Tag: new

£1,000 donated to special Alton cause

Posted on by ashleymarsh

New equipment is set to be bought by a special Alton lunch club after a donation of £1,000 from the town’s newest funeral home.

To celebrate its new place in Alton’s High Street, colleagues at The Co-operative Funeralcare held an open afternoon on Wednesday [10 July].

To mark the special occasion, the branch, which is part of Southern Co-op – the regional, independent co-operative, made a donation to The Vokes Lunch Club which has been running in Alton since the 1960s.

Funeral Co-ordinator Emma Dulieu said: “It was really heartening to hear about the lunch club and how much it means to local people who are going there nearly every day for a two-course lunch in a safe, friendly environment.

“So we are really pleased to be able to help them replace some of their slightly older equipment and help keep such a valuable community asset going.

“Since we opened, we’ve already helped a number of local families in their times of need and hope we are able to continue this support for the foreseeable future.

“Anyone with questions about funerals is welcome to pop in to see us as we are always happy to help dispel some of the myths around funeralcare.”

The Vokes Lunch Club is for people aged 60 and over and is held at the Vokes Centre, in Normandy Street, with around 15 to 20 people visiting every day for meals prepared on the premises.

Tony Midmore, Trustee, said: “We would like to share our grateful thanks for the generous donation which is brilliant. A lot of our equipment on the premises is getting a little bit long in the tooth so this is going towards upgrading the facilities.

“We offer a social environment, a social atmosphere and we make sure the food is substantial for the elderly who can’t manage to do it themselves all the time.

“It gets them outside of their own four walls. A lot of these people don’t have much mobility. It is something that we have been doing for an awfully long time.”

To find out more, visit www.vokeslunchclub.co.uk or call 01420 84235.

The donation from The Co-operative Funeralcare, in Alton, was made as part Southern Co-op’s ‘Love Your Neighbourhood’ scheme which addresses four key social themes – promoting ‘Greener’, ‘Healthier’, ‘Safer’, and ‘More Inclusive’ neighbourhoods.

For more information on the funeral home and the services available, visit the branch at 71 High Street or click here.

£1,000 donated to special Frimley Green cause

Posted on by ashleymarsh

A support service for autistic children and their families in Frimley Green has been gifted with a donation of £1,000.

Donation to Mustard Seed Autism

To celebrate its recent opening, colleagues at the new Co-operative Funeralcare branch in Wharf Road, Frimley Green, held a special open day on Thursday 9 May.

The event included a raffle to raise funds for the local charity Mustard Seed Autism Trust as well as the surprise donation.

Lorraine Paice, Funeral Co-ordinator at the branch which is part of Southern Co-op – a regional, independent co-operative, said: “It wasn’t long after we opened back in January, that I started speaking to Sarah at Mustard Seed Autism Trust.

“I was really impressed by everything they do for our local families and knew I wanted to do something to support them.

“Being part of Southern Co-op means we are able to support our local community through our community engagement programme – Love Your Neighbourhood. It is wonderful to be able to assist the trust to reduce the waiting times and help families to get such valuable support.”

Mustard Seed Autism Trust was set up in 2011 to meet the needs of autistic children and their families in the local community. Its work involves communication and social skills work, anxiety management, sensory and motor skills development and training for parents.

Supporting the whole family is a key element of the service as the team focuses on empowering parents to meet their children’s needs. It also runs a monthly sibling support group.

Sarah Clements, Co-founder and Specialist Teacher at the trust, said: “In the first couple of years we supported about 15 children per year, we now work with around 100 families. We are working to secure funding to increase our team to enable us to reduce the waiting time for families.

“In March 2018 we made the difficult decision to close our waiting list to new referrals as families were waiting over a year for our service. We re-opened it in March this year and have already received 65 new referrals in six weeks! So funding to increase our staff team to enable us to meet the needs of our local autism community is our key focus.

“As a small independent charity our funding comes from grants, donations, professional training that we provide to local schools and organisations and fundraising events. All donations are hugely appreciated!”

For more information on the funeral home and the services available, click here.

