Global Innovation Coop Summit & fundraising for great causes
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Published 30 Sep 2022 in Phil's blog
A big well done to all our Food teams working hard behind the scenes to get compliant ready for the new High fats, high sugar and salt (HFSS). Going live on Saturday, the new Government regulations mean pre-packaged high fat, salt and sugar (HFSS) products can’t be displayed in locations where we see lots of customers pass through our stores – e.g., near the front door, checkouts, or on our promotion ends. For many stores, this will represent a big change which will ultimately adjust consumer behaviour. I look forward to seeing the changes in stores as we become compliant with the new HFSS regulations.
Global Innovation Coop Summit
The week began with a trip to the Global Innovation Coop Summit in Paris with our young colleague competition winners. A chance to showcase Midcounties on the international stage, the summit was a fantastic way to collaborate with fellow cooperatives and provide an opportunity to share best practices and the latest innovations.
Left to right - Benjamin Johnson, Utilities, Conor O'Neil, Community Team, myself and Shannon Williams, Utilities
Presenting on the panel
Encouraging and providing the opportunity for young people to get involved in Innovation is vital. Young people are the agents of change and we need their energy and creativity. I believe the key to future and sustainable business success is listening to our colleagues and especially our young people. I was accompanied to this summit by three amazing young people; Benjamin Johnson, Conor O’Neil, and Shannon Williams. They believe in the power of cooperation; want to be the best they can be and want to make a difference.
Conor O’Neil, our Community Funding colleague shared the following about the summit:
“Going to the summit gave me a chance that I’ve never had before to learn and develop professionally whilst also having great fun in a foreign country! From listening about new innovative farming techniques in India, to how new websites amongst Scottish cooperatives help deliver value to members, the whole experience made me understand and resonate with the cooperative principles like never before. I want to thank everyone who made this event take place and I speaking on a panel was a confidence builder like no other.”
Following the two days in Paris, we have taken back even more new ideas, different ways of working, learnings from others to provide solutions to strategic challenges differently whilst continuing to promote a true cooperative way in everything we do.
Our London Marathon runners & charity partner, The Outward Bound Trust
Good luck to our 5 London Marathon runners this weekend fundraising for our charity partner, The Outward Bound Trust:
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Stuart Newman, Head of Healthcare and Project Lincoln
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Toby Moy, Workforce Management Planner
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Julian Wilkins, Digital Marketing Manager
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Alex Breeze, Click and Collect Buyer
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Ethan Morris, Workforce Management Planner
Aiming to raise £10,000 for the charity, The Outward Bound Trust are an educational charity that uses the outdoors to equip disadvantaged young people with valuable skills for school, work and life. We have been working with them for many years now and I am proud to say we help support their various activities. Have a watch of our dedicated charity partner video below to learn more.
To help achieve the total, we will also be holding a special ‘Give at the till’ which will run in all Food stores from Friday 30th September to Monday 3rd October 2022. If you wish to donate towards the fundraising, click here.
To all our runners, you got this!
Defibrillator Fundraising hits £40,000
With the celebration of World Heart Day yesterday, it was fitting to announce that our Food stores have now raised an incredible £40,000 for new defibrillators. A fantastic achievement after a year of fundraising, it will massively benefit the communities where no defibrillator exists.
We are not alone in championing the cause, since 2016, The Community Heartbeat Trust has helped to provide support with maintenance and training to our colleagues. This has helped to save lives and was the case during an incident in Brewood Food store. A member of the public had collapsed outside the store but with quick thinking from store colleague, Kelly, she managed to use the community defibrillator and ultimately save a life. You can watch the video interview in our story here.