Co-operative Regional Members’ Meeting, 27 April 2013

The Co-operative Regional Members’ Meeting & Community Showcase | Saturday 27 April 2013 | 10am – 5pm | QE II Conference Centre London

Join us at The Co-operative’s Regional Members’ Meeting & Community Showcase taking place at the Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre, Westminster, London on Saturday 27 April from 10am to 5pm.

The day will cover how The Co-operative’s businesses are doing and information on the wide range of community activity and campaigns that we are involved in. You’ll get a chance to meet the elected members that represent you within our democracy and tell them what you think about our businesses.

Throughout the day there will also be a marketplace of the community organisations that we work with, as well as performances, workshops and debates, many of which will showcase our work to protect the environment.

We would love for you to join us. To book your place please visit www.co-operativememberevents.coop.

The Co-operative seeks young people to join national board

As the UK’s most democratic business, the Co-op has announced it was on the look out for young people to help have a say in how the organisation is run.

Fifteen people aged 16 to 25 from across the UK are to be recruited to a new national advisory board that will provide The Co-operative Group with young ideas and fresh innovation.

The Co-operative is looking for talented and committed young people to form a Young Members’ Board, which is set to launch at the Group’s annual meeting in May.

Five of the original Rochdale Pioneers, who in 1844 formed the world’s first ever co-operative, based on a democracy that was owned by its customers, with social responsibility at its heart, were under 26 years old.

The Co-operative Young Members’ Board will give today’s young people the same opportunity to inspire change for future generations by driving forward the co-operative way of doing business and helping to make important decisions that will impact upon its 100,000 employees and 5,000 high street outlets and bank branches.

The successful candidates will meet eight times a year in Manchester and will take on specific business challenges set by The Co-operative Group Board, as well as take part in projects with Co-operative employees and senior managers. The Young Members’ Board will share ideas and innovation at the highest level, presenting their findings and views back to the main board.

The Young Members’ Board is part of The Co-operative’s commitment to inspire young people and will provide them with real responsibilities and opportunities to gain new skills, knowledge and experience. It is also a key element of the Co-operative’s on-going Ethical Plan.

Len Wardle, Chair of the Co-operative Group, said: “The Co-operative was founded in part by five inspiring and determined young people and the impact of their innovation led to the creation of a global movement of shared and equal ownership that has fairness and honesty at its heart.

“We want to ensure that young people continue to drive the Co-operative forward in the future and so we are on the look out for the next generation of pioneers to join The Co-operative Young Members’ Board, which will help to shape the future direction of all of our businesses from product innovation through to business development.”

If you want to apply to become part of the Young Members Board, or you know someone who does, visit www.co-operative.coop/CYMB and apply by midnight on Monday 22nd April.

You CAN help: Donate a can to help others this Christmas

Buy an extra can of food during your weekly shop at a Co-operative Food store and support ITV Daybreak’s You CAN Help campaign.

Fronted by Gethin Jones, the ITV Daybreak campaign aims to collect as many cans of food as possible in a week. They can be donated at special drop boxes in almost 1000 participating Co-operative Food stores around the country. The collected cans will then be distributed to people in need by The Salvation Army. They will be used to help young and old people from all walks of life as part of food parcels and food for lunch clubs, soup kitchens and drop-in centres.


You CAN Help is backed by Lorraine Kelly and Aled Jones. Lorraine said: “We want to collect as many cans as possible for The Salvation Army to distribute. It would be absolutely fantastic if we could manage to get a quarter of a million cans over the week-long campaign. I really hope all our (daybreak) viewers will get involved and help!”

You CAN Help collection points will be clearly identified at the entrance of participating Co-operative Food stores and will be in place from 26th November to 2nd December. Acceptable cans include meat, fish, vegetables, soup and fruit.

To find your nearest store that is participating in You CAN Help, check out the storefinder below.

