Launch of Co-op Community Energy

The joint venture has already got off to a flying start, having secured five new Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs) with hydro-electric sites operated by the National Trust across Wales. The new agreements take the number of sites supplying renewable energy to Co-op Energy customers to 79.

These new PPAs demonstrate our continuing commitment to investing in local communities and paying generators a fair price for the power they produce. Co-op Community Energy, in bringing together the technological capability of Octopus Energy and the community generation experience of Midcounties, is perfectly placed to grow the sector.

Climate Change Birmingham 2019

Mike Pickering and Ryan Rushton represented our Society at a significant Climate Change Conference recently in Birmingham sponsored by Walsall Housing Group and the University of Birmingham.  The event was aimed at local businesses and organisations to help raise awareness of climate change, sharing best practice to help tackle this issue and developing collaborative solutions.  A range of local organisations presented at the conference including Tata Group, Cadent Gas and HSBC.  There was also a presentation from a local organisation that we are working with called ‘Walsall Against Single Use Plastic’. As part of this, our Society’s 1 Change campaign was showcased, including our colleague and volunteering activity earlier this year in which we removed 300 bags of litter from the environment, on World Environment Day.

The information from the conference and potential collaborative solutions will be shared by Mike with our Society’s Environmental Steering Group as we continue to act in line with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.

Top tips from the conference on how individuals can make a difference included;

• Walking, cycling or catching a bus more often

• Car sharing

• Eat less meat

• Reduce, reuse, recycle

• Support litter picks

• Switch to clean energy

• Insulate your home

• Join a community energy scheme

To help make a difference you can make your pledge through our 1Change campaign here.

Kissing it Better – Charity Launch

On Tuesday evening I was invited to the launch of a new initiative from the charity ‘Kissing it Better’.

Kissing it Better is an organisation that provides intergenerational opportunities for young people from universities, colleges and schools, to spend quality time with elderly patients in hospitals and care homes, who can often feel isolated.

Students can make a difference by simply singing to elderly patients, talking to them, holding their hand, reading books aloud, or just sitting and listening. The development of the new initiative aims to provide training for young volunteers to become accredited in volunteering and allows them to hone their skills to do this.

By giving the elderly uninterrupted attention, it can set them on a path of building friendships and feeling valued. Students also benefit from the experience as the interactions between young and old can build confidence and communications skills, whilst also taking a break from stressful times.

I’m pictured here with ‘Kissing it Better’ team members and on the right is Hannah, one of the student volunteers who now works for the charity and regularly gives her time to sing to the elderly.

You can find out more about ‘Kissing it Better ‘ here.

We also run intergenerational programmes in our nurseries, where we take the children to visit care homes, or invite the elderly to spend time with the children.

Welcoming our Supported Interns

[Left to right Meriel Grey, our Supported Internship Job Coach, Rachel Seagrave, Head of Learning & Development, Emily Sandilands, Nursery Development Manager, Daisy Clifford, Member First Business Analyst with Ellie, Patrick and Thomas from Warwickshire Collage]

On Wednesday I had the opportunity to have a chat with our new supported interns who are students from Warwickshire College. This is the first time we have undertaken the scheme which will see our interns join us for an 11 month placement and study for a qualification. During our talk, we spoke about their projects, how they are fitting into the Society and what they are most looking forward to learning with Midcounties. I learnt that Patrick is a football fan, Thomas enjoys playing Tennis and Ellie does Karate. If you see them around Co-op house or the Society, please do say hello!

Children in Need 2019

Today sees the start of the annual Children in Need campaign and the Society will again be fundraising at all our sites. Your donations will help thousands of children change their lives for the better, so please take a look at some of their really inspiring stories here. If you haven’t had the chance to donate yet, you can still do so by clicking here. Also, don’t forget to let our community team know your site total by emailing communityteam@midcounties.coop.

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