Disabled youngsters handed early Christmas gift of £2,000 worth of toys and presents thanks to funeral director

Posted by rob smyth | Published: 13/12/2017

Central England Co-operative Funeralcare has teamed up with Rainbows Hospice to ensure Christmas comes early - by donating £2,000 worth of toys and gifts to bring smiles to the faces of youngsters living with disabilities and life-limiting conditions.

Colleagues at Swanns Funeral Service, which is part of Central England Co-operative, decided to act after seeing that the popular Loughborough hospice had put together a special wishlist of items needed to support children and their families this Christmas.

So the team from the funeral home in Bridge Street jumped into their Santa’s sleigh and visited the hospice, in Lark Rise, to hand deliver hundreds of gifts just in time for the big day.

Some of the presents unwrapped by youngsters included everything from remote controlled dinosaurs and an ice cream maker to special lights and toys set to be used in the onsite sensory room including a glow in the dark unicorn and turtle.

Funeral Director Neil Finn said: “The work that the team at Rainbows undertakes every day is quite simply amazing and the impact they have on youngsters and their families is vital.

“We are proud to be part of the local community and when we heard about Rainbow’s special wishlist we knew that we had to help out as part of our #beingcoopy campaign.”

This Christmas, Central England Co-operative has set about bringing festive joy to communities as part of its #beingcoopy campaign.

This has included giving away 10,000 golden stockings to say ‘thank you’ to people who make a difference in their communities, a renewed effort to drive up foodbank donations to help those need as well as plenty of volunteering opportunities to give a little back.

Mr Finn added: “Everyone involved with our funeral home is proud to have been able to handover £2,000 worth of toys and gifts for youngsters who visit the hospice this Christmas and in the future.

“There is no better feeling than heading up to the hospice and seeing the smiles that these toys and gifts bring to the faces of young girls and boys - it really is priceless and showcases perfectly how at Central England Co-op we work to bring the community together to help those in need.”

Rainbows Hospice was launched in 1994 and is the only hospice in the East Midlands for children and young people.

The hospice offers a place where life-limited children and their families can find care and support through specialist respite, palliative and end of life care.

The site has 14 beds and aims to provide one on one care on a need led basis to help relieve symptoms, improve quality of life, and support parents and their siblings.

Gary Farnfield, Community Fundraiser at Rainbows Hospice, said: “All of these presents are from our wishlist and have been handpicked for all of our children.

“This is a fantastic and generous donation and all at Rainbows would like to thank everyone from Swanns Funeral Service and Central England Co-operative.”

Notes to editors

Picture caption: The team from Swanns Funeral Service delivered £2,000 worth of toys and gifts for youngsters at Rainbows Hospice. They are pictured here with Gary Farnfield, from Rainbows.

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 projected gross sales of £927million for 2016/17. The Society’s principal areas of activity are food, funeral services, and property. The company’s funeral business consists of over 120 funeral homes across 16 counties, 10 florists, masonry production and administration, Bretby Crematorium and Terry Smiths coffin factory.

Central England Co-operative has more than 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.  The Society has an ambitious food store and funeral home development programme for 2017.

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, @mycooplife and on Facebook: facebook.com/centralenglandcooperative

Rob Smyth at Central England Co-operative on 01543 414140

Email – publicrelations@centralengland.coop