Hints and Tips

• Food can only be donated via the collection containers in selected Cooperative Food stores across the UK.
• Food can only be accepted from the time of store opening on Monday 26th November through to closing time of store on Sunday 2nd December 2012.
• All food donated must be in an unopened tin can.
• All food donated needs to be for human consumption.
• All food donated needs to be within best before or use by date.
• Only canned food and no canned drinks are accepted. However canned liquids for cooking purposes are - For example: condensed milk and coconut milk.
• No damaged cans will be accepted.
• All cans must have their own labels attached.
• All cans donated must be have been purchased in Britain and passed UK food regulations.
• All cans must be donated by persons over 18 years of age .
• All other terms and conditions are as per itv.com/terms.

To see why this is so important, watch the following video by Co-operative Member of Parliament Luciana Berger:

The Rochdale Pioneers - the movie

Later this week, Film4 will be screening The Rochdale Pioneers movie, a film commissioned by the Co-operative for the International Year of Co-operatives and made by the Co-operative British Youth Film Academy.

The story is set in 1844 when a group of working-class people from the town of Rochdale came together to change the unfair society they were living in. From their actions stem the global co-operative movement, involving a billion people around the world.

Film4 are screening the Rochdale Pioneers movie on two more occasions forming part of the channel’s British Connection Season. So make a cup of tea, put your feet up, and settle down to watch this incredible story of the people behind the Co-operative Movement on 23 November at 11am and 26 November at 1.10am.

Leave your feedback on our unique Twitter discussion #film4pioneers, and follow @RochdalePioneer and @film4

If you would be interested in getting hold of the film in future, please REGISTER YOUR INTEREST.

Putney store re-opening after major refit

The Co-operative Food store in Putney will be re-launched on Thursday 29 November 2012, commencing at 10.00am. The store, next to East Putney tube station, has received substantial investment of half a million pounds.

 Please let us know what you think of the new store.

 73-75 Upper Richmond Road, Putney, London, SW15 2SR.  Telephone 020 8874 7953

Four new stores arriving in SE1

Four new Co-operative Food stores are preparing to open this month around London Bridge, SE1.

The shops, which were formerly Costcutters, are at the following locations:

• Great Dover Street, by Black Hourse Court
• Southwark Bridge Road, next to El Vergel restaurant
• Tower Bridge Road, by Tanner Street
• Mill Street, just off the Jamaica Road

The Great Dover Street and Southwark Bridge Road stores both have post offices which are being kept open even during the refit.

The stores will open after a quick rebrand as Co-operative stores but will all have a full refit in 2013, with an investment of £3m across the ten stores the Co-op is taking off Costcutters. Staff currently employed at the Costcutter outlets, and the two Post Offices, will be offered the opportunity to transfer to The Co-operative. 30 new positions across the four Southwark stores have also been created.

Committee member Martin Tiedemann has already taken up issues raised on the SE1 Online forum, including the conversion of the cashpoints, opening hours and better announcements of opening dates. You can participate in the forum here.

Martin said, "It's excellent news that four new Co-op stores are being opened in SE1. Combined with the new store in nearby Bermondsey, this will provide members in the area - particularly those who work around here - lots more opportunities to shop with the Co-op. I'm keen to hear what shoppers at the new stores think and will take up issues with management as they come up."

We are always looking for new sites across South London - if you have a site in mind, please suggest it here: www.co-operative.coop/membership/have-your-say/suggest-a-site/

Misplaced apostrophe aside, confirmation of the Great Dover
Street store's re-opening.

New committee for South London

Following the recent elections, the South London Area Committee of the Co-operative Group has been reduced to twelve members.

Since 1 September the following members represent you on South London Area Committee :

Jonathan Bangs
Marilynne Burbage
Jenny Collins
Jane Davies
Steve Healey
Dorothea Kleine
Sally Leach
Munir Malik
Tom Searle
Faith Smith
Kathryn Smith
Martin Tiedemann