Co-op Members raise over £500k for coronavirus fund by donating 5% reward
Melanie May | 16 September 2020 | News
Co-op Members have raised more than £500,000 by donating the 5% reward they receive when buying selected Co-op products and services to a Co-op Members’ Coronavirus Fund.
Co-op launched the fund in April to enable members to help those in need by donating their unspent shopping reward via their online membership account. At launch, the retailer said that its 4.6 million members’ unspent rewards totalled over £30m.
Co-op members receive a 5% reward every time they buy an own-brand product or service, which is held in an online wallet which can be redeemed on future purchases.
In a blog on the Co-op site, Greg Hutchison, Director of Membership & Personalisation said that since April, more than 70,000 members have contributed some or all of their reward balance, raising a total of £502,003.39.
Well done and thank you to our @coopuk members who have donated over £500k to our coronavirus fund. Incredible! The money raised is already making a huge difference in communities up and down the country. The biggest thank you from us all. https://t.co/3A4ZpwoowH
— Steve Murrells CBE (@Steve_Murrells) September 15, 2020
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The money raised has gone to help feed those going hungry across the UK through Fareshare, to support families who are struggling to pay for a funeral for a loved one lost due to coronavirus and to aid community causes affected by the outbreak.
These have included Tiger Community Enterprise, which produces face masks for key workers in the East Midlands, Connect Aid, which delivers food to vulnerable people in Shropshire, and Kids Together Belfast, which supports young people with disabilities.
The fund’s creation followed a number of other initiatives by Co-op to help those affected by the pandemic. These included creating a TV commercial earlier in the year in partnership with FareShare that paid tribute to those helping to feed the nation during the crisis and encouraged people to support food banks by either donating in-store or via a text to a dedicated number. It also pledged £1.5million of food to the charity.
Main image: Co-op. Used under Creative Commons – Attribution 2.1 Generic
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About Melanie May
Melanie May is a journalist and copywriter specialising in writing both for and about the charity and marketing services sectors since 2001. She can be reached via thepurplepim.com.