Our Board of Directors MP Visits Are Back On Blog by Elaine Dean, President. We were delighted in July when many of the politicians who had visited our stores to listen to colleagues talking about how retail crime affects them were successful in elections. Many were very unexpected and overturned large majorities. Sadly we have had more incidents in
Our Board of Directors Men Utd - meeting at our new Insomnia Cafe Blog by Elaine Dean, President Around about 18 months ago we held a brainstorm meeting of the Northern Region Member and Community Council and in the group I was in, store manager Paul Robinson suggested we started up a group specifically for men to get together. We have been encouraged
Our Board of Directors Shelton Lock Store Opens Blog written by Elaine Dean, President. Friday 10th January was a bitterly cold day but I arrived at the newly open Shelton Lock store to find that the car park was full, the shop was busy and there was a queue in the cafe ! What a great start ! This store
Our Board of Directors A new Insomnia! Blog written by Elaine Dean, President. The Insomnia coffee shop in Littleover has been open for a few years now and is almost always very busy with people sitting inside and out – even in cold weather – and with the community room almost fully booked. We have worked hard to encourage
Our Board of Directors Our Partnership With The Ark Blog written by Elaine Dean, President. In 2006 I was made aware of a wonderful animal rescue centre in Ashbourne by one of my former students. This was Ashbourne and District Animal Welfare Society – or ADAWS – commonly known as the Ark. I was pleased that it was a membership organisation
Our Board of Directors Our Christmas Toy Appeal 2024 Blog written by Elaine Dean, President. Last year, our Society Toy Appeal visited 9 stores because many of our car parks were too small to take the huge lorry! As we sat sheltering in the lorry from a wild storm in Dodworth, Andy Peake, from our Executive team and I
Our Board of Directors President and Secretary Visit stores in the Fens and East Anglia. Blog by Elaine Dean, Society President. Myself and Society Secretary Andy Seddon had two days visiting stores in Cambridgeshire and East Anglia and we also attended an Eastern 2 Member & Community Council meeting. Our first day we visited March, Ely Road at Sutton-in-the-Isle, Littleport, Hethersett and Brundle. We identified
Our Board of Directors President visits new store in Scunthorpe Blog by Elaine Dean, President. Our new Scunthorpe store opened on 28th June and I had every intention of visiting then. As it turned out we had to go down to Kent to care for our twin 4 year old grandchildren for a few days covering the 28th. Board member
Eastern Coop Fortnight-Principle 6 What an amazing team effort! A huge thank you to Board Director, Brad Tuckfield, Operation Manager, Chris Frary, Store Managers, Graeme Clegg & Lynne Farrow, Central Co-op Food, Ashley & Josh Tucked Valets and Tracie & Colleagues East of England Co-op Funeral Services for an amazing collaboration yesterday! About with
Our Board of Directors Co-operative education in action What a great way to learn from the grassroots to directing the business. Central Co-op's Membership & Community Councils came together for a two day networking event, with over 70 members taking part. Our first day started by looking at our last 3 year plan and looking forward
Our Board of Directors Board members out and about with the Toy Lorry Blog written by Elaine Dean, President. Central Co-op Society has held a toy collection for the last few years but this year we had no less than 9 stops for the lorry and a collection point in every store. Commencing at Northfield store, Birmingham the lorry, expertly driven and manoeuvred
Community Careers Day at Reepham High School Store Manager & Board Director Bradley Tuckfield & I spent the day at Reepham High School 8th November. We delivered a presentation to the year 11 students about the career opportunities at Central Coop, including work experience & debt free degrees. We spoke about joining our Membership Community Council &
Our Board of Directors New store opening in Tuxford Blog by Elaine Dean, President. It is always very exciting when a new store opens in an area and especially in a town where we haven't traded before. This time it was in the small market town of Tuxford in Nottinghamshire. Tuxford is an old historic coaching town
