday hunger will compliment years of work by the retailer and its partners to try and alleviate the issue among young people.

It has long campaigned for more to be done to ensure that no child ever goes hungry and works with over 65 food banks as well as FareShare Midlands to help create hundreds of thousands of meals for those at risk falling into food poverty throughout the year.

Most recently, Central England Co-op joined Manchester United and England footballer Marcus Rashford’s Child Food Poverty Task Force in an effort to encourage the government to find and deliver a long-term permanent solution to child food poverty.

Simone Connelly, director for FareShare Midlands, said: “We’re thrilled to partner with Central England Coop again, this time on a Halloween themed promotion. Every ghost pumpkin sold will enable us to reach more people who are struggling to afford to feed themselves and their families and need a little extra help this autumn. The support we receive from Central England Coop and its customers is incredible, and we’re proud to work alongside them to tackle hunger and fight food waste.”

 

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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 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