Central England Co-op is investing £350,000 in a new project that aims to create sustainable spaces outside its food stores and funeral homes.
The money was raised through its carrier bag levy fund, which will help deliver a variety of spaces including orchards, allotments, play areas, educational spaces, recycling facilities, as well as support for sustainable transport.
These could include pit stops for cyclists with a bike repair station and bike racks, or charging points for electric cars.
The project will be carried out in conjunction with charity Groundwork, which had a reputation for making communities greener, safer and healthier, enabling people to work together and bring about change in their local area, the retailer said.
However, the sustainable community spaces are dependent on the need of the locations chosen, therefore it is currently assessing the potential sites with Groundwork.
The locations chosen for the investment will be revealed later this summer, alongside details of how people can get involved.
“We are really thrilled to be working with Groundwork on these exciting plans to provide truly transformative spaces for the benefit of the communities we serve,” said Central England Co-op corporate responsibility manager Hannah Gallimore.
“At Central England Co-op we are committed to working with our communities to create a sustainable society for all and have been looking at ways in which we can utilise some of the space we already have around our food stores and funeral homes to bring extra benefits to those areas and the people who live and work there.
“We know from the work we have already done with Groundwork on smaller projects that they are the perfect partner for this ambitious scheme and share a lot of our beliefs and principles around co-operation, education and community.
“Now we have this agreement in place we can begin to identify potential sites across our trading area and talk to those communities about what they would like to see in those areas and what will provide the most benefits to them.”
Groundwork UK CEO Graham Duxbury added: “We’re delighted to be working with Central England Co-op on this exciting partnership.
“In our experience, good quality green spaces are critical to how our neighbourhoods function and can act as inspirational places for learning, playing, meeting friends or exercising.
“We look forward to working with Central England Co-op and local community groups to create sustainable spaces that everyone can enjoy.”
pit stops for cyclists with a bike repair station, bike racks etc, charging points for electric cars etc and examples of recycling facilities could be film recycling points.
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