Three Cambridgeshire groups share £3,000 funding boost from Central England Co-operative
Posted by nathan lloyd | Published: 11/08/2016
Three groups in Cambridgeshire are celebrating after sharing £3,000 from Central England Co-operative’s Community Dividend Fund.
The projects were all given £1,000, with a total of £55,000 handed out to 35 good causes across 16 counties.
The cash was handed to Little Miracles Ramsey, in Huntingdon, Carers Trust Cambridgeshire, and Holywell School Association, both based in St Ives.
Carers Trust Cambridgeshire will use the £1,000 to fund craft materials that will be used to support people with dementia and their carers during specially held sessions.
Estelle Mitchell, Caring Communities Manager with Carers Trust Cambridgeshire, said: “We are thrilled to be awarded £1,000 from Central England Co-operative’s Community Dividend Fund which will be used to buy arts and crafts materials, including percussion instruments, at our popular Shelford Dementia Support Group near Cambridge which meets twice a month.
“The group supports carers and people with dementia and provides an opportunity for carers to socialise together with their cared-for person, to enjoy activities, including arts and crafts, as well as music and dancing, and hosts professional guest speakers to talk on dementia related topics.”
Little Miracles Ramsey is a charity that supports families with children who have additional needs or disabilities.
The £1,000 donation will be used to help pay for sensory equipment for youngsters helped by the charity.
The charity is currently helping 146 registered families and offers support to anyone with a child under the age of 25.
Amy Clarke, Chairperson at Little Miracles, said: “This £1,000 grant will mean so much to our group. “The money given will buy many sensory toys and equipment and will enable the children to learn, explore and most importantly play.”
The Holywell School Association is set to use the £1,000 boost to help with improvements to the pond at the school. The cash will allow it to be transformed into an outdoor learning area for the school children.
Alison Jackson, member of Holywell School Association, said: “We’d like to thank Central England Co-operative for supporting our environmental project.”
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