Schoolchildren’s delight as their special artwork takes pride of place on brand new Central England Co-op Food Store in Eastwood

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

A group of schoolchildren in Eastwood have visited a brand-new food store to unveil a special piece of artwork they created which now adorns the outside of the shop.

The Central England Co-op Food Store in Nottingham Road, which opened its doors in November, welcomed children from nearby The Florence Nightingale Academy to see the artwork they had worked hard to create displayed on the store.

Entitled ‘What we love about Eastwood’ the artwork has been produced by pupils at the school to create a focal point at the new store which resonates with the local community.

Head of School Lucy Baxter said the pupils were excited to take part in the project and to see their work showcased on the new store.

She said: “The children at The Florence Nightingale Academy worked hard to produce some artwork for our local Central England Co-op in Eastwood.

“Within their art lessons they discussed and drew their favourite landmarks in Eastwood. They thought carefully about the local area and created some wonderful pieces which celebrate the local area and community that we live in.

“The children were extremely proud to see their artwork displayed at the store and it was lovely to see the children visit and see their reactions to their artwork. Thank you Central England Co-op for showcasing their artwork.”

The new store in Nottingham Road includes self-scan till points, a customer car park, phone charging area and a free cash machine.

For Store Manager Rachael Payne, building links with the community has been vitally important and therefore having a permanent feature created by the local school as part of the store made her particularly proud.

She said: “We have had such a wonderful welcome from people in Eastwood since we opened the store last year and are so proud to be a part of a great local community.

“I am delighted to be able to display the fantastic piece of artwork created by children at The Florence Nightingale Academy on landmarks which mean a lot to the community, and it gives all the team a boost to see it every time they come to work.”

The Nottingham Road Co-operative food store is open from 7am to 10pm, Monday to Sunday.

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