Two projects aimed at helping youngsters in Lichfield handed £2k funding boost

Posted by nathan lloyd | Published: 10/04/2017


Two projects aimed at supporting young people in Lichfield are celebrating after sharing over £2,000 in the latest payout from Central England Co-operative’s Community Dividend Fund.

1st Lichfield St Chad’s Scout Group and Whittington Junior Football Club were both handed grants, with a total of £52,000 handed out to 26 good causes across 16 counties.

1st Lichfield St Chad’s Scout Group, based in The Leasowe, will spend £1,632 on a new trailer to transport camping equipment to and from various adventures across the area.

A total of £720 was donated to Whittington Junior Football Club for new football kit and training equipment.

Sean Spurgin, manager of Whittington Junior Football Club Under 9 teams, said: “We just want to say a huge thank you to Central England Co-operative for supporting local grass roots football.

“In an age where children are spending ever increasing amounts of time in front of portable and gaming devices, it is so important to give them the opportunity to be active and socialise with friends and other children.

“The funds will enable us to support the children’s football development for the next few seasons by buying new kit and training equipment, something we would have struggled to do on our own.”

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/ 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.

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 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