CO-OP STAFF ‘FLY THE FLAG’ FOR CHARITY
Hundreds of colleagues from Lincolnshire Co-operative will be skipping, hula hooping, rollerskating and even pushing trolleys on sections of a mammoth 425-mile relay organised to raise money for good causes.
The Flying the Flag Relay takes place from Tuesday, June 26th until Saturday July 7th and will involve members of staff carrying a special flag around every one of Lincolnshire Co-op’s 75 foodstores.
Teams from each store will be joined on the relay by colleagues from surrounding outlets like post offices, travel branches, pharmacies and home stores.
All the teams have been tasked with finding weird and wonderful ways of travelling to the next stage of the relay. They all have one big challenge in common – they can’t use any motorised transport.
Methods dreamed up to complete the course include horse and carts, tandem bicycles, wheelbarrows, juggling, egg and spoon, cycling and running.
Money raised through sponsorship and collections during the relay will go towards Lincolnshire Co-op’s two charities for 2012, Plan UK and Pascal.
At Roman Bank Foodstore in Skegness, they will be travelling the 5.5 miles along the seafront to Chapel St Leonards Foodstore by skipping wearing red, white and blue. The team at Newbridge Hill Foodstore in Louth will be getting to Holton le Clay Foodstore, 12.5 miles away, by cycling.
Colleagues from Woodhall Spa Foodstore will take on the 6.5 miles to Horncastle Foodstore on their own two feet.
Zonda Crick, Woodhall Spa Foodstore Community Liason Representative, said: “We’ve got colleagues who will be walking the six miles. Carole Allbones does lots of walking so she’s well trained and then there are some younger ones so there’ll be ok. Everyone’s looking forward to it. It’s going to be good.”
The relay is taking place during national Co-operatives Fortnight (23rd June to 7th July) an awareness campaign that aims to show off the diversity and the benefits of the co-operative movement. Both charities supported by Lincolnshire Co-op have a co-operative connection.
Plan is an international children’s development organisation that helps the world’s poorest children and their families build sustainable futures. Lincolnshire Co-op is supporting a project in Rwanda that helps young people pull themselves out of extreme poverty by setting up co-operative businesses.
Pascal is a co-operative of Age UKs in Lincolnshire which delivers vital services to over 4,000 elderly people per week. The Society is helping the organisation continue to provide information and advice, falls awareness, visiting and befriending, activities and community support services.
Money raised for Pascal in the Grimsby, Scunthorpe and Newark areas is being matched with a donation to the local Age UK branches.
Lincolnshire Co-op Charity of the Year Co-ordinator Faye Niblett said: “We are delighted that so many of our staff are getting involved to fly our flag around the county. The thought that has gone into coming up with bizarre ways of travelling is brilliant and shows great dedication to raising money for our two charities of the year, Plan and Pascal.”
For more information contact:
Michelle Scott, Communications Assistant, Lincolnshire Co-operative
(01522) 785244
1. Lincolnshire Co-operative has around 214,000 members in Lincolnshire, North Lincolnshire and Newark and employs more than 2,700 staff. The Society runs over 200 outlets across the trading area including foodstores, filling stations, post offices,
pharmacies, coffee shops, travel agencies, funeral services and home stores.
Here is a list of the stores and days they will be taking apart:
Day Stores
26th June Crowland, Sutton Bridge, Long Sutton, Whaplode, and Wygate Park in Spalding.
27th June Boston area: Gosberton, Argyle Street, Woodville Road, Skirbeck Road, Eastwood Road and Old Leake.
28th June Spilsby, Skegness, Chapel St Leonards, Alford and Louth.
29th June Grimsby area: Holton Le Clay, Waltham, Coniston Avenue, Nunsthorpe, Convamore Road, Cambridge Road, The Willows and Wybers Wood.
30th June Horncastle, Caistor, Market Rasen, Wragby, Bardney and Woodhall Spa.
1st July Coningsby, Billinghay, Heckington and Sleaford.
2nd July Ruskington, Metheringham, Branston, Cherry Willingham and Nettleham.
3rd July Welton, Kirton Lindsey, Scotter, Messingham, Willoughby Road and Westcliff in Scunthorpe.
4th July Misterton, Morton and Queensway in Gainsborough, Saxilby and Sutton on Trent.
5th July Newark area: Churchill Drive, Victoria Street, Balderton, Barnbygate, The Bridge, Collingham, Witham St Hughs and Navenby.
6th July Lincoln area: Bracebridge Heath, Tealby Street, City Square, Monks Road, Carlton Centre, Woodhall Drive, Riseholme Road, Queen Elizabeth Road, Burton Road and Winning Post.
7th July Lincoln area: Skellingthorpe, Hykeham Green, Brant Road, Moorland Avenue, Swanpool and Tritton Road.
£10,000 FOR A JUBILEE TO REMEMBER
Community groups and charities can get their Queen’s Diamond Jubilee parties started by applying for a share of £10,000 of food, drink and prizes from Lincolnshire Co-operative.
As well as goods worth between £10 and £250, successful applicants will get a ‘party in a box’ featuring red, white and blue balloons, union jack bunting and posters to promote their events.
Applying for the goods is easy. All organisers have to do is fill out an application form telling Lincolnshire Co-op all about their event with details such as where it is being held, how many people will be attending, what level of funding they need and what it would be used for.
The applications have to be in by April 13th. Then, the Society’s local member groups will make decisions on which groups have been successful. Recipients will be informed by early May.
Party organisers will then get a choice of having Society vouchers to spend in their local Lincolnshire Co-op outlet or picking up specific goods from their local foodstore.
Membership and Community Manager Sam Turner said: “We want to help bring communities across the area together to help mark the first Diamond Jubilee since 1897.
“Groups can apply for anything between £10 and £250. We want to support a range of different sized community events so this scheme can provide anything from a bottle of bubbly to use as a raffle prize to cakes for a street party. It really is up to the organisers to decide what would be suitable for their occasion.
“We can’t wait to hear about all the fantastic community celebrations planned across our trading area, from street parties in Spalding and get-togethers in Grimsby to neighbourhood gatherings in Newark and garden parties in Gainsborough – plus everything in between!”
Groups can apply by completing the application form available at www.lincolnshire.coop or by calling the Membership & Community team on 01522 544632.