Co-op colleagues will have the chance to pay their respects tomorrow

27 April 2020

The Co-op has confirmed that all colleagues across the country will have the opportunity to down tools and remain silent at 11am on Tuesday 28th April, in honour of those NHS staff, carers and key workers who lost their lives from COVID-19.

Co-op food stores will announce the silence via the in-store radio for colleagues, and for customers to join in as they wish.

Tomorrow’s silence is being organised by the public sector union, Unison, the Royal College of Nursing and the Royal College of Midwives and supported by a number of other unions, including USDAW.

What else is the Co-op is doing?

• CEO Steve Murrells’ recently launched the ‘Co-op Members Fund’, where he pledged to donate 20 per cent of his salary for three months. The new fund will support food banks, a funeral bereavement fund and front-line community causes in the wake of the Coronavirus pandemic. The Co-op’s 4.6 million members can donate their unspent existing member rewards which currently total over £30m.

• At the beginning of April, the Co-op also activated ‘Co-operate’: an online community centre, intended to lessen the impact of the lockdown on people’s mental health. It continues to connect vulnerable people to local and national support initiatives, as well as volunteers who are willing to run virtual events such as exercise classes, music groups or arts & crafts classes for others.

• The Co-op is pleased to prioritise healthcare workers, vulnerable customers and those that care for them during the hours of 8am to 9am Monday – Saturday /10am to 11am on Sundays in all stores.

ENDS

For more information, please call 07773 097060 or contact tom.cooledge@coop.co.uk

About the Co-op:

The Co-op is one of the world’s largest consumer co-operatives with interests across food, funerals, insurance, legal services and health. It has a clear purpose of championing a better way of doing business for you and your communities. Owned by millions of UK consumers, the Co-op operates 2,600 food stores, over 1,000 funeral homes and it provides products to over 5,100 other stores, including those run by independent co-operative societies and through its wholesale business, Nisa Retail Limited. It has more than 63,000 colleagues and an annual revenue of over £10 billion.