Community groups and good causes in Lichfield and Birmingham share over £6,000 in funding

Posted by rob smyth | Published: 13/03/2018


Over £6,000 in funding has been handed out to support a wide range of community groups and good causes by Central England Co-op across Birmingham and Lichfield.

Four groups shared the grant from the Western Membership and Community Council (MCC) to support several great initiatives.

A total of £3,000 has been awarded in support of the first ever Lichfield Games in September.

Over 5,000 members of the public are expected to take part in the event which will see local and national sports clubs running small activities for people to get involved in.

Central England Co-op will be running a healthy choices event to teach people of all ages about the benefits of healthy eating.

A similar event is also set to take place in Kings Norton, Birmingham, in August. This has been awarded £1,500 in funding.

Uprising Birmingham will use £1,000 to put on a Dragon’s Den inspire event for over 100 young adults.

The event will see the young adults split into groups and tasked with coming up with a social action campaign.

They will then have to pitch this idea to a panel in an effort to try and secure funding for it.

A total of £1,000 will be used to pay for a pitch and to supply healthy tastings at the CoCoMAD community in Cotteridge, Birmingham.

The funds were green-lit by the Western Membership and Community Council, which is made up of Co-op members who are passionate about their community and want to make a difference within it.

Each council is given funding and support by the Society to organise activities and events.

James Knight, Member and Community Relations Officer, said: “The Co-operative has a long tradition of giving back to the community, and we welcome the opportunity to make a real difference to the lives and education of local people.

“It is really important to have strong links with the local community and I am proud the Western Membership and Community Council were able to support these wide and varied projects.

“We have been able to give out four different grant awards to a variety of deserving projects.”

Central England Co-operative offers a wide range of educational and recreational workshops and classes for its members and communities.

If you are interested in finding out more, please pop in to your local Central England Co-operative food store or email member.community@centralengland.coop

People can also find out more about the work of the Membership and Community Council by visiting https://www.members.coop/

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. 

 

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