Our Board of Directors International Women's Day - inspirational! Central Board’s Vice-President, Tanya Noon, opened the International Women's Day, 8th March 2023, setting the scene and sharing personal stories. Over 100 women gathered at the National Memorial Arboretum in Alrewas, Staffordshire to celebrate in a co-operative way. This was our 5th face to face such event
Community Men's Voices Event Brings Men Together To Talk About Issues Men Face In The Modern World On Tuesday 16 November Central England Co-op hosted our 3rd annual Men's Voices Event at Burton Albion Football Club to celebrate International Men's Day (19 November). The event attended by over 100 men is held for men to talk about issues that affect them in the
Community Exploring Co-operative History from the Black Country and Beyond Richard Bickle from the Birmingham Co-op History Group hosted an online discussion with Co-op History fanatic Chris Shelley and representative of the Black Country Living Museum Clare Weston in a discussion about Black Country Co-op History. The discussion started with Chris talking about the history of the Halesowen and Hasbury
Community Brum Co-op Fest brings people together to celebrate co-operation Recently Co-ops across Birmingham came together to celebrate Co-operation with Co-op BrumFest. Shaz Rahman member of the Western MCC and many Co-ops in the area tells his story of the event below. Over the weekend of the 17th to the 19th of September, Brummie co-operators gathered at the Warehouse Café
Community Co-op Heritage Weekend at Wythall Transport Museum Central England Co-op has a rich heritage reaching back into dozens communities across the country where people came together to supply themselves with honest goods at fair prices by forming their own local co-operative societies. Join us at Wythall transport Museum to celebrate the 140th anniversary of one of those
Community Holiday Hunger Program helps Support Families in Staffordshire During the first four weeks of the summer holidays the Western Membership and Community Council (MCC) teamed up with Progressive Sports and FareShare Midlands to help support younger people in the area. Progressive sports run Holiday Camps in the area during the summer holidays. The days are filled with fun
Community Central England Supports Geocaching event in South Birmingham On Saturday the 14th of August. I supported members of the Geocaching Association of Great Britain (GAGB), with an event Cotteridge Park. Geocaching is an activity where people find pre-set GPS co-ordinates in what can be described as a treasure hunt. Items will be set at the GPS locations and
Our Board of Directors Birmingham Film Co-op organise a Just Film Festival for Co-op Fortnight Below is a blog from Central England Co-op Western MCC Shaz about his experience during the awards ceremony of the Just Film Festival organised by the Birmingham Film Co-op. The Just Film festival concluded on Sunday the 4th of July with a hybrid awards ceremony conducted at the Warehouse Café
Western Elected members from the west midlands join regional Co-op AGM This week saw the Annual General Meeting of Co-operatives West Midlands. This Regional Co-operative Council exists to support and promote Co-op business and enterprise in the West Midlands. The meeting was held online with over 20 co-operators in attendance and used a new video conferencing platform 'Online Meeting Co-operative&
Community Elaine Dean Co-op voices women’s event Elaine Dean who is the current Vice President of Central England Co-op (amongst many other Co-op leadership roles) was interviewed by Rebecca Harvey from Co-op Press and Sarah Alldred from Co-op College about her life as a co-operator. It was great to hear from Elaine directly about her experiences in
Community Lights, Camera, Co-op for Co-operatives Fortnight! Starting on Friday 18th June, Birmingham Film Co-op are working with Central England Co-operative and Co-op News to bring you a special fortnight of films all available to watch from the comfort of your home. Films enrich our lives - they educate, entertain, delight and transport us. But the films
Western 150 years of Co-operation in Halesowen 2021 marks the 150th anniversary of the Halesowen and Hasbury Industrial Co-operative Society. to mark this occasion a special commemorative display by the Birmingham Co-operative History Group has gone on display at our Spies Lane Community Store in Halesowen (1 Spies Lane, Halesowen, Birmingham B62 9SS). Below is information relating
