G7 Summit, West Hagley Food Opens & Society Elections

This week leaders from across the globe have come to the UK to meet at the G7 summit. The summit is being held in Cornwall due to it being seen as central to the UK's green technology sector and will see leaders discuss key issues such as, COVID recovery, climate change and trade and comes ahead of the COP26 climate conference in Glasgow in November. 

Our members care about these issues and ask us to act, and as a co-operative movement, internationally, nationally, and locally co-ops are a significant part of the economy and will play a vital role in these areas. So, it is with great interest that I’ll be looking to see what the outcomes of these talks are. 

However, I think the main news that people across England will be waiting to hear about, other than the first Euro Football match results, will be the further update expected from the Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, on the Government’s easing of lockdown restrictions on the 21st June and if this will happen as it was hoped for.   

At this time it is important to remember that even though we are moving in a positive direction, daily COVID cases have been on the rise and it is, therefore, essential that we don’t relax our approach and that we continue to maintain our disciplines with PPE, cleaning and maintenance to give members, customers and colleagues reassurance and make them feel as safe as possible and help to reduce infections.  You can find out all the information on the procedures in place here.

The latest Food store launch at West Hagley

Yesterday saw the latest new food store open in West Hagley. The store, which is just south of Kidderminster is the penultimate store in this recent round of openings as part of a £3 million investment, bringing more services to members. I am delighted to say the store will provide 17 new jobs in the local community and I would like to give a warm welcome to Store Manager, Dean Puplett and all our new colleagues joining Midcounties. I look forward to visiting you all soon.

Society Election Nominations Open plus the Young Co-operators Society Elections

The Society Elections begin on Monday with the nominations phase. This is where any member, including colleagues, can put themselves forward by nominating to stand for either the Board of Directors or the Member Engagement Committee. If you are interested in becoming more involved and want to help lead your Society, then I would encourage you to find out more by clicking here. Nominations will close on 19th July.

As part of the elections this year, I am pleased to share that for the first time the Society is opening a dedicated Young Co-operators Election campaign for places on the Member Engagement Committee (MEC). This is a great opportunity for our young members, who can bring fresh ideas and a different insight to the MEC, you can find out more information about this here.

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