Western

The Western Membership and Community Relations Officer is James Knight. He oversees the West Midlands and Staffordshire.

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School Children ‘Buzzing’ about Bees

Today 30 year six pupils from a local Primary School in Kingstanding, Birmingham came to visit the Central England Co-operative Bee Education program in Northfield. The Bee Education program is delivered by Jackie and her team from EcoBirmingham.  The beehives are located at Allens Cross Community Garden the the heart

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Co-operatives West Midlands reignites its Member Education

Co-op West Midlands are the representative body of co-operative enterprise in the region. Our ethical values of honesty, openness, social responsibility and caring for others resonate well in today’s society as a better way of doing business. As the West Midlands regional arm of Cooperatives UK we are proud

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Footballs that are Fair!

Tonight I spent some time with Whittington FC Under 11s and their coach Jen, where I presented them with some Fairtrade footballs courtesy of the Western MCC. These footballs will be used to help ensure they can continue to train with one ball per player as their team grows. All

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Chelmsley Wood working with local school

School children from Windy Arbor Primary School have been working with our Chelmsley Wood Retail Store today as part of their enterprise initiative. The pupils decided they wanted to bake goods to sell to their parents to help raise funds for the school. Sarah, a teacher from the school, got

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Strictly Members Dancing

Today I took the opportunity to visit our Modern Sequence Dance Member Group in Birmingham. The Member Group dance every Monday and Wednesday at the Polish Centre in Central Birmingham. This long standing Member Group has been running in Birmingham for over 20 years and has many members attending for

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Western MCC Welcomes new Chair and Vice-Chair

This week our Western Membership and Community Council (MCC) elected their new Chair and Vice Chair for the democratic year. Shaz Rahman has been elected as Western MCC Chair. Shaz has served on the MCC for 2 years and has been very active in the Birmingham area, promoting Fairtrade and

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Green fingered Members

Our Membership and Community Council Member Shaz talks about his experience at the Central England Co-operative Gardening Group in Birmingham: "Recently I gave a short speech at the MCC induction day about how valuable the Central England Co-op Gardening Club and what a great example it is of how

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MCC support girls football in Lichfield

On Tuesday the Western Membership and Community Council (MCC) were invited along to Lichfield City FC to help support Lichfield City FC Wildcats and their Girls Football event. The event in colaberation with Staffordshire Football Association was held to promote girls football in the city ahead of the FIFA Women&

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Co-op Members Getting Crafty in Birmingham

At Central England Co-operative, we're proud to have been offering our members educational, cultural and recreational activities, alongside selling groceries and providing other goods and services, for the past 160 years. This includes a range of regular groups and classes which vary according to the particular interests of

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Our store managers in the community

Today I met with store managers from the Staffordshire and Burton region to discuss membership and community activity with them. We spoke about the types of activity they can get involved in to help support our membership & community message within their own communities. We discussed how we can engage

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CEC Member Groups...more than just dancing!

Today I visited our Folk Dancing group in Birmingham to see how they are and talk to them about their group and what it means to them. I found out it means more than just dancing. The group has 12 dedicated members who under the calling of Neil spend an

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New MCC Ambassadors welcomed to the Society

On Monday newly elected MCC (Membership and Community Council) ambassadors joined elected members, MCROs and colleagues from the business to learn more about Central England Co-operative and the work the MCC do for its members and its community. Throughout the day there were workshops and events that were designed to

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Excess food from meetings donated to local food bank

This week saw the Society hold its Annual General Meetings for Members. During the meeting we showcased some of our food for members to try. Usually we have a little excess stock which is then given to members as they leave, this year the Western MCC decided that they would

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Community Fund allows kids to get active at school

The Society's Community Dividend Fund recently donated £2,000 to Silkmore Primary Academy in Stafford.  The money was used to create an outdoor 'Trim Trail' to inspire the school children to get more active during break and dinner times. I was invited along to the opening

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Member group dance to keep healthy

Our line dancing member group has been active in Birmingham for over 15 years and is doing wonders for the participants. The group runs on a Thursday afternoon and Friday morning at the Polish Millennium House in the city centre. The class, led by our wonderful tutors Jenny and Laurie,

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Erdington Store Cleans Up

Our Retail Store in Erdington led by Manager Gary Brooks went out into the High Street to help litter pick the local area. They teamed up with a local group who do this every fortnight in a bid to try and keep the local area looking nice for its residents

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Retail Managers in our Community

On Friday i was invited to attend the West 1 Managers meeting by their Operations Manager David Rudge. I attended to talk to them about how they and their stores can be closer associated within their community. During the meeting we discussed the range of activities that store teams can

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An EGGcellent Donation

The Western MCC this week has donated 72 Easter Eggs to Burton Albion Community Trust (BACT). The eggs are going to be given out to disadvantaged children in Burton upon Trent. Many children the trust work with will not get an Easter egg this year and BACT are hoping that

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Supporting our Funeral Colleagues

Three of our funeral colleagues from Wellings Funeral Home in Burton upon Trent are embarking on an 8 mile trek around the town. Along the way they shall be visiting a number of nursing and residential homes donating Easter eggs and daffodils to elderly residents. The Western MCC heard about

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Healthy Choices meets Mindfulness

On Friday I was invited to Town End Primary School to deliver two sessions of our Healthy Choices Workshops during their 'Good to be Green' Afternoon.  The sessions that were delivered consisted of a talk on eating more healthily, understanding the 'Eatwell Guide' and tasting different

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Western MCC supports‘What makes Burton brilliant’ event

Hundreds of schoolchildren have gathered for a special cultural celebration at Burton Town Hall to showcase ‘What makes Burton brilliant’. The event was supported by Central England Co-operative and was the culmination of a month-long project held across the five Central Co-operative Learning Trust schools in the town and partner

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MCC support social action in Birmingham

Our MCC Ambassador Shaz has recently been out in Birmingham supporting UpRising - a regional young persons education organisation the Western MCC have been working with. The Western MCC agreed to help UpRising with some financial funds to support young people in their Leadership and Environmental programs, through Dragons'

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Bee Mindful

Yesterday saw the delivery of a new sign for our Bee Mindful project in Northfield, Birmingham, with 'Eco Birmingham'. The project is about delivering Bee education visits to the local community and schools. These visits take place within a community garden in Northfield, and help promote the importance

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Fairtrade in History

The choices you make every time you shop can help to change lives around the world. That’s why we're proud to support the development of Fairtrade.

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Out and about with MCRO James Knight

Follow James Knight, Member and Community Relations Officer.