Society Matters | Edition Two | Members Newsletter | Autumn 2016

EDITION TWO

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AUTUMN 2016

HELPING HANDS Established in 1995, the Helping Hands initiative, run by The Channel Islands Co-operative Society, has provided a tremendous cash boost for dozens of local charities and community groups over the last 21 years.

More than £18,000 was distributed through this year’s Helping Hands fund to more than 30 groups and while the individual amounts given to each charity may appear modest, the differences made by these small grants have proved to be crucial.

Here we focus on the work of just two of this year’s diverse list of Helping Hands recipients – The Guernsey Youth Commission and the Jersey based charity, Word and Numbers Matter.

WORDS & NUMBERS Educational charity Words and Numbers Matter has helped more than 200 Jersey residents to improve their literacy and numeracy skills in the little under three years that it has been running.

The £500 grant it received this year from the Co-operative’s Helping Hands fund was put to immediate good use, enabling Words and Numbers Matter to reach out to hundreds more potential clients through an island wide leafleting campaign.

‘To have that £500 to pay for those leaflets was absolutely brilliant and we got them done as soon as we received the money,’ said administrator Fee Morris. ‘We’re quite a new charity and we have no regular income, so it was amazing to have the cost covered.’ The charity’s founder, Sally Gallichan, saw the need for Words and Numbers Matter after giving ‘out of school’ tuition to her son at the public library. She noticed another local mum struggling to do the same for her son and stepped in to help.

THE OUTREACH & DETACHED PROJECT Sally soon discovered that many more local children – and adults – needed extra support to improve their basic skills in English and Maths. The charity began providing support both to school children with learning difficulties and those who had fallen behind in their studies.

Words and Numbers Matter also help young Jersey people who leave school with no qualifications, allowing them to take the Functional Skills exams that are regarded as equivalent to GCSEs. ‘Without exams these people aren’t going anywhere,’ Fee pointed out. ‘They can’t apply for jobs and they can’t apply for college places but we can get them to Level 1 to allow them to do a college course and then they can go on to take their Level 2 and 3.’

There is no upper age limit to the charity’s clients. It counts among its successes the creation of unique courses laid on for mature workers made redundant from the finance industry – people who were at school when GCSEs did not exist.

“ Without exams these people aren’t going anywhere” ‘Now, in order to complete a job application, you need to be able to tick a box to say that you have a GCSE English and Maths or equivalent which the Functional Skills at Level 2 is. We’ve also had people who are in work but needed to pass these exams in order to keep their jobs.’

Following the distribution of the leaflets funded by the Co-operative, Fee and her Words and Numbers Matter team are hoping that many more Islanders, parents in particular, will become aware of their free educational service, which they are keen to expand.

A project that reaches out into the Guernsey community to provide street based activities for the island’s young people has a much brighter future thanks to a £490 donation from the Co-operative’s Helping Hands fund.

Run by The Guernsey Youth Commission, the Outreach and Detached Project operates 48 weeks a year, with five outdoor sessions organised every week for hundreds of young people who join in at different venues around the island.

The money from Helping Hands has been used to buy portable lighting which will allow the sessions to go on later into the night and more safely throughout the autumn and winter months.

‘The Outreach and Detached Project is largely based out in the community in the streets,’ explained the Youth Commission’s Grace Thoumine. ‘We don’t have a building as such to work out of and we go down primarily to local housing estates and work outdoors.

‘The portable lighting is absolutely fantastic because it means that we’ll be able to

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provide more activities for longer in the evening and it’s also reducing the risk of children playing in the dark because a lot of the activities that we do are sports based.’

The Outreach Project is aimed at a wide range of young people, aged 11 to early 20s. The outdoor activities seem to appeal especially to those who are not engaged with any youth, sports or social club.

“ All young people have a choice to participate or not and they vote with their feet.”

‘It’s really a way in which we can go out and offer a service to young people essentially on their doorsteps,’ said full time outreach worker Grace. ‘All young people have a choice to participate or not and they vote with their feet.’

