Community

Our vision is to make a real difference to the communities we serve, so community is at the heart of everything we do together with our members.

We’ve been making a real difference in the Channel Islands for 100 years.

The year 2019 was extra special for us as it marked our 100 years since we opened our doors for the first time in the Channel Islands. Our first store opened in Jersey in 1919 and we launched in Guernsey in 1947. Since then the Society has grown into the familiar organisation our members and customers know today.

We've celebrated our 100th birthday with colleagues, customers, local producers and members and loved giving back to so many Channel Island charities, schools, community groups, organisations and projects.

To us, belonging is everything, and we’re proud that we’ve been making a real difference to our island communities for more than a centenary.

Our community pillars

We aim to put our local co-operative at the heart of the community by following our three community pillars.

We create society links with the community by:

• making more communities accessible
• championing community initiatives in-store
• make it easy for our members to donate to community initiatives

We champion key community topics like:

• the islands aging population
• the health and wellbeing of islanders
• local social inclusion
• the impact on our next generation

We promote the Co-op way by:

• promoting co-operative principles and what makes us unique
• supporting local
• being ambassadors for environmental causes

How we help charities and community causes

Giving back is at the heart of our values. We support various worthy causes through:

• hosting bag packing and charity events in our stores 
• supporting charities through our collection boxes, 'Donate Your Dividend', and food donation box schemes 
• supporting local charities with fundraising prizes and small sponsorship
• providing corporate sponsorship to a number of clubs, events and organisations
• donating to projects which aim to protect our local environment through our annual Eco fund
• funding charitable causes through the annual Helping Hands scheme in both Jersey and Guernsey
• our colleagues working throughout the year to raise money for various local organisations and initiatives
• giving out over £57,000 in discounts each year to support the Jersey's elderly community through David Kirsch's voucher initiative.

In 2018, we:

1. donated nearly £164,000 to charities and organisations in the Channel Islands
2. supported over 260 different charities, schools and organisations to raise money through fundraising events in stores
3. helped a further 120 local charities with fundraising prizes and sponsorship

As well as putting the local community at our heart, our business focuses on environmental responsibility, animal welfare, ethical trading, and choosing Fairtrade when we buy from producers in the developing world.