Celebrating our inspirational colleagues

Our colleagues have done a tremendous job over the last few months to keep our local communities going throughout the coronavirus pandemic.

From ensuring our food and pharmacy branches have been kept open and stocked to showing understanding and care with funeral and holiday enquiries and helping people in their local communities access much needed support.

Many have been redeployed to different business areas and others have been keeping spirits up by raising thousands of pounds for local NHS charities and Community Champions good causes.

They really have got stuck in to everything! 🌈

It's Co-op Fortnight until Sunday 5th July 2020 - giving us chance to celebrate co-operation and togetherness and we're proud to say we do this throughout the year, including...

• An annual awards ceremony for those who have gone the extra mile - from Team of the Year to Suggestion of the Year, there are a number of categories our colleagues can be nominated for. This year, even though we couldn't hold an event as planned, we still celebrated with our winners from a safe distance 💃

• We've set up a colleague app - a one-stop place for all our colleagues to find out the latest information and what's happening across the society. This has been invaluable during the pandemic and allowed us to make sure vital information is easily accessible by all, plus its a fantastic place for colleagues to see what everyone else is doing from fundraising to cake-making to wonderful letters from our local residents. It also allows our colleagues to send thank you cards to each other for inspiring, helpful and trustworthy celebrations.👏

• We recognised the hard work of our colleagues by paying them a double bonus, worth a full week's pay back in April 2020. 🎉

• Plus, we've just sent every member of our team a colleague award - celebrating their hard work, inspiring stories, togetherness and for just being understanding in what has been a very difficult time for us all. The award recognises that no matter what part they have played over the last few months, they matter to us. 🥰

Here's a message to all colleagues from our Chief Executive, Ursula Lidbetter: