Five groups across Leicestershire handed £7,535 funding boost thanks to Central England Co-op
Posted by rob smyth | Published: 03/04/2019
A brand new school education area, vital training and even a drill were among the items paid for as part of an £7,535 community grant in Leicestershire thanks to Central England Co-operative.
Five groups, organisations and charities shared the payout, with a total of £42,000 handed out to 24 good causes across 16 counties.
Farndon Fields Primary School, in Market Harborough, will use a maximum grant of £5,000 to completely transform its outdoor space. The work will see the creation of mud kitchens, den making areas, a sensory garden and an allotment for children to grow their own vegetables.
Eyres Monsall Club for Young People will be able to buy new equipment thanks to a £2,000 award.
Louise Wylie, centre manager, said: “We are delighted to receive a grant from the Community Dividend Fund for £2,000.
“This much needed grant will help pay for equipment for our community projects namely our parents group, and will help buy new toys for the children to play with.”
ArtReach Trust will spend £1,350 on training and food as part of a bid to teach people from a wide array of countries about different food and how to cook them.
Nicola Middler, from ArtReach Trust, said: “Working in collaboration with Soft Touch Arts, we will use the grant to provide cookery workshops, led by members of the refugee and asylum seeking community, which will enable people in Leicester to explore and share their diverse culture through food and to connect with different communities. It will really make a difference and we can't wait to get started.”
Woodstone Community Primary School, in Coalville, will buy a heated food trolley for £710 as part of an ongoing effort by the school to make meal times more sociable and stress free.
Age UK Leicestershire and Rutland has been awarded £274.95 to buy a new cordless drill to support the Rutland Shed project. This allows elderly people to come together to pursue practical interests, share tools and knowledge and work together.
Grants of between £100 and £5,000 are handed out every three months to a wide range of applicants.
The fund guarantees that at least one per cent of the Society’s trading profit is reinvested in local communities in a bid to help projects to thrive across its trading area of 16 counties from the Midlands to the east coast.
People can apply for funding by visiting https://communities.centralengland.coop/
Central England Co-operative Store Manager Rhianne McLean said: “We are delighted that these great projects and good causes have been handed a grant for the fantastic work they do in the community.
“Community Dividend Fund grants like this showcase how by being a member and shopping at your local Central England Co-op store allows us as a Society to continue to invest and fund vital projects in the area.”
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
Notes to editors
Picture caption: Members of groups in Leicestershire celebrated being handed their grant from the Central England Co-operative Community Dividend Fund.
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 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 at Central England Co-operative on 01543 414140
Email –publicrelations@centralengland.coop