Community

Ahead of World Mental Health Day on 10 October, Chelsea Graham, peer development practitioner at the Sunflower Hub cafe in Fife, tells us about supporting mental wellbeing in her community with the help of Co-op When Co-op, Mind, SAMH (the Scottish Association for Mental Health) and Inspire announced their partnership, , the aim was to…

Young people want future communities to be sustainable, inclusive, healthy and safe places where they have the power to influence change, according to exciting new insight gathered by the Co-op Foundation.  We’ve spoken to young people from all over the UK for our research. Findings will help us deliver on our new strategy, due to…

For Farm Safety Week (18-24 July) Caroline Mason, head of agriculture & fish sustainability, explains the importance of raising farm safety awareness and valuing our farmers and growers. At Co-op, we’ve worked with the Farm Safety Foundation, more commonly known as Yellow Wellies, since 2018. Founded by National Farmers Union Mutual, Yellow Wellies is an…

At Co-op, our Local Community Fund provides support to local causes across the country. Amelia Clapham, who you’ll be able to spot in our latest TV ad, is the founder of Ace Music Therapy in Essex. Here she explains how Co-op support makes a difference I set up Ace Music Therapy, a social enterprise that…

Co-op is proud to support and fund apprenticeships for individuals from underrepresented groups through our Levy Share scheme. Here Zafeerah Bagas, an apprentice in fabrication and welding at William Hare and a recipient of Co-op’s Levy Share, tells us about her apprenticeship, as well as her involvement in the Co-op summer TV advert… The first…

When was the last time you heard the phrase ‘world class’? Sporting fans like me will hear it all the time. It’s how we ‘big up’ the next exciting football star.  Foodie fans will hear it, too (hopefully when describing Co-op’s latest ‘Irresistible’ range product). For our charity, the Co-op Foundation, we attach the phrase…

At Co-op, we’re proud to support local (or LGBTQ+) causes all year round. Berny Simcox, CEO of The Wild Mind Project, a Co-op Local Community Fund cause, explains how her project supports young LGBTQ+ people and why Co-op support makes such a difference After seeing the difficulties young people were experiencing with mental health, I…

Every year, Co-op holds its Annual General Meeting, which gives Co-op Members the chance to find out the latest news, as well as to cast votes on a number of motions.

Many of us will have a vision of what our personal future could look like.   Here, at Co-op’s charity, we’re trying to go one step further by building a vision of what future co-operative communities could look like. And because we believe young people will be most affected by this future, we’re asking you to…

Our first-ever member-inspired ice cream has hit Co-op freezers, and a few lucky members have enjoyed a sneak pre-launch taste of the flavour they helped create at an exclusive sampling session. Last year, more than 90,000 members joined in to share ideas for a delicious ice cream flavour combination and to vote for their favourite. In…

During regular check-ins throughout the pandemic, members told us they wanted more resources so that they felt better equipped to discuss mental health and wellbeing with others. So, this year, we partnered with Mind, our mental health organisation, on Time to Talk Day – a day dedicated to sparking the UK’s biggest conversation about mental…

Thousands of Co-op Members have joined in to tell us which animals they’d like to see on our revamped milk chocolate lollies when they hit shelves in August. We know members love chocolate as it topped the list of your favourite sweet treats in a confectionery conversation last year. So, in October, we asked members to…