Community plan
The Co-operative Community Plan
For us, supporting communities is at the heart of our co-operative heritage.
During 2009 The Co-operative invested £11.3m in the community, which is equivalent to some 4% of our pre tax profits.
In February 2009, after consulting more than 50,000 members, customers and colleagues, the new Co-operative Community Plan was launched. We will focus our investments on the following key themes: Combating climate change, Tackling global poverty and Inspiring young people.
“Green Schools Revolution” takes UK schools by storm
Thousands of schools in the UK have pledged to play their part in securing a brighter future for the planet by signing up to our “Green Schools Revolution”. All schools are invited to sign up to the free new environmental education programme, which offers a host of material to help teachers, parents and children take care of the environment in a fun and active way.
Once registered, schools can access teaching materials, ready made eco-activities, and details about some exciting school trip opportunities all themed around saving water, healthy living and energy. From learning about where food comes from, to visiting a wind farm and setting up a walking bus, the breadth of resources are designed to bring environmental learning to life. In addition to the schools activities provided, there is a dedicated section for parents and carers with environmentally-focused games and activities that will support children’s classroom learning.
For more information and to register for Green Schools Revolution please visit www.greenschools.coop
Combating climate change
Left unchecked, climate change is the greatest threat we face, and has the potential to wreck livelihoods and ecosystems. As we're one of the world's leading businesses in the fight against climate change, we're working hard to reduce our emissions, help communities to reduce theirs, and campaigning to get the right laws in place to speed up the transition to a low carbon economy. Our projects, on Walking Buses and Green Energy for Schools, highlight our work in local communities.
We also invite customers to join together to take action on issues like toxic fuels through our campaigns.
Tackling global poverty
When undertaken equitably, trade has an unparalleled capacity to lift people out of poverty and enhance the quality of lives across the world. However, business pressures and the demand for cheap goods can mean that workers in the developing world are often denied the basic living standards that most of us in the UK take for granted. We recognise that our activities have an impact on international development, and we believe that we can make this impact a positive one.
Find out how we put this global issue into practise by clicking here.
Inspiring young people
We’re supporting young people to become active citizens - opening up ways for them to change their world for the better, through Co-operative education, opportunities and campaigning.
We’ve established a community programme that will directly benefit over 250,000 young people across the UK, and help them change their world through active citizenship. But we’ve also set our sights higher and want to help bring about a cultural shift in the way that young people are viewed and treated in this country.
Skills4Schools
The Skills4Schools programme aims to inspire and empower young people to contribute positively to society in relation to financial literacy, employability and numeracy skills.
Number Partners
Number Partners is a volunteering programme that is designed to support young people in schools across the country with their number and financial literacy skills. Volunteers visit primary schools to play number games with students, making maths and financial literacy fun, improving their skill with numbers and boosting their confidence at the same time.
Fit4Finance
Fit4Finance is an education programme we have developed to improve financial capability. It is for use within the secondary school environment (predominantly years 10/11). The programme is delivered by employee volunteers and introduces students to the basics of personal finance through a series of interactive and engaging workshops tailored to meet the individual school's needs. The workshops cover topics such as budgeting, savings, credit & debt and financial jargon. Our work supports the Money Advice Service vision ‘to enhance people’s lives because they take control of their money as a matter of course’. For impartial information and tools that can help you work out what's right for you visit their website Money Advice Service.
Fair Shares
Fair Shares is a fast-paced, competitive team game based on the concept of ethical and values-based investing. Students aged 14-16 work in small teams and take on the role of investment managers with a brief to buy shares in ethical companies which they believe will also make a profit. They begin by exploring the concept of investment and ethics before selecting three fictitious but realistic companies in which to invest an initial £10,000. To play the game and visit the teachers supporting materials click here.
Responsible Driving - we are working with road safety charity Brake on the 2 young 2 die responsible driving campaign. The campaign has been running for approximately four years covering a number of different aspects associated with responsible driving such as the impact of drink driving, speeding, driving without insurance and more specifically the increasing numbers of road deaths involving young drivers/passengers.
If you are or know a young driver and want to find out more, visit the 2 young 2 die website, sponsored by The Co-operative Insurance.
Feel free to visit some of our other campaigns:
Plan Bee - The Co-operative has launched Plan Bee, a Membership campaign and 10-point plan to help save the bee population. Find out more about Plan Bee.
Marine Reserves Now! - Join our Marine Reserves now! campaign and lobby your MP for a strengthened Marine Bill.