‘If they’re having a good time they’ll stay and we do have a lot of young people who might not necessarily access a sports club but they’ll engage in some of our sports based activity because it’s not necessarily got the competitive element to it.’

Other local agencies, including the Sports Commission and the Arts Commission, are also involved in the Outreach and Detached Project. Together they provide a broad selection of activities that are laid on by a team of sessional staff and adult volunteers.

The Youth Commission also acts as a ‘signposting agency’ and uses the outdoor sessions to point the way ahead for young people with any troubling issues that they need help with.

Grace and her colleagues are confident that the portable lighting, which they are using for the first time this year, will be of immense benefit to all aspects of their community outreach work.

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MUCH MORE IN-STORE The largest Co-operative store in the Channel Islands is getting a complete makeover to make it an even more attractive shopping experience for the thousands of members and customers who visit there every week.

The first phase of the refurbishment of Grand Marché St Helier, which is due for completion by the end of October 2016, will result in an entirely new look for the front section of the supermarket.

‘The fish and meat counters in St Helier have proved to be very popular, as has the deli, so we’re bringing those close to the front of the store to make more of a feature of those two areas and devote more space.’

A bigger and brighter fresh food offering will be on display for customers as they go in, while the post office and pharmacy are also being relocated to prime, front of store positions.

Prior to the refurbishment, some fresh food items could be found at the front end of the supermarket but the chilled foods and dairy items were located at the rear, resulting in a disjointed fresh food offering.

Once complete, the second phase of the refit will begin, with the main focus of the work moving to the old deli area. The full makeover is due to be finished by March/ April 2017.

‘Our customers said they wanted all their fresh food in one place, so as well as the fruit and vegetables, there will be fresh food counters, the bakery and packaged fresh meat, all at the entrance to the store,’ Mr Cox confirmed.

“ This is a very significant development,” ‘This is a very significant development,’ said the Society’s Chief Operating Officer Mark Cox. ‘Overall it’s going to take a year to complete the refurbishment of the ground floor of what is clearly a very important trading location for us – in fact it’s our busiest Co-operative store.’

Grand Marché St Helier was last refurbished about eight years ago and since that time shopping trends have changed notably, which is why the Society was so keen to upgrade all of the store’s facilities to make them fit the needs of today’s customer.

‘The way people are shopping now, fresh food has become more and more important, which is why we have taken the opportunity to invest a lot more in those areas where people are doing more of their shopping,’ Mr Cox explained.

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Listening to the needs of the customers at Grand Marché St Helier has also been a key factor in the Society’s decision to put the pharmacy and post office right at the front of the store.

‘It’s a very busy post office and members’ service counter, so we’re giving it more space and making it more convenient for our customers – as well as a more comfortable place for our colleagues to work in.

‘Customers made it clear they would like the pharmacy at the front of the store so they could drop off their prescription before doing their shopping and then collect their medication on the way out. We listened to that and positioned the pharmacy right inside the front entrance.’

While the new look Grand Marché St Helier will be significantly more convenient for customers, it will also be a more efficient store to run, with a significantly lower carbon footprint.

“ As we refurbish our stores we take a good look at their environmental impact. Sustainability is very high on the agenda and wherever we can, we will reduce the impact of our operations on the beautiful islands that we trade in.”

The introduction of low energy refrigeration and LED lighting, together with more efficient heating and air conditioning systems, will result in lower energy bills for the Society.

‘We’re also looking at how we display promotions and we will continue to improve the general ambience within the store to make it a better all-round shopping experience.’

‘As we refurbish our stores we take a good look at their environmental impact.

Sustainability is very high on the agenda and wherever we can, we will reduce the impact of our operations on the beautiful islands that we trade in.’

While the refurbishment continues there will inevitably be some inconvenience for customers but Mr Cox said that everyone involved would continue to work hard to keep disruption down to a minimum.

Looking forward to the second phase of the refurbishment covering the remainder of the shop floor, Mr Cox said it would result in the introduction of dozens of exciting new lines into the grocery sections.

