Co-op gives 19,500 of our students Christmas presents
Co-op has given selection boxes to 19,500 children from Co-op Academies Trust, with those more in need receiving additional gifts, to ensure no child goes without a present this Christmas.
Co-op Academies Trust is sponsored by Co-op. The sponsorship is designed to support the academies access to community funds as well as benefit from their business expertise.
Russell Gill, Chair of the Trust board and Head of Community Delivery at Co-op, said:
“We’re living through some very difficult times for families and this Christmas is going to be a hard one. We’d heard from the academies that there will be some children not receiving Christmas presents this year, and we felt there was no better way to use our connections than to ensure every child in the Trust has something to open this Christmas.”
The parent company of Cadbury’s, Mondelez International, and one of Co-op’s suppliers, donated a selection box for every child in the Trust. On top of this, Co-op and Co-op Academies Trust collaborated on a present drive, seeing gifts donated across the North of England through donations from both Co-op and the Academies staff, resulting in over 600 gifts for the most disadvantaged children in their schools.
Chris Tomlinson, CEO of Co-op Academies Trust, said:
“It has been a real collaborative effort between our colleagues and Co-op colleagues to make sure all our students including the most disadvantaged have gifts this year. Within the Trust about 50% of our students overall are disadvantaged. Our values are really important to us, and these actions fully represent the values we stand for. We hope this shows our students and parents how much we care about them.”
On top of this, the Trust’s Community Team, a team designed to work closely with local communities to forge strong relationships with the schools, has been successful in working with businesses to add to the present count for students.
Liz Garrity, Head of Community at Co-op Academies Trust, said:
“The support for us and our students has been overwhelming both on a local scale and with our Co-op connections. We have had such incredible support and turn out, as well as volunteers to help with logistics, present wrapping and donations. We can’t thank everyone enough.”
Co-op Academies Trust serves 19,500 children across the North of England including primary, secondary, and special schools, as well as 1 college. Together there are 32 Academies, many in areas of high deprivation. Two thirds of Co-op Academy Schools are considered Good or Outstanding by Ofsted.