Co-op Christmas lorry rolls into Birmingham to collect presents as part of Christmas Toybox Appeal

Posted by rob smyth | Published: 07/11/2019


The Co-op Christmas lorry is stopping off in Birmingham tomorrow (November 8) to allow kind-hearted customers and members to donate presents to its toy appeal to help local youngsters this festive season.

The lorry, which will be decked out in red and covered in Christmas trees and snow, will be visiting Erdington Food Store, in High Street, from 10am to 3pm to act as a drop-off point for gifts which will then be donated to Erdington Elim Church and Bethany Food Bank to handout to people in need across the local area.

Hoping to emulate the success of the iconic Coca-Cola Christmas Truck, the Co-op Christmas Lorry is touring across the country throughout November to collect as many items as possible and make sure that no youngsters miss out this festive season.

Items that can be donated have to be new, unwrapped and can include puzzles, games, soft toys, outdoor toys, books, dolls/figures, CDs/DVDs and art materials.

Gary Brooks, Erdington Store Manager, said: “We are pleased to be running this Christmas Toybox Appeal and are excited to be holding a special collection event at this store.

“We are a community retailer that is building on the success of our annual food bank campaigns by making sure that as many children as possible across the country wake up on Christmas morning with a present waiting for them.
“We hope to see many of our customers and members at the special event donating lots of toys and  helping us all bring a little bit of magic of the festive season to life for youngsters who really don’t have a lot.

“So please come along, donate a new present and help us give a child a gift they will love.”

For anyone who cannot make it along to the special collection event, they can continue to drop their present or stocking filler at any Central England Co-op stories via special collection points until the end of November.

Full details about the Christmas Toybox Appeal can be found here: https://bit.ly/2P8xWf9

 

Notes to editors

Picture caption: Central England Co-op colleagues are urging customers and members to donate a present or stocking filler as part of its first ever Christmas Toybox Appeal.

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, travel shops, 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 2019.

 

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 member 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 and James Brindle at Central England Co-operative on 01543 421390

 

Email –publicrelations@centralengland.coop