[Intro music]
Announcer:
The Co-operative Magazine Podcast.
Presenter (Lisa O’Sullivan):
Welcome to a wintry episode of The Co-operative Magazine Podcast.
Coming up in this edition, we find out how The Co-operative support for the Charity of the Year has gone…
[New female speaker]
We’ve just had such a fantastic year with The Co-operative. We were really proud to be their charity partner for the year. We’ve visited so many stores across the country and met amazing staff who have been going the extra mile to raise all that income for us.
Presenter:
We’re urging you to watch your waste…
[New female speaker]
I think in the past people did a lot of planning, you know, they knew what menus they were going to have, they bought the food that they needed, they stored it and then they used it.
Presenter:
Some inspirational sounds for one of the difficult times in life…
[New female speaker]
It just touches the soul. We often get what we call the tingle factor and you never know when it’s going to happen, especially in live music.
Presenter:
And if you feel a bit like this at this time of year…
Vox pops, female speakers:
The dark nights, I don’t like the dark nights drawing in really early.
I just can’t get myself out of bed when it’s very very dark.
Presenter:
…we’ve got some ideas about how to banish those winter blues.
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[Burst of theme music]
Presenter:
The Government’s Love Food Hate Waste campaign aims to raise awareness of the need to reduce the amount of food we throw away, and highlight how it can benefit both consumers and the environment. Here at The Co-operative, we’re doing our bit to help with our very own Watch Your Waste project, which hopes to make people stop and think about the food thrown away, and whether or not it really needs to go in the bin. Top chefs have been showing our members how to make humble leftovers into winter warming food, at 46 road shows around the UK, just like this one in Southampton…
[SFX, applause]
[New female speaker, to audience]
Good evening everyone. Can everyone see me right at the back there? I can’t see you, ‘cause I haven’t got my glasses on! I have actually been on a whistle-stop tour of the country…
[Female speaker, to interviewer]
Hello, my name’s Jill Weatherburn and I’m one of the community chefs with The Co-operative.
Well, we have got five different dishes that we’re going to be making today that are going to demonstrate how to use your leftovers, and make use of everything in your fridge, store cupboard and freezer. So we have a spicy butternut squash soup with some leftover potatoes. We also have a chicken rogan josh using tomatoes, which get wasted a lot in our kitchens, we also have a lovely fish stew, a Spanish fish stew, and a smoothie, a breakfast smoothie.
[New male speaker]
I’m Giles Hall, I’m a Co-operative Membership Officer from the North Region at The Co-operative Group. The Watch Your Waste campaign is effectively a collaborative piece of work between Food, Group and also Membership, to try and engage with our members, and educate our staff as well, to try and get them to actually stop wasting as much food as we ordinarily have been.
Vox pops, male and female speakers:
Probably bread, in terms of bread I probably waste a bit too much bread. I try really not to waste food, I really really spend a lot of effort trying not to waste it. It’s inevitable that some of it does go to waste and I do compost as well.
I throw yoghurt away. I buy it with all good intentions and I throw it away. So I probably will try and use it in cooking, or not buy it if I don’t need it, and plan so that, yeah, I don’t throw as much away.
Giles Hall:
What we have actually got at each event is that we invite the local Love Food Hate Waste rep from that region to come along and say some words and actually work with the chef, and we’ve found that not only are they throwing ideas into each event, but also the audience are really coming up with some great ideas.
Jill Weatherburn, to audience:
One of the things that we waste a lot of is apples. 4.4 million apples get wasted every single day, and that’s whole apples that haven’t been touched, get thrown into the bin.
Jill Weatherburn, to interviewer:
8 million tomatoes every day – unbelievable. And that’s tomatoes, you know, that are maybe just a little bit past their best, that could be used in casseroles, stews, soups, roasted…
Bread - we waste, I think, about 7 million slices of bread every single day. You know, the uses that we’ve got for that, we could make it into breadcrumbs, we could freeze it, bread and butter pudding – going back to all the old favourites.