‘We’ll be looking very carefully at the space available, making sure that the most popular categories get the space they deserve, while the categories that are not shopped so much will have less space in future.

‘There’s a new and improved wine department coming in and we’re adding a little bit of theatre in that section.

Customers needing assistance during the course of the remaining work will be able to get any help they need from members of the Grand Marché team wearing distinctive pink vests.

Paying tribute to the staff, Mr Cox said, ‘They’re working hard managing the changes on top of doing their normal business activities but they’ve responded really well to the challenge of the upgrade.’

“ We’re also looking at how we display promotions and we will continue to improve the general ambience within the store to make it a better all-round shopping experience.”

Summing up, he concluded, ‘When all the work is done we’ll have a more efficient building and Grand Marché St Helier will provide a significantly better shopping experience for our members.’

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ECO-FUND In 2008 when the Society decided to lead the way in recycling by charging 5p for single trip carrier bags, the results were dramatic.

In the first year alone there was a 90% drop in demand but there was another positive spin off with the establishment of the Co-operative Eco-Fund based on money made from bag sales.

Over the last nine years more than £280,000 from the fund has been donated towards a broad range of environmental initiatives in the Channel Islands. A dozen different groups and organisations have benefitted from the 2016 Eco-Fund, including La Société Jersiaise and the Guernsey Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.

ECO-FUND DOLPHIN RESEARCH

‘With two C-PODs we are able to realise our longterm plan to have a small network of these devices. We can situate them a few miles apart, compare the data and try and work out the direction the dolphins are travelling in.’

A marine conservation project to track the movement of dolphins in Jersey waters is up and running thanks to the Society’s Eco-Fund.

Our donation of £1,500 has been used to purchase sophisticated monitoring equipment to kick-start the long-awaited exercise, which is run by the marine biology section of La Société Jersiaise.

La Société’s Paul Chambers said it had been wanting for years to establish an effective way of monitoring dolphins in Jersey waters to help conserve the species within the wider region between the islands and France.

‘We’ve tried everything,’ he said. ‘We’ve tried sticking people on the end of piers and we’ve tried to encourage the public to report sightings but nothing gave us the data needed to work out how many dolphins there are here.’

It was only when Paul and his fellow marine conservation enthusiasts received their Eco-Fund grant that they could get the entire project moving.

The money was put towards a special underwater listening and recording device called a C-POD. The fund granted was enough to cover half the advertised price of £3,000 and the Co-operative’s donation was matched by Jersey finance company Moore Stephens, which appropriately has a dolphin as its logo.

When the order was placed with the UK manufacturers of C-POD, Chelonia Ltd, they were impressed with the project to such a degree, that they offered a 50% discount.

This meant that La Société could purchase two C-PODS, extending the area which could be monitored.

‘These devices look like a drainpipe with electronic equipment inside. They attach to the seabed offshore and record any noises from the dolphins as they go past,’ Paul explained.

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The first device was installed last summer off the east coast at Gorey. A further is due to go in this autumn at St Catherine’s breakwater off the north coast, which is regarded as a dolphin hotspot.

Paul is excited at the prospect of finding out more about a pod of around 300 dolphins often seen in the waters between Jersey and the Brittany coast.

He is also looking forward to working with the GECC, a French monitoring agency based in Cherbourg with which La Société is planning to share data as part of an international monitoring agreement.

Jersey’s Dolphin Listening Project received a further boost recently when the makers got in touch to offer two of the latest C-POD models on a trial basis. ‘Eventually we’ll end up with four for what we thought would be the price of one,’ Paul concluded.

ECO-FUND GSPCA A new conservation area is being created within the grounds of Guernsey’s Animal Shelter with the help of a £2,000 grant from the Co-operative’s Eco-Fund.

The three-and-a-half acre site in the middle of the island was purchased in 1929 by the GSPCA for £450. Ever since, it has been a natural haven for wildlife while the actual animal shelter building has provided sanctuary for thousands of rescued birds and animals.

The money has gone towards rebuilding and improving the GSPCA’s wildlife pond and giving the surrounding nature area a complete makeover through the planting of new trees and hedgerows.

