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Scotmid’s Community Connect Initiative Arrives in Edinburgh Area

Posted: 25th June 2018

Scotmid Co-operative announced the short-listed charities in its East Member Region for its Community Connect initiative with three local charities potentially being awarded up to £15,000 generated from the sale of single-use carrier bags.

Community Connect was initially trialled in the North of Scotland last year and enables Scotmid members to award good cause groups in their local area with funding of either £15,000, £7,500 or £2,500. The funding is generated via the sale of single use carrier bags and the groups are short-listed by a Scotmid member selection panel.

Now launched in Scotmid’s East region, encompassing, Edinburgh, Fife and the Lothians, members have been given a Community Connect card and each time they shop in a Scotmid store and scan their card they are allocated one vote which they can cast for their preferred good cause group at the upcoming Ordinary General Meeting at Murrayfield in October.

The short-listed groups in the East Member Region are South Queensferry’s Blood Bikes Scotland, West Lothian’s Broxburn Family Centre and Prestonpans based Harlawhill Day Care Centre.

Blood Bikes Scotland plan to use the funding to expand their medical courier services into Fife, Broxburn Family Centre are aiming to use the funding to improve their playground facilities while Harlawhill Day Care Centre wish to use the funding to take all their elderly residents on a memorable day trip.

Previous recipients of £15,000 Community Connect funding include Dundee-based charity Eighteen and Under, Highland Cycle Ability Centre and Glasgow’s Street Connect and the funding has gone towards making their projects a reality.

In addition to Community Connect, Scotmid Co-operative’s Community Grant programme continues to grow in importance and popularity – last year over 1,000 local community groups applied and were awarded a grant of up to £500 and these projects range from Primary Schools’ breakfast clubs to communal garden renovations.

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