Potatoes – I’m using a lot of potatoes today, just to show how much waste we have from that. I think it’s about 5 million potatoes – that’s whole potatoes that haven’t got anything wrong with them, other than maybe they’ve gone a little bit to seed, they’ve gone a little bit soft. You know, put them into stews, put them into soups. Lots of different uses, I think, for all vegetables.
Jill Weatherburn, to audience:
Right, it’s question time again. Who actually checks their store cupboard, fridge and freezer before they go to the shops? Fantastic…
Giles Hall:
One of the things that the events are really doing is hammering home the cost to individuals and to families and how they can save, you know, anything up to £460 a year, which is a whole heap of money, just by being more frugal and more sensitive to food planning in their own home and I think it’s really hammering home the fact that financially, they’re missing out if they’re actually throwing food away.
Vox pops, male and female speakers:
I think everyone enjoyed it. I think everyone picked up a few ideas and pointers. You know, we’re all guilty of wasting food, aren’t we? Put it in people’s minds that, you know, before they throw things out, just think about it first, you know
Oh it’s really good, really enjoyed it, learned a lot, and there were things there that you sort of know but you don’t really think about, so it’s good to get them reinforced.
Jill Weatherburn, to audience:
So thank you very much for being a really nice audience today and if you would like to have a quick taste before your meeting starts, please do. Thank you very much.
[Applause]
Presenter:
And you can take a look at more top tips and clever recipes at The Co-operative Magazine Online
~~~~~~~~~~~
Announcer:
The Co-operative Magazine Podcast.
Presenter:
It’s hard not to notice that winter is upon us – it means warmer clothing for one thing and we’re going to take a step outside to talk about some winter warming ideas, because, of the four seasons, this is the one it seems brings many of us down at some stage.
[SFX – coat zipped up, key turning in lock]
Vox pop, female speaker:
The dark nights – I don’t like the dark nights drawing in really early, and you have to put your heating on. Costs a lot more to live in winter, basically.
Presenter:
Here at The Co-operative Magazine Podcast, we thought we’d gather together some tips to beat the winter blues. First up, try to stay healthy.
[SFX – man sneezing]
Be prepared! Now, a cold can last for up to a fortnight, but the sooner you start to treat it, the quicker it will go away. Talk to your Co-operative pharmacist about some good cold and flu preparations to help you get on top of it as soon as possible.
[SFX – man sneezing]
We all want to stay fit and healthy and to keep our bodies in tip-top condition we all need to nourish ourselves properly with a balanced diet rich in all the right vitamins and minerals. It’s important to know what we should include but it can be tough to get everything necessary from an original food source.
The Co-operative Pharmacy has a range of vitamin and mineral supplements that can supply those missing nutrients and the pots have been re-engineered to reduce their weight and use less plastic – so they use fewer natural resources!
[New female speaker]
Hi, my name is Tamara Morris and I’m a beauty therapist. I find going once a month for a nice relaxing body massage, using aromatherapy oils, is a really good way to make you feel better. Also if you’ve got loads of tension, maybe go for a back massage and focus on the tension areas, like the shoulders, and deep tissue massages definitely help you feel better.
For home use, you could go into your kitchen and go and get some olive oil out, some sugar and get some lavender oil if you can, and create a scrub. Jump into the shower and before you shower it off, give your body a good scrub and that’s really good for elbows, for dry skin, and yeah, that’s a good one to do really.
Vox pop, female speaker:
If I’m feeling down in the winter, what I really like to do is just go outside and walk on the leaves when they’re nice and crispy and frozen, and you can hear them crunching under your step, because that just cheers me up.
[New male speaker]
Hi, I’m a florist, my name’s Chris Price. Even though it’s a miserable time of the year and it’s always associated with being damp and cold, it can be just as enjoyable indoors, bringing a bit of outdoors indoors in those months, as it can be in the summer. There’s some amazing autumn and wintery shrubbery-style plants which, even though you can have them in the garden in pots, look fantastic on windowsills in kitchens.
