Four projects in Norfolk and Suffolk handed nearly £4k funding boost thanks to special community fund

Posted by rob smyth | Published: 27/06/2017


Four projects in Norfolk and Suffolk are celebrating after sharing nearly £4,000 in the latest payout from Central England Co-operative’s Community Dividend Fund.

East Coast Hospice, New Cut Arts, St Edmunds Catholic School, and St Benets Catholic Primary School were handed grants, with a total of £50,000 handed out to 32 good causes across 16 counties.

East Coast Hospice, based in Gorleston, Great Yarmouth, is a 10-bed hospice that gives specialist care to those at the end of their life and their families.

A grant of £1,000 will be used to help pay for work on a garden at the site used by patients and their families to enjoy time for reflection.

New Cut Arts, based in Halesworth, has been handed £1,030 to pay for new equipment that will be used from budding actors and actresses of all ages when putting on shows for the community.

St Edmunds Catholic Primary School, in Bungay, and St Benets Catholic Primary School, in Beccles, have both received over £800 to help develop a playground area and purchase new IT equipment.

Veronica Short, executive head teacher for both schools, said: “The schools received grants of £820 for St Benets and £865  for St Edmunds. We are very appreciative of this help. “

In St Edmunds the grant will be used to provide playground seating for our playground and in St Benets it will provide two laptops. 

“During this time of very stretched budgets these grants are invaluable to us.”

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.

Martyn Cheatle, Chief Executive of Central England Co-operative, said: “I would like to urge all of our members to get in touch and put forward a community cause close to their heart for the Community Dividend scheme.”

People can apply for funding by visiting https://communities.centralengland.coop/

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

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 £958million for 2016/17. The Society recently celebrated being named Leading Co-operative of the Year 2016 by Co-operatives UK. The Society’s principal areas of activity are food, funeral services, and property. 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 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 Newlife Foundation for Disabled Children 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 – PR officer - Central England Co-operative - 01543 414140
Email – publicrelations@centralengland.coop