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 in the
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 with one
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 modern world with guest
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' a
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
Western 'King of the North' Andy Burnham joins male Co-operators on Central England Co-op's Men's Event On Wednesday 24 March Central England Co-operative held an online Men's Voices event. The event which would usually be held in November to coincide with International Men's Day was postponed due to the Covid-19 Pandemic. During this online event we had Andy Burnham, Mayor of Greater Manchester give a keynote
Western Birmingham Co-op History Group Fairtrade Talk with Debbie Robinson On Tuesday, 2 March the Birmingham Co-op History Group hosted a special talk with the CEO of Central England Co-op Debbie Robinson. Debbie has an extensive history with Fairtrade and the nearly 30 people attending on the Zoom call were excited to learn about it. As the meeting was held
Western Co-operatives and Fairtrade: A Shared History On the 2nd March you're invited to join member of Birmingham Co-op History Group and Central England Co-op's Chief Executive, Debbie Robinson, on-line to explore the story of how Co-operatives in the UK and around the world have supported, shaped and enabled the growth of the Fairtrade Movement over the
Eastern Membership and Community Relations Christmas Newsletter This year the Member and Community Relations team have produced a newsletter for members who would normally attend our Member activity and events. Below is the newsletter, but if you would like an email version please send an email to member.community@centralengland.coop The Membership and Community Team wish
Our Board of Directors Week one of Fairtrade Fortnight activity in the West Midlands Central England Co-operative Western Membership and Community Council (MCC) have celebrated 25 years of Fairtrade with activity across the West Midlands. On Monday I was invited by East Staffordshire Fairtrade Group to their Tree Planting Ceremony in Stretton, Burton on Trent. The event was attended by local school children, the
Western Fairtrade Quiz Night in Birmingham on Sunday 8 March Its hard to believe that its 25 years since the Co-op, working with the Fairtrade Foundation and CaféDirect, launched the first supermarket Fairtrade product. In the intervening years co-operators have continued this pioneering work - both through producer co-ops in the developing world and consumer co-operatives such as Central England
Eastern Co-operation in action at our Interim Members' Meetings This week we have hosted 12 Interim Members' Evenings across our trading estate to update our members on the Society's half-year performance, as well as how we've supported our local communities. For those who could not make it, here is our half-year review film that was showcased at all of
Our Board of Directors Co-ops: Here to Stay, for Good This weekend Central England Co-operative are going to be co-hosting a venue called "The Exchange" at the Greenbelt Festival in Northamptonshire. Organised by our friends at Anthony Collins Solicitors, this is a space for conversation and reflection about the role of business in society, and how it can make a
Western Co-op Community Event Marks the Summer of Love Twice a year the Co-op Florists in Great Barr organise a Community Day with stalls running along the street outside the Florists, Funeral, Travel and Food stores, and activities in the Co-op Hall upstairs. The summer event co-incides with International Co-operatives Day on the first Saturday in July and this
Our Board of Directors June and July update from our President Elaine Dean It has been a busy month yet again and I've been out and about meeting members and colleagues and representing the Society at events. On June 21st we had the reconvened Press Board which passed off totally uneventfully and I was presented with a necklace, flowers and taken out for
Our Board of Directors Directors hearing about The Big Sales Difference The President, Elaine Dean along with Directors Paul Singh and Tanya Noon, attended the The Big Sales Difference event at Derby's Pride Park Stadium. It was a pleasure to be invited to hear about how the business is progressing and to network with colleagues.
Our Board of Directors May and June update from our President Elaine Dean It has been quite a busy month again and here are some of the highlights of my work. 26th May - I attended the lovely wedding of Operations Manager Matt Garton and Paula Broadhurst at Rothley Court, in Leicestershire. It was a beautiful day. 28th May - Southern Membership and