Mr Byrne made it clear that this will continue to be the case when the conservation area is finished. The rebuilding of the pond is expected to increase the diversity of wildlife visitors to the grounds while more human visitors will also be encouraged.

The re-vamp is as much a community project as it is an environmental initiative. The local animal charity is planning to make the pond its centrepiece when the conservation area is opened up for people to enjoy next spring.

‘The Eco-Fund grant and other donations we’ve received will result in a much improved pond with a deeper area for wildlife and a shallow area for pond dipping, so it’s not just about having something nice to look at.’

‘We’re working with the St Andrew’s Floral Group, the RSPB and lots of other community groups and businesses to develop the grounds both for the visiting public and also for the wildlife,’ said GSPCA manager, Steve Byrne.

‘It’s going to benefit wildlife and it’s also going to be an educational resource with a safe, shallow area for children to dip their nets, supervised by staff and volunteers, so they can learn just how diverse an environment a pond like this can be.’

The rejuvenated conservation area is also expected to be a hit with students and more mature island residents, as well as with visitors from outside the Island.

‘It will be open seven days a week to the public, there will be picnic tables, bird hides and picnic areas. A lot of thought has gone into opening the site up and we’re really excited about it,’ said Mr Byrne.

‘Every penny makes a huge difference and the Co-operative have been very generous helping us with this and other projects’, he added.

‘It was phenomenal to get this grant from the Eco-Fund because it’s enabled us to get this project going. Our priority has always been the animals on our site but with the St Andrew’s Floral group we are able to now concentrate on the grounds too.’

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YOUR SOCIETY

COMMUNITY

TRAVELMAKER JERSEY NAMED TOP SOUTH WEST AGENCY

BURSTING WITH PRIDE

The Society’s Travelmaker Jersey office was named as the South West’s Top Travel Agency for 2016, beating four other shortlisted agencies to take the coveted trophy awarded by the UK & Ireland’s top industry magazine, Travel Trade Gazette.

‘We had our work cut out to decide the winners from a huge list of 500 contenders, and the 80 stores and businesses that made it to the shortlist stage should be extremely proud,’ Gazette editor Pippa Jacks told those at the glittering awards ceremony in Birmingham last April.

‘Our search for the nation’s best travel agents has taken us the length and breadth of the country, where we’ve uncovered countless stories of brilliant agents going the extra mile for their customers, giving great value and serving their communities.’

She added that travel retailing in 2016 was a vibrant and successful business sector – especially on the high street where agents continued to prove their worth by delivering ‘phenomenal’ service to customers.

SOCIETY MAKES ITS MARK AT WORLD CO-OPERATIVES CONVENTION

Following on from the inaugural Jersey Pride Parade in 2015, Channel Islands Co-operative Society were proud to once again support this important and celebrated event, held to promote equality and acceptance irrespective of sexual orientation, gender identity, religious belief, race, gender or disability.

Co-operative colleagues showed their pride and support by wearing Pride t-shirts in-store, providing light bites and refreshments to visitors at our pop-up shops and, of course, participating in the Parade; flying giant Co-operative flags in celebration of the event.

A dramatic Guernsey to Jersey sky-dive saw the CI Pride Flag being passed between Islands, as Guernsey proudly kicked off a week of Pan-island celebrations. A week long programme of events, hosted for the first time in Guernsey, included film screenings and educational talks around the key theme of equality and diversity. Jersey continued the party in true Pride style with further Parades and celebrations taking place for the second time in St Helier.

The Big Co-op Clean marked the end of Co-operative Fortnight, and invited members of the public to come along and help Co-operative colleagues clean beaches in Jersey and Guernsey.

‘The Channel Islands Co-operative Society is always keen to give back to the communities we serve and we also like to show what can be achieved by working together,’ said Greg Yeoman, the Society’s Chief Marketing Officer.

The Channel Islands Co-operative Society made its presence felt at the latest Consumer Co-operatives Worldwide convention held in Brussels.

