Western Bike Events prove popular for our communities Recently the Western MCC held two bike events in Birmingham and Stafford during the Autumn half term break. The events in Wildwood, Stafford and Northfield, Birmingham proved a popular choice and many members of our community came along and had their bikes checked with some minor repairs take place. In
Community Co-op Gardening Club Learns About Urban Willow Richard Bickle, MCC Member in Birmingham tells his account of the latest Co-op Gardening Club visit below. On Wednesday evening, member of the Co-op Gardening Club in Birmingham spent an enjoyable evening with Marcus Belben, community activist and local Woodcraft Folk leader, learning about the growing and uses for willow
Community Birmingham Co-operatives present 'Left Feet Forward' Exhibition On 28 October "Left Feet Forward; Birmingham Co-operative Art Exhibition launches at Artefact. The Exhibition celebrates both the history of the Co-operative movement and examines the current Co-op scene in Birmingham. Artefact is a workers Coop art gallery and performance space in Stirchley, a vibrant area of South Birmingham
Community Great Barr Musical Theatre Co-operative perform Cinderella On Friday 4 & Saturday 5 November our very own musical theatre member group perform their pantomime production of Cinderella! The group are made up of dedicated musical theatre members from the community who come together to perform, socialise and have fun. you can find out more on the group
Community Free Bike Maintenance Events During half term two bike maintenance events are taking place in Stafford and Birmingham. The events are free for members and customers to get their bike checked and basic repairs completed free of charge. On Thursday 27 October the team from local bike repair and community bike shop 'Back
Community 'Men's Voices' returns for 2022 Our annual Men's Voices returns on Wednesday 16 November and is once again taking place at Burton Albion Football Club. This years theme is around wellbeing and mindfulness! We have two great key note speakers coming along; Lord Roy Kennedy, member of the House of Lords and Charlie
Western The Woodland Games On 3 September our Central England Co-op MCC member Shaz attend the Woodland Games in South Birmingham. Hear his account of the day below Central England Co-op Western MCC supported the Woodland Games in south Birmingham. The Woodland Games an art adventure that helped the participants learn about ecology and
Community Colleagues celebrate Birmingham Pride Colleagues from Central England Co-op Retail, Funeral and Support Centre businesses came together on Saturday to celebrate Pride. This Year's Pride was celebrating 25 years in Birmingham! Over 30 colleagues took part in either the parade or the community stand in Pride's Community Village. The parade
Community Great Barr celebrates new look store and Birmingham's Summer of Sport Last week our Store at Great Barr in Birmingham celebrated their new look store in time for Birmingham's Summer of Sport. The store is located just up the road from Alexander Stadium, the venue for this year's Commonwealth Games. The official opening of of the store
Community Co-op Film Festival takes place during Co-ops Fortnight During Co-ops Fortnight this year the Co-op Film Club in Birmingham held their second Film Festival. Kate Palser of the Film Co-op writes about what took place during the two weeks. Reflection on an undertaking like Just Film Festival is an important part of the whole process. Although the features
Community Co-op Songwriting sessions come to Stirchley Shaz Rahman, Western MCC member writes how he attends and is part of a song writing co-op that meets at the Artefact Cafe in Stirchley. These sessions have been enabled by the funding of the Western MCC. On Friday July the 1st the Co-op Songwriting Group met for the third
Community Fairtrade sessions with local Beavers' Group Recently MCC member Amanda and myself went along to see a local Beaver Group in Kings Heath to talk to them about all things Fairtrade. During the Sessions Amanda and myself spoke about the importance of Fairtrade and how buying these products help farmers and workers of developing countries lead
Western Great Barr Community Day On Thursday 28 July come Join us at Walsall Road Great Barr for some fun community activity. There we be a tombola, raffle, prizes, food tastings, refreshments and lots more with all money raised going to our Colleague elected charity Dementia UK. Colleagues from our Food, Funeral, floral and membership
Community Summer of Sport Event comes to Birmingham Central England Co-op have teamed up with Sporting Spirit, a Birmingham based youth sports provider to hold a fun sporting event on Saturday 6 August between 11am - 3.00pm at the Co-op Sports Ground in Yardley Birmingham to celebrate Birmingham's Summer of Sport. Teams of 6 (Don&
Community Robin Hood Comes to Lichfield Recently the cast of Robin Hood came to our Lichfield Boley Park store to promote the community musical supported by Central England Co-op. During the day the cast spoke to members of the public about the musical and sang songs outside our store to shoppers. As part of our ongoing
Western Introduction to Geocaching Central England Co-operative has been helping the Geocaching Association of Great Britain (GAGB) to host a series of “Intro to Geocaching” events across our Western region - you may have seen them in our regular blog post? What are they? Why come along? What’s going on? Ant Reid from
Community Member Activity in the West Midlands Are you a member of Central England Co-op? If so there is much more to membership than using your card in our shops! If you're not a member and want to take part, please visit https://membership.centralengland.coop/ to join. Across our trading region we have groups
Community Co-op Gardening Club Promotes Upcycling and Repurposing Items For Use in the Garden On Wednesday 26 January I joined our Member Gardening Club for their first meeting of the year. The group meet monthly at Cotteridge Church and selected venues in South Birmingham. Their program throughout the year helps promote small gardening to CEC members attending the group. 2022 Event ProgramThe first meeting
Community Geocaching in Birmingham The Western Membership and Community Council are supporting a local geocaching event in Birmingham. The event organised by the Geocaching Association of Great Britain and their West Midlands 'MEGA' event team. When: Saturday 22nd January, 11am until late evening Where: The Irish Centre Birmingham, 205 Wheelers Lane, Birmingham,
Community A Christmas Co-op History Shaz Rahman, Western MCC member writes about the final Co-op History Group meeting of the year. "For the final meeting of the year the Co-op History Group had a Christmas party at the home of two of the members of the group. The group took the chance to reflect
Western Co-op helps bring Christmas Cheer to Cotteridge John Cooper, resident of Cotteridge writes how Central England Co-op supported the local community with a donation to ensure the Christmas lights in the area were able to be lit this past Christmas. Cotteridge is a small corner of Birmingham but, thanks to Central England Support, this year is making
Community Table Tennis comes to Great Barr On Wednesday our new Table Tennis Member Group started at the Great Barr Co-op Rooms on Walsall Road, Great Barr, Birmingham. The Member Group offers a fun and friendly atmosphere for the beginner alongside qualified coaches for any member who wants to progress their skillset in the sport. Shaz, Western
Western Central England Co-op Supports Tamworth School To Promote Wellbeing Champions Recently the Western Member and Community Relations Officer James Knight joined forces with Progressive Sports and St Elizabeth's Catholic Primary School to promote Wellbeing Champions in school. The objective is to train students from each year group to help support and lead the message on well being within
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
