Co-operative Employee Benefits Donation Helps North East Children’s Hospice

UK, 11/28/2012 / SubmitMyPR /

A North East children’s charity is celebrating after receiving a £4,039 donation from Co-operative Employee Benefits.

Based in Sunderland, Grace House North East Children’s Hospice Appeal is raising funds to equip and run a children’s hospice for children across the North East of England.

The much-needed donation from Co-operative Employee Benefits will go towards the funds required to furnish the indoor soft play area with crucial specialist equipment. The play room is just one of the rooms at the new facility that needs equipping and will be a vital part of the children’s rehabilitation at Grace House.

The soft play room will be filled with everything from a messy painting area to a soft ball pool and slides.

The support comes courtesy of the Co-operative Employee Benefits Dividend Fund, which gives 10 per cent of profits from sales of Childcare Vouchers to child-related charities. It is part of The Midcounties Co-operative and is a leading ethical business that re-invests profits into local projects and charities.

Brian Fisher, Regional Manager for Co-operative Employee Benefits, said: “We are so pleased that we have been able to kick start the fundraising for Grace House’s play room. The appeal is truly inspiring and the new facility will offer such strength and support for children, young people and their families at such a difficult time in their lives. It’s always important to support those helping others through adversity, but given that it’s International Year of Co-operatives it has never been more vital to help people build a better future.”

Kathy Secker, Founder of the Grace House North East Children’s Hospice Appeal, said: “On behalf of the charity I am delighted to accept this wonderful cheque for £4.039 from the Co-operative Employee Benefits Dividend Fund. This donation is most welcome and hugely appreciated, thank you.

The hospice building is now complete and we are in the process of raising funds to furnish the rooms with the necessary specialist equipment. This fantastic donation will help make a real difference to the children, young people and their families who will benefit from the facilities Grace House will provide”.

This year Co-operative Employee benefits has donated a total of £24,617 to children’s charities from its Childcare Vouchers Dividend Fund. Midcounties Employee Benefits also offer cycle to work as well as other employee benefit schemes.

ENDS

Notes to Editors
The Midcounties Co-operative has been named ‘Co-operative of the Year 2012’, recognised for its excellence, innovation and ethics in business by Co-operatives UK.

It has headquarters in Warwickshire, with trading outlets in Oxfordshire, Gloucestershire, Wiltshire, Shropshire, West Midlands, Worcestershire and the surrounding counties.

The Society’s trading groups are food retail, funeral, travel, pharmacy, childcare nurseries, employee benefits and energy. Midcounties is the largest independent co-operative society in the UK and has more than 470 branches and 245,000 active trading members. It is also in ‘The Sunday Times Best 25 Big Companies to Work For’ list for the second year running.

The Society's mission statement is 'To be a successful consumer co-operative working towards creating a better, fairer world, and to enhance the lives of our colleagues, members, customers, and the communities we serve'.

For more details call Louise Evans at Seal on 0121 616 5800
Visit www.midcounties.coop

The United Nations General Assembly has declared 2012 as the International Year of Co-operatives, highlighting the contribution of co-operatives to socio-economic development, particularly their impact on poverty reduction, employment generation and social integration. The Year will highlight the strengths of the co-operative business model as an alternative means of doing business and furthering socio-economic development.