Courageous Co-op colleague Clare taking the ultimate leap to raise vital funds for dementia charity

Posted by james brindle | Published: 07/06/2021

A brave Central England Co-op colleague is taking on the challenge of a lifetime to raise vital funds for a cause close to her heart.

Clare Rees, who works as a Customer Services Assistant at Central England Co-op’s North Wingfield Food Store, will be doing her first skydive in August to help support the retailer’s charity partner Dementia UK.

It is a charity that Clare was inspired to support due to a family member’s own dementia diagnosis and seeing first-hand the effects on her loved one and her family, as well as to help the charity which like so many has felt the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Clare, 51, said she is looking forward to the adrenaline rush of the challenge and admitted hitting 50 last year had motivated her to take on something special to mark the milestone.

She said: “I had always wanted to do a skydive and I think hitting 50 has made me want to take on new challenges and push myself but the pandemic has delayed it a bit! I did a zipwire for the first time last year and really enjoyed it so I thought why not go a step further!

“I am really excited about it but I’m sure when the day comes there will be a few nerves. However, at the moment I am just really looking forward to it and I am delighted to do it for such a great cause as Dementia UK.”

Clare will take the big leap on August 1 at Langar Airfield in Nottingham and is aiming to raise £1,000 for the cause although thanks to support from colleagues, family and friends, is already well on course to hitting that target.

Clare said: “I have worked at the North Wingfield store for over two years now and really enjoy what I do. The team here have been really supportive, and I’m delighted with how much I’ve raised so far – I can’t back down now!

“I’m hoping there will be a few people from the store able to come down on the day to support and it will be a really memorable day.”

Anyone who would like to find out more about the challenge and donate to the cause can visit Clare’s Just Giving page at www.justgiving.com/fundraising/clare-rees9

Central England Co-op have been in partnership with Dementia UK for the last three and a half years and to date have donated over £1.5 million to support their vital work for families affected by dementia.

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 7,800 colleagues serve customers across 400 plus trading sites in 16 counties in the East and West Midlands, Yorkshire, Suffolk, Norfolk, Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire.

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.

Press office contacts: Rob Smyth and James Brindle

Phone - 01543 421390

Email - publicrelations@centralengland.coop