Speaking to a global audience representing 20,000 different co-operatives, the Society’s Chief Executive Colin Macleod extolled the virtues of The Channel Islands Co-operative, including its unprecedented 4% basic dividend for all members.

‘Hearing the positive responses of so many leading co-operative representatives to our story reminded me that we often take for granted, as islanders, that we own a stake in our local supermarket chain and share in the benefits,’ he said on his return.

‘I received incredibly positive feedback from the delegates at the event who were impressed by our agility and responsiveness, how deeply embedded we are in our local community and by our member engagement levels.’

OUR COLLEAGUES ARE OUR STARS! The success of The Channel Islands Co-operative Society is built on its people, which is why an awards night is held every year to celebrate the achievements of colleagues and to recognise the Co-operative’s outstanding teams and individuals.

The Society’s latest Ambassador of the Year award went to Guernsey’s Jasmine Dorey for the extraordinary support she gave to her friend and colleague Lynne Marquis following Lynne’s cardiac arrest when they were driving to their place of work at Lowlands Homemaker.

Susana Guilherme of Locale Pontac was the Jersey winner of the award for the ‘Going the Extra Mile’ in customer service while the Guernsey award was shared by Georgia Harvey from Pharmacy Locale in Smith Street and Martin Totty from Locale Royal Terrace.

The Store of the Year award went to Locale Grouville in Jersey, which only opened in February 2016, and their achievement in such a short space of time was described as ‘fantastic’ by Chief Executive Colin Macleod.

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Volunteers in Jersey and Guernsey took part in a national initiative aimed at making a difference in local communities.

LIFE SAVING EQUIPMENT IN GUERNSEY STORES Potentially life saving defibrillators have been installed in Co-operative Grand Marché and Locale stores in Guernsey.

The Society has worked closely with the Cardiac Action Group and St John Ambulance to put one internal defibrillator and five public access defibrillators in prominent positions within the store network.

The devices work by giving an electric shock to restart the heart of someone who has had a cardiac arrest prior to the arrival of an ambulance.

St John Ambulance Training Services has provided more than 72 hours of training to Society colleagues as part of the project.

MOBILE PHONE ENTERPRISE FOR AUTISM JERSEY An enterprise set up to give people with autism in Jersey the chance to learn new skills has received a helping hand from The Channel Island Co-operative Society.

The Society donated £1,500 in 2015 to help Autism Jersey develop its ‘Mobile Phone

Enterprise’ initiative,which provides specialist training to islanders with autism on how to clean and restore old mobile phones, and then sell or recycle them.

The clean ups took place at La Pulente and Ouaisne in Jersey and at Chouet and Grandes Rocques in Guernsey in July 2016.

Experts were on hand to provide an insight into how damaging rubbish can be to the marine environment.

Co-operative Fortnight, of which The Channel Islands Co-operative Society is a sponsor, ran from 18 June to 2 July.

Launched in 2010, the aim of the Co-operative Fortnight was not only to bring together Colleagues from stores across the nation, but an opportunity for the Co-op to highlight its part in the local community and environment.

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YOU ARE THE KEY INGREDIENT

WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE A MEMBER OF YOUR CHANNEL ISLANDS CO-OPERATIVE SOCIETY? As a member YOU are an owner and shareholder of the business, lending YOUR voice to the future direction of YOUR Society and the local community causes YOU would like us to support.

NEW LOCALE COLOMBERIE BEATS ALL EXPECTATIONS

YOUR Society is a local business so all profits stay local. Profits go towards investing in the future of YOUR Society, local community projects and YOU!

OVER OVER £8 £200,000 MILLION was donated to hundreds of local charities and organisations last year.

was returned to local members in Dividend last year.

Did you know from the age of 16 you can become a member of YOUR Channel Islands Co-operative Society and save as you spend!

The purpose-built medical centre and pharmacy offers a wide range of services under one roof that are now much easier to access.

You get 4%* back on every pound you spend. Plus 8%** every Tuesday and Wednesday AND Bonus Double Dividend days throughout the year.

On an average weekly shop of £50, that’s over £100 a year.

