Central England Co-op store provides ‘thank you’ gesture to hard-working soldiers

Posted by rob smyth | Published: 30/07/2020

Central England Co-op in Leicester has been handing out goodie bags to hard-working soldiers who have been supporting efforts to tackle the Coronavirus.

Liz Phillips, Store Manager at Rowlatts Hill Food Store, and her team put together the treats packed with drinks, biscuits, fruit and sandwiches as a ‘thank you’ for their efforts alongside other emergency services during the pandemic.

The gesture was paid for following a donation by the Society’s Southern Membership and Community Council (MCC).

Liz said: “We are so proud of the amazing work our armed forces are doing during these uncertain times.

“We thought that we could put together a little thank you goodie bag to show our appreciation for their efforts.

“They were delighted and the whole team were incredibly happy to support.”

This donation by the Southern MCC is one of several made during the pandemic to support good causes impacted by the pandemic.

Karen Bevan, Member and Community Relations Officer, said: “Once we heard of Liz’s great idea, we knew that we had to help and were delighted to do so.
“Whether it is saying thank you to hard-working soldiers or supporting good causes who need a little extra help, our role as a retailer at the heart of the community has never been more important and we have been happy to help in anyway that we can.”

People can keep up to date with what is happening in their local community by visiting a dedicated online hub at www.centralengland.coop/updates

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