Central England Co-op backs campaigns giving support to Ukrainians impacted by Russian invasion

Posted by james brindle | Published: 02/05/2022

Central England Co-op customers can now show their support for humanitarian relief efforts in Ukraine by picking up a pack of the country’s most-loved beer.

The retailer is now stocking Chernigivske, popularly known as ‘Che’, in all of its 260 plus food stores across 16 counties as part of a campaign by the Budweiser Brewing Group which is seeing it donate all profits to relief efforts to support their colleagues in Ukraine.

Budweiser employ 1,800 Ukrainian people to work in breweries in the Ukraine where Che is brewed, and they are vital part of those communities.

Some of these breweries have been hit with missiles and are no longer operational. To support their colleagues, Budweiser have paid them their annual salaries upfront to help them in their plight to get to a safe place, helping them transfer to other Budweiser breweries in other countries where they can begin to start a new life.

Budweiser have also now created a special 10 pack of the Che lager committing all profits from this pack to the humanitarian efforts and are hoping to raise at least £5m to help the Ukrainian people.

Central England Co-op is backing the campaign by stocking the special pack and is also continuing to give its customers and members the opportunity to support the Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC) Ukraine Humanitarian Appeal in store.

Since it introduced the option to donate in store to the appeal last month, over £17,500 has already been donated by kind-hearted shoppers.

Store Manager Jamie Joyce said: “Everyone has been shocked and saddened by the events unfolding in Ukraine and all our communities have shown their desire to do what they can to support those impacted by the conflict and that has been highlighted by how they’ve given to the DEC appeal in store.

“We’re delighted to now stock the special pack of Che lager in our stores and it’s a really great campaign by Budweiser which we’re proud to support.”

The special 10 pack of Che lager is available in all Central England Co-op stores now priced at £10.

Notes to editors

About Central England Co-operative

Central England Co-operative is one of the largest independent retail co-operative societies in the UK with interests in food, funeral, floral and property investment.

Owned by hundreds of thousands of members, its over 8,000 colleagues serve customers across 400 plus trading sites in 20 counties in the East and West Midlands, Yorkshire, Suffolk, Norfolk, Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Oxfordshire, Gloucestershire and Wiltshire.

Its purpose is to inspire communities to create a sustainable Society for all.

It actively campaigns for the Government to increase sentencing for violent attacks on retail workers and works with FareShare Midlands and hundreds of food banks, generating enough food donations to create over 2.1 million meals for people in need.

The Society embraces inclusivity and equality and is a signed-up member to the Business in the Community (BITC) Race at Work Charter, while it is also fully committed to addressing the impact of climate change and is on track to be Carbon Neutral by 2030. 

It invests a percentage of its trading profit into local communities through its Community Dividend Fund scheme which has seen over £175,000 shared out between 116 good causes over the past 12 months.

Central England Co-op was named Leading Co-op of the Year by Co-operatives UK in 2021.

Press office contacts: Rob Smyth and James Brindle

Contact details: www.centralengland.coop/press-and-media