“ With my dividend, I’m buying a new television.”

*Conditions apply. **Not valid in December.

“ We are saving our dividend for a rainy day.”

The redevelopment of the entire Leale’s Yard and The Bridge sites can now progress after approval was granted by Guernsey’s planning authority to create eight commercial and 109 residential units. Outline permission for a further 303 residential units was also granted.

Don’t miss out!

Pick up an application form in-store or online.

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“ We’re spending our dividend on a family holiday.”

The new facility on the site of the former Blockbuster store is now home to a brand new GP surgery with four private rooms, a family friendly reception area and a large, modern pharmacy.

The standard consultation fee is £30 and services on offer at the centre include smoking cessation, weight management support, blood pressure monitoring, vaccination clinics and child health checks.

The Bath Street Health Centre is open to all Jersey islanders, but you must become a Society member at a cost of £1 to qualify for free GP care for children under five, discounts for five to 18 year olds and the 4% dividend.

When the 3,300 square foot Locale began trading the Society’s Chief Operating Officer Mark Cox described it as ‘an exciting addition to our store portfolio’, but even he was surprised by the size of customer response during the first six months.

‘It’s exceeded our expectations,’ he admitted.

‘It continues to grow week on week and is proving a very popular destination for our members in that part of town.

‘I think one of the key elements in that store is the ‘food to go’ offer that we’ve put in there. It includes new ranges of sandwiches and snacks and the feedback we’ve had from members has been exceptional so we’re delighted.’

LEALE’S YARD REGENERATION MOVES A STEP CLOSER

NOT A MEMBER YET?

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BETTER CARE FOR ALL PATIENTS AT BATH STREET HEALTH CENTRE The Bath Street Health Centre in St Helier has taken the provision of health care in Jersey to a whole new level.

SAVE & SPEND!

Which soon adds up!

Since opening its doors in March 2016, the Channel Islands’ newest Co-operative store at La Colomberie, St Helier, has proven itself a major hit with town shoppers.

Where the savings add up www.channelislands.coop

Plans submitted by The Channel Islands Co-operative Society will see the area transformed into a vibrant and thriving

community, combining retail and modern day living and will breathe new life into the area.

Approval was also given earlier in the year for the demolition of the Homemaker store at Lowlands Industrial Estate, replacing it with two modern units each of 14,000 square feet. The regeneration will see a new concept store created to accommodate the current Homemaker and its team in the first quarter 2017.

There has been a fantastic response from the community who have considerable enthusiasm for the revitalisation of Leale’s Yard, The Bridge and the north of the island,’ said Colin Macleod, chief executive of The Channel Islands Co-operative Society.

‘It’s fantastic for everyone that the next chapter in the story of Leale’s Yard is a positive one.’

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Summer 2016 saw a new craze hit the Channel Islands in the form of the Goodness Gang.

The super-powered characters of Ben Banana, Bobby Broccoli, Alfie Aubergine, Grace Garlic, Poppy Pear, Charlie Carrot and Sophie Strawberry were introduced to get children excited by fruit and veg.

Colouring and photo competitions, easy and nutritious recipes to try at home and in-store food tastings were used to get children enthused about healthy eating. They could also collect their favourite character as soft toys through a saving stamp scheme.

Nearly 60,000 characters were given out in Jersey and Guernsey, leading to a social media frenzy as parents tried to track down characters to complete their family’s collection.

Here are just some of the photos shared, you can find more on our website www.channelislands.coop/goodnessgang.

ENTER OUR COMPETITION TO WIN £100 OF CO-OPERATIVE SHOPPING VOUCHERS! SIMPLY ANSWER THE FOLLOWING QUESTION (ANSWER CAN BE FOUND INSIDE) AND YOU WILL BE ENTERED INTO THE FREE PRIZE DRAW. Q. How many groups in the Channel Islands did this year’s Helping Hands initiative help support through its donations?

Enter our competition online by visiting: www.channelislands.coop/competitions A winner will be drawn on 31 January 2017. Please see website for full Terms and Conditions

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