Central England Co-op awarded £6,000 to Coalville's Feed The Need Charity during 2021.

It was part of over £170,000 handed to 136 charities and good causes as part of its revamped Community Dividend Fund during the last 12 months in a bid to help support access to food, health and wellbeing, inclusion and the environment.

Feed the Need received a £5,000 grant followed by an award of £1,000.

The £5,000 handout was to help support the new food bank to ensure its premises are safe, warm and Covid-19 secure.

Founder Fliss Middleton said: "The grant will be used to renovate our premises in Coalville which we moved into at the beginning of January last year.

"We want to create a warm, safe and welcoming space where people can come to collect food parcels and receive support and advice with money problems.

"I don't know why we were the ones to be chosen but I hope that our application showed that we were genuinely inspired and motivated to help the community that both relies on us and supports us through this most difficult time."

The £1,000 award was to help buy food, toiletries and cleaning materials for those who have fallen into poverty due to the pandemic.

Fliss added: "Feed the Need Coalville are delighted and very grateful to have been awarded £1,000 towards the cost of food parcels for vulnerable families in our community.

"The Coronavirus pandemic means that more and more people are struggling to put food on the table so this will make a real difference to them."

During the same 12 month period, Central England Co-op also gave £2,880 to Coalville group Think FC.

This was to help fund an eight-week workshop to make business tools and skills more accessible to all.

A wide range of charities and community organisations were delighted to receive the funding boost during the past 12 months. Groups apply for between £100 to £5,000 every two months to support all manner of projects with organisations in the following areas benefitting from a grant: Derbyshire, Leicestershire, the West Midlands, Staffordshire, Worcestershire, Northamptonshire, Yorkshire, Norfolk, Suffolk, Cambridgeshire, Warwickshire and Wolverhampton. Jim Watts, Society Secretary, said: "Community Dividend Fund grants showcase how by being a member and shopping at your local Central England Co-op store allows us as a Society to continue to invest and fund vital projects in the area – especially during uncertain times like these. "Our relaunched fund aligns with our new Society Purpose to create a sustainable Society for all and we are delighted to share these funds with these amazing groups and cannot wait to see how they use it to benefit their local community. "I would like to urge all of our members to get in touch and put forward a community cause close to their heart for the Community Dividend Fund scheme during the coming 12 months." To apply, members will need: name, address, membership number, organisation type, organisation bank account or constitution and to explain what the group does, how the grant will be spent and the specific impact it will have related to Covid-19. People can find out the full criteria and how to apply for funding by visiting https://www.centralengland.coop/community/