Herbs on windowsills that time of the year look amazing. It’s all about just bringing a bit of the outdoors inside again, just because you can’t use your gardens at that time of the year. It’s fantastic to sort of still be able to touch and feel them even though you can’t sit outside.
Presenter:
And if you’re staying in, why not get an early night, as sleep is, as William Shakespeare put it, sweet nature’s nurse. And you can check out The Co-operative Magazine Online for some great winter-warming recipes.
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Advertisement (female speaker):
Everywhere you turn these days - financial uncertainty. On the telly, in the papers –there’s no escaping it. It’s got me tossing and turning – got me thinking – what’s my financial future going to look like? Who can you turn to with confidence?
Male speaker:
Turn to The Co-operative Investments. With out range of funds, expert investment advisors and responsible approach, you can start investing for the future with confidence. Find out more at co-operativeinvestments.co.uk
~~~~~~~~~~~
Presenter:
Now, in February The Co-operative Funeralcare compiled and published a list of the most requested songs at funerals. It included a mix of old favourites and more modern hits. The Glasgow Phoenix Choir and The Co-operative Funeralcare Band have recorded 16 of those tracks and they’ve been released on CD. It’s called Songs of Solace.
[New female speaker]
I’m Marilyn Smith; I’m the musical director of The Glasgow Phoenix Choir and the first woman conductor of this choir, appointed in 1991.
[SFX – choir singing Softly As I Leave You]
Softly as I leave you – it’s been recorded by Matt Monro in the past, and it’s just words that I think hopefully will be heard on the album but that just bring the idea of leaving that person, and leaving them in peace, and the thoughts that go with the person that you love.
[New female speaker]
I’m Vikki Makinson, and I’m the Communications Manager for The Co-operative Funeralcare. The Co-operative Funeralcare has sponsored the Phoenix Choir for a number of years now. We’ve had a really successful partnership with them and it’s a joy to work with them actually. They’re an absolutely fantastic, fantastic choir, absolutely amazing and I would encourage anybody to go along to one of their concerts.
[SFX – choir singing Fields of Gold]
When you go through the death of a loved one, someone who you’re close to, it’s a very difficult time to be making big decisions about things like what song to play at someone’s funeral - it is a big decision. Music is very close to people’s hearts and it says a lot about an individual.
[SFX – band playing intro]
[New male speaker]
I currently play the cornet with The Co-operative Funeralcare Band. I’m Robin Basu. I initially joined the band in 1985 when I was 14 years old and I’ve been with it off and on for the last 25 years. It’s iconic. It’s got to be said that it’s a sound and a music form that was originally unique to the United Kingdom, on the back, predominantly, of the mining industry.
The sound produced by, certainly, choirs and bands, it seems to capture the mood, if that’s the right sort of terminology for, say, funerals or solemn occasions. It can be a soft and subtle sound and it certainly evokes lots of emotions in the general public and we’re hoping some of the tracks that we’ve chosen will certainly, hopefully bring back positive memories of loved ones.
[SFX – band plays]
Vikki Makinson:
The Co-operative has sponsored the band for more than 90 years and The Co-operative Funeralcare took over that sponsorship just last year. So we’re fairly new to sponsoring the band and really, obviously, again it’s about music and how it defines people.
Marilyn Smith:
It just touches the soul. We often get what we call the tingle factor and you never know when it’s going to happen, especially in live music. Hearing the human voice, it just has that ability, at times, just to reach and to touch. Often with the words, and then when words and music combine it becomes something very special. And you never quite know, you can’t manufacture it either. It feels right, it happens.
[SFX – final chords of band music]
Presenter:
For more information about the Songs of Solace CD, visit The Co-operative Magazine Online.
~~~~~~~~~~~
Advertisement:
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Plus, choose your free rapid delivery date and we’ll text you the time slot. So, we can have it there just when you want it.
