Springhill Hospice and local Co-op stores celebrate 25 years of Fairtrade

Jane Flynne, the Assistant Store Manager at the Cutgate Store with Barbara Lloyd and Bev Place (centre)

A local Co-op Good Cause was welcomed to two local stores on Saturday (29 February) to help celebrate the 25th anniversary of Fairtrade in the UK.

The Co-op food stores located at Rooley Moor Road and Cutgate Precinct welcomed Springhill Hospice in during Fairtrade Fortnight, which runs between 24 February to 8 March.

Fairtrade aims to bring better prices, decent working conditions, local sustainability, and fair terms of trade for farmers and workers in the developing world.

Barbara Lloyd, from the hospice fundraising team, and Bev Place, a Co-op member pioneer, were on hand to offer customers a free sample of the Co-op's Fairtrade Chocolate range and to talk about the Co-op's ongoing commitment to supporting Fairtrade.

The hospice also promoted their "Making The Extra Day Count", collecting donations from shoppers on the extra day of February this leap year.

Bev said: "We were really pleased to welcome the hospice into store on the day of their extraordinary fundraising campaign and it was great to promote the Co-op's extensive range of Fairtrade Chocolate at the same time."

"We look forward to continuing to support Springhill Hospice and the other two Local Good Causes, The Growth Project and The Friends of St Edmunds during the rest of the year."

Springhill Hospice, The Growth Project and The Friends of St Edmund's Church have all been selected as recipients of funds that will be raised by members who shop at the Co-op across Rochdale over a 12-month funding period.

The funding works by donating 1% of the money spent on selected own-brand products by Co-op members towards a cause.