Call for Alton villagers to nominate a local cause

Posted on by ashleymarsh

As a new funeral home in Alton is preparing to open its doors to the public, residents are being asked to nominate a local cause in need.

The appeal is being made by Southern Co-op – an independent, regionally owned co-operative society – who is opening the new funeral home at 71 High Street, Alton.

Residents are being asked to identify a cause which means something to the community and links in with Southern Co-op’s ‘Love Your Neighbourhood’ themes – creating greener, safer, healthier or more inclusive neighbourhoods.

Jessica Hughes, Community Investment Manager at Southern Co-op, said: “Every year we are able to support a wide variety of charities and good causes though our ‘Love Your Neighbourhood’ programme. This could be anything from local schools and men’s sheds to hospitals and mental health charities.

“Our colleagues across our retail stores and funeral homes have a passion for helping their local communities so we like to start how we mean to go on. Being part of Southern Co-op, this funeral home will benefit from our community engagement programme which includes opportunities for donations, volunteering and fundraising.”

Alton’s Co-operative Funeralcare is set to open on 25 March.

People have until 25 April to nominate the charity closest to their hearts as they are asked to think of a project which will really benefit the local community. This could be for any local cause and is not limited to registered charities.

To make a suggestion of a local cause, email community@southerncoops.co.uk and mention Alton Co-operative Funeralcare.

For more information about Southern Co-op’s ‘Love Your Neighbourhood’ scheme, click here.

New bereavement wellbeing group in Portsmouth

Posted on by ashleymarsh

Individuals who have lost a loved one will soon be able to get extra support as a new bereavement group is being launched in Portsmouth.

The free monthly Bereavement Wellbeing Group will offer individuals the opportunity to meet others in a similar situation, in an informal and friendly setting.

Being organised by Southern Co-op’s Bereavement Centre the new group will be launched on 21 February and will run on the third Thursday of every month in the Portsea area.

The Bereavement Centre, which offers free support to everyone in the community, already offers a range of services in the city including structured support groups, groups for people who are newly bereaved, friendship groups, walk and talk groups and one to one counselling.

It also offers support over Skype, Face Time, telephone or email.

Ingrid McAllister-Derry, Bereavement Centre Manager and Counsellor, said: “The new group has been created to be inclusive and available to everyone – regardless of whether you are a customer of Southern Co-op.

“Bereavement can be a very lonely journey, even if you have people all around you. The group is deliberately informal. It brings people together who are in a similar situation and who understand what you may also be going through.

“It is intended to be relaxed and comfortable but with the opportunity to talk to a counsellor over coffee and cake or arrange a separate counselling appointment if this would help.”

Current bereavement supports groups are held in Frome, Warmister, Fareham, Farnborough, Bognor Regis, Lake, Telscombe and Hassocks.

There will also be new groups starting soon in Waterlooville and Basingstoke.

People who would like to attend the group need to initially contact The Bereavement Centre via 08081 691922 or by emailing info@thebereavementcentre.co.uk.

Click here to find out more.

Call for Surrey villagers to nominate a local cause

Posted on by ashleymarsh

As a new funeral home in Frimley Green is preparing to open its doors to the public, residents are being asked to nominate a local cause in need.

The appeal is being made by Southern Co-op – an independent, regionally owned co-operative society – who is opening the new funeral home at No.3 Wharf Road.

It is hoped that residents will identify a cause which means something to the community and links in with Southern Co-op’s ‘Love Your Neighbourhood’ themes – creating greener, safer, healthier or more inclusive neighbourhoods.

Jessica Hughes, Community Investment Manager at Southern Co-op, said: “Since we launched our ‘Love Your Neighbourhood’ programme, we have supported a wide variety of charities and good causes from local schools and men’s sheds to hospitals and mental health charities.

“Our colleagues across our retail stores and funeral homes have a passion for helping their local communities so we like to start how we mean to go on. Being part of Southern Co-op, this funeral home will benefit from our community engagement programme which includes opportunities for donations, volunteering and fundraising.”

Frimley Green’s Co-operative Funeralcare is set to open on 7 January.

People have until 7 February to nominate the charity closest to their hearts as they are asked to think of a project which will really benefit the local community. This could be for any local cause and is not limited to registered charities.

To make a suggestion of a local cause, email community@southerncoops.co.uk and mention Frimley Green. Or for more information about Southern Co-op’s ‘Love Your Neighbourhood’ scheme, click here.

New Blackmore Vale funeral home seeks charity partner

Posted on by ashleymarsh

As a new funeral home in Sturminster Newton is preparing to open its doors to the public, an appeal is being made for a new charity partner.

The new funeral home at 4 Market House, Station Road, will be owned by local people as it will be part of Southern Co-op – a co-operative society owned by its members and formed in Portsmouth almost 150 years ago.

Southern Co-op’s Sturminster Newton Funeralcare is set to open on 10 December and colleagues are looking for a local charity partner to support over a 12 month period through various fundraising events.

Locals have until 10 January to nominate the charity closest to their hearts as they are asked to think of a project which will really benefit the local community.

The partnership could be with any local cause and is not limited to registered charities.

Wessex Cancer Trust has recently become a charity partner with Southern Co-op. Sofie Bennett, Head of Development at Wessex Cancer Trust, said: “Wessex Cancer Trust was delighted to be selected as one of Southern Co-op’s local charity partners.

“The whole team has fully embraced fundraising and awareness raising and together we’re making a real difference to local people affected by cancer. We are so grateful for all their enthusiasm and support.”

The project must meet one of Southern Co-op’s ‘Love Your Neighbourhood’ themes – creating greener, safer, healthier or more inclusive neighbourhoods.

Jessica Hughes, Community Investment Manager at Southern Co-op, said: “Since we launched our ‘Love Your Neighbourhood’ programme, we have partnered up with such a wide variety of charities and good causes from local schools and men’s sheds to hospitals and mental health charities.

“Our colleagues across our retail stores and funeral homes have a passion for helping the communities which they work in so have come up with some great fundraising ideas including quizzes, tea parties, summer fetes and bike rides. There are so many ways to raise money for a good cause and have lots of fun at the same time. We look forward to finding Sturminster Newton’s new charity partner.”

For more information about Southern Co-op’s charitable partnerships or to apply, click here.

New Southsea funeral home seeks charity partner

Posted on by felicity

As a new funeral home in Southsea is preparing to open its doors to the public, an appeal is being made for a new charity partner.

The new funeral home in Albert Road will be owned by local people as it will be part of the Southern Co-op – a co-operative society owned by its members and formed in Portsmouth almost 150 years ago.

Southern Co-op’s Southsea Funeralcare is planned for opening on 20 August and colleagues are looking for a local charity partner to support over a 12 month period through various fundraising events.

Locals have until 21 September to nominate the charity closest to their hearts as they are asked to think of a project which will really benefit the local community.

The partnership could be with any local cause and is not limited to registered charities.

Wessex Cancer Trust has recently become a charity partner with Southern Co-op. Sofie Bennett, Head of Development at Wessex Cancer Trust, said: “Wessex Cancer Trust were delighted to be selected as one of Southern Co-op’s local charity partners.

“The whole team have fully embraced fundraising and awareness raising and together we’re making a real difference to local people affected by cancer. We are so grateful for all their enthusiasm and support.”

The project must meet one of Southern Co-op’s ‘Love Your Neighbourhood’ themes, namely creating greener, safer, healthier or more inclusive neighbourhoods.

Jessica Hughes, Community Investment Manager at Southern Co-op, said: “Since we launched our ‘Love Your Neighbourhood’ programme just over a year ago, we have partnered up with such a wide variety of charities and good causes from local schools and men’s sheds to hospitals and mental health charities.

“Our colleagues across our retail stores and funeral homes have a passion for helping the communities which they work in so have come up with some great fundraising ideas including quizzes, tea parties, summer fetes and bike rides. There are so many ways to raise money for a good cause and have lots of fun at the same time. We look forward to finding Southsea’s new charity partner.”

For more information about Southern Co-op’s charitable partnerships or to apply, click here.