The Co-operative Electrical.
Great deals down to us. Delivery date chosen by you.
To find out more, go to co-operative.co.uk/electrical
~~~~~~~~~~~
Presenter:
When did you last visit the dentist for a check-up, or go to the optician to see if your eyes were in the best of health? Maybe you’ve recently tested your cholesterol level, or your blood pressure.
But can you recall when it was you last sat down and had your hearing checked? It may be as long ago as primary school, when you were told to drop a bead in a box when you heard a beep. Nearly 9 million people in the UK, of all ages, are either deaf or hard of hearing and yet it’s still a subject many find hard to talk about.
This year, The Co-operative has been working with its Charity of the Year, RNID, to give many more people the chance to see how good their hearing really is.
[New female speaker]
Our hearing check has been scientifically verified by five universities across Europe. It’s one of the first of its kind in the world, and what you can do by doing it is check whether you need to go and get further advice and support from an audiologist. I work for RNID and my name’s Emma Harrison, and I’m the Director of External Affairs.
[SFX – clip of hearing check voice]
There’s a huge stigma about losing your hearing, because people do think about it as being a sign of getting old. And yes, absolutely, there is an age-related hearing loss problem, but a lot of younger people lose their hearing too. The sooner you take action on your hearing loss, the happier you are, actually. You forget how much you’re missing out on.
[SFX – clip of hearing check voice]
[New female speaker]
When we were working with RNID in the early stages, we really were quite alarmed by the number of people who are affected by deafness or hearing loss. I’m Anne Edwards, Community Advisor at The Co-operative.
Hearing checks aren’t routine. It’s not like eyesight checks. Part of what RNID want to do is to ensure that they are more widely accessible, and they’ve led the way in terms of, obviously, producing telephone and online hearing checks.
Emma Harrison:
You’ll have to wear your headphones, and that’s the best way of taking the hearing check. There’ll be a volume check to make sure that you can hear the sounds that are coming through the system. Once you’ve done that check, you’ll go through a series of digits. It’s going to feel like a long time whilst you’re doing it.
[SFX – clip of hearing check voice]
You’ll hear the digits but in the background you’ll hear background noise. It’s very noisy, sometimes very quiet and then you have to type in digits. Everyone misses some digits – it’s set up that way. By the end of it, we’ll be able to tell you whether you’ve got any level of hearing loss and whether you need to go and see a GP.
Anne Edwards:
What we’ve done in store is, RNID co-ordinators have gone across to 600 that have been selected where RNID will do hearing checks of customers, completely free of charge. I have to say, they’ve been a fantastic charity to work with. I think that we chose them because they had a really clear idea of where money could be spent, and the income that we’re raising is actually going to deliver completely brand-new services.
Emma Harrison:
Across the country we have these projects called Hear to Help. They are volunteer-led projects and they help people who have just had a hearing aid fitted, but are maybe just not sure how to use it properly, how to clean it – which is a big problem – or are aware of all the range of other products that they can get free through Community Product Services, to help them get used to having their hearing aid. We’re really proud of the projects because they are volunteer-led and they’re all people who wear hearing aids themselves.
Anne Edwards:
Overall we’ve raised over £2 million so far, and that was our original aim. If we raised £2 million, we knew that we would set up 22 new Hear to Help projects, which would support 18,000 people.
Emma Harrison:
To get your hearing checked online, you need to go to rnid.org.uk/123 and that’s specially been developed by The Co-operative in partnership with the RNID, and the whole year we’ve been promoting it together - let’s get a few more people taking it as part of our final push.
Presenter:
And thanks to Co-operative members and staff, the target of £2 million has not only been reached but surpassed – now that’s something everyone should be very proud of!
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Thank you for listening to The Co-operative Magazine Podcast. Wrap up and stay warm – we’ll be back in the spring.
Announcer:
The Co-operative – good for everyone
Transcribed December 2009.