Story of inspirational Birmingham youngster featured as part of special community film

Posted by nathan lloyd | Published: 05/01/2017


A Community Dividend Fund that has supported over 100 groups and organisations in the past 12 months is having an even greater impact on the communities served by Central England Co-operative.

The Society recently became the first Co-operative of its type to publish a Social Return on Investment report, which takes an in-depth look at the impact of its community work.

The results showcased that for every £1 that the Society invests in community projects, the monetary value of the impact made by these good causes is on average worth a massive £20.50.

A more detailed breakdown has revealed has revealed that for every £1 spent on the Community Dividend Fund, a social return of £22.21 was generated.

The Community Dividend Fund is a grant that members can apply for on behalf of community groups, schools and charities.

People can ask for anything from £100 to £5,000 and the fund comes from 1% of Central England Co-operative’s trading profit.

Over £2million has been handed out across 16 counties since its inception in 2007 and the Social Return on Investment was calculated on data based on the award of 116 grants totalling £266,959 over a 12 month period.

On average, 118 people benefit from each grant, and 81 per cent of grants are given to groups working with children or young people.

One organisation to have benefited is Help Harry Help Others, a cancer support charity set up following the death of Harry Moseley who was diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumour when he was aged 11.

However, Harry’s legacy continues on with his charity Help Harry Help Others in a bid to not only help find a cure for brain cancer but also to help children and their families affected by any type of cancer.

One key project focuses on offering bereavement support facilities at the Help Harry Help Others Cancer Support Drop-in Centre, in Birmingham. The support centre was created to offer a ‘home from home’ environment to patients and anyone touched by cancer.  Last year the centre was awarded a Community
Dividend Fund grant of £3,500 to pay for new equipment for patients and their families to use.

Georgina Moseley, Harry’s mum, spoke of the huge impact that the grant from the Community Dividend Fund made to the charity in a specially created film.

She said: “We were in a desperate situation. We needed support and equipment and we were finding it very difficult to find the means to pay for it all.

“We were so pleased when we were told about Central England Co-operative’s Community Dividend Fund and then even more pleased when we were told that we were eligible.

“It was very quick, very easy and all involved were great to work with. We would always recommend other similar groups seek out support from the Community Fund if they are eligible as it is a vital resource.”

People can apply for funding by visiting https://communities.centralengland.coop/ or heading in store to pick up an application form.

Potential applicants have to have been a Central England Co-operative member for six months, the project should be in the trading area of a Central England
Co-operative store and all applications will need a referee.

People can find out more about Help Harry Help Others and their Community Dividend Fund grant by watching a special film at https://communities.centralengland.coop/

Notes to editors

Video link: Use this link to get an embed code for our specially created film about Help Harry Help Others – https://youtu.be/BZm1pR1kzw4

Please see below for more details on the Social Return on Investment report.

The Social Return on Investment report, which was undertaken by SROI specialist ‘Make a Difference CIC, focused on the social value and return provided by the Society’s Community Dividend Fund, award-winning SENse to Aspire scheme and local activities organised for members.  
The community projects Central England Co-op invests in have helped give people more confidence, better fitness and new skills. The people who take part are also more likely to put more of their own time and effort into the community and take less out.
This means that every pound spent with Central England Co-operative will be stretched a little further thanks to the findings of the SROI report.
Chief Executive of Central England Co-operative Martyn Cheatle said: “We took the decision to undertake this new form of robust analysis of our community impact in order to inform future decision making and ensure that we continue to make a real difference to people’s lives.”

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 2016/17.
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.
For more information visit http://www.centralengland.coop follo,w 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