Co-op boosts community projects

A total of £14,450 has been split between the dozen groups who were awarded the handout from the Central England Co-op Community Dividend Fund.

Across the retailer’s trading patch, which covers 16 counties, the fund supported 102 groups and charities to the tune of £155,000.

Schools, churches, support groups and volunteer organisations benefited from the fund that guarantees that at least one per cent of the society’s trading profit is reinvested in communities in a bid to help projects thrive from the Midlands to the east coast.

The fund was given an overhaul in the light of the ongoing pandemic in an effort to distribute money quicker and to ensure it was supporting good causes impacted by Covid-19.