Eye Town Hall handed a share of £55,000 windfall from Central England Co-operative
Posted by nathan lloyd | Published: 11/08/2016
A charity is set to use a £2,500 funding boost from Central England Co-operative to turn a town hall into a vibrant community hub.
Eye Town Hall Improvement Company, based in Willow House, applied for the grant from the Community Dividend Fund to invest in a range of new chairs to allow for the town hall to be used for more functions.
They were awarded money from the fund alongside 34 other good causes across 16 counties - a total of £55,000 was handed out.
Liz Govan, from Eye Town Hall Improvement Company, explained more about the project that the Community Dividend Fund cash booster will help support.
She said: “The grant will be used to purchase 196 chairs for our Victorian Town Hall. Some chairs will be used for meetings in the council chamber and others will enhance the main hall and replace the old, uncomfortable plastic seats.
“Many functions are held in the hall and our next main event is the Harvest Horkey (‘horkey’ is the Suffolk word for ’supper’), when the mayor will formally announce the town’s appreciation of the generous grant used to purchase the new seating.”
Eye Town Hall already plays host to a range of different groups including a community choir, a country market and even indoor curling.
It is hoped the investment in new chairs will assist in its bid to grow and even offer weddings and other major events in the future.
This comes after the community recently celebrated the opening of a brand new Central England Co-operative food store in Eye.
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.
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 2015/16.
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 / Jo Baldock at Central England Co-operative on 01543 414140
Email –publicrelations@centralengland.coop