Proceeds from carrier bag sales are providing much needed books for a school in Wood End, as well as giving dementia sufferers who meet in the village a special day out.
Wood End Primary and Phoenix Post-Diagnosis Group have each been awarded £500 from Tamworth Co-op’s Cash in the Bag scheme to bolster their funds.
Wood End Primary School teacher Vicky Garrett is pictured receiving one of the cheques from Joe Hopkins, senior supervisor at Wood End Co-op, and Emma Chester, a retail assistant at the store, with reading ambassadors Sophie Porter, 8, Elsie Mae-Oattes, 10, Lily Daniels, 11, and Evie Holland, 8, celebrating the Cash in the Bag windfall.
Vicky Garrett, a reception teacher who is also part of the senior leadership team at the primary school, said the money would enable it to buy dozens of new books for the library.
“We have got a very limited budget in school to replace books, so we are very thankful to the Tamworth Co-op for this donation. It is a big part of the community as the Wood End Co-op is the only shop in the village.
“We need to update our non-fiction and fiction books to reflect diverse families and changes to geography. The whole school will benefit because all the pupils use the library. The books will also help the teachers with their lesson work teaching English and other subjects.”
The Phoenix Post-Diagnosis Group offers respite and fellowship for dementia sufferers in North Warwickshire, their carers and those who have lost loved ones to the syndrome.
The charity holds weekly meetings at Wood End Working Men’s Club, laying on regular entertainment for its members, along with at least two coach trips a year and meals out.
The donation is paying for a sit-down lunch for about 40 members before they take a steam train from Kidderminster to Bridgnorth along the Severn Valley Railway this summer.
Phil Knight, chair of the support group, said: “Members benefit a great deal from having meals and trips out, and wish to say a big thank you to Tamworth Co-op for their kind donation from the Cash in the Bag fund.”
Joe Hopkins, senior supervisor at Wood End Co-op, who handed over the cheques, said the initiative was making a real difference in the local community.
“We’re so pleased to be supporting two such deserving causes. In 2024, we are distributing a total of £12,500 to 16 organisations from the sale of carrier bags in our stores.”