Our Community Policy

Our community donation is for the benefit of the communities where we trade in Norfolk, Suffolk and Essex

As a member owned business it is really important to us to make sure that the donation/sponsorship is used in the way our members feel it should be which is why we only support activities which will benefit our local communities. This could be a local cause supporting the wider community or a national cause supporting a local region.

Who can apply?

In order to manage our community donation requests in a fair and equitable manner, we have established an eligibility criteria with which all applicants must comply:

  • Anyone aged 16 years or over 
  • You or your charity/organisation must be a member of the East of England Co-op. If you aren’t a member, please find details of how to join here
  • Donations must be spent on a charitable or not -for-profit project which benefits communities within our trading areas click here for store locator 
  • Letters, emails or phone calls will not constitute a donation request.
  • We will require at least 28 days notice to process your request.

There are instances where we will not be able to support your request;

  • Non-members of the East of England Co-op
  • Requests that do not meet the minimum 28 days notice
  • Applications for large volumes of food, drink or other products e.g. Co-op bags
  • Applications for funding to be used outside the UK, e.g. volunteering trips abroad, international crisis
  • Individual’s challenges or requests, including medical funding, research, treks or similar requesting scholarships, entry fees in to charity races or sponsorships (e.g. racing / Go Kart driver, marathons)
  •  Individuals for study, research or travel grants  
  • Individuals for personal situations e.g. terminally ill or treatments
  • Promotion of a specific political cause or religion
  • Costs already incurred or activities which will take place before The East of England Co-op has made a decision on an application e.g. retrospective funding or automatically invoicing for subscriptions
  • National or international charities or not-for-profit projects (with some specific business exceptions)
  • Requests for product discounts, left over stock or close to sell by date. Click here to find out more about our Guide to dating initiative.

Disclaimer

All the charitable donations given by The East of England Co-op are at the Company’s discretion and can be recalled or withdrawn if it is felt they are not being honoured in the manner or spirit in which they were intended for or projects which we deem could harm the reputation of the East of England Co-op or our funding schemes, and the company’s decision will be final.

It is expected that if you receive a donation of a store voucher this will be exchanged for the agreed purpose in the original request. The maximum donation amount will be £30.