Co-op Levelling Up Impact Report

Foreword

Levelling Up Impact Report LEVELLING UP

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Foreword

Contents 1. Foreword

Rt Hon Justine Greening

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Shirine Khoury-Haq

2. Journey to the Levelling Up Goals

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3. The role of the Co-op and how the organisation

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4. Analysis

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5. Recommendations

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6. The Co-op’s activities benchmarked

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is meeting the Levelling Up Goals

against the Levelling Up Goals

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Foreword

1. Foreword Rt Hon Justine Greening, Founder of the Social Mobility Pledge and Former Secretary of State for Education Despite external pressures caused by the pandemic, the last two years have seen more and more businesses mobilising to join the levelling up challenge.

COVID-19, in fact, may well have accelerated this shift, with gaps in prosperity and opportunity being widened in the fallout of the crisis.

Levelling up means building a country where opportunities are just as accessible to talented people in the poorest communities, as they are in our most affluent areas.

It is critical that we achieve this, not least to enable us to develop the high skilled, high wage economy that Britain needs to succeed globally.

In narrowing the opportunity gap, a multitude of factors must be addressed. There is no quick fix and arresting years of decline in social mobility requires a coordinated and relentless effort from businesses, public sector bodies, educators and government.

This is a national challenge, and not simply a north versus south issue, or a problem which rests solely on the shoulders of organisational leaders.

Every staff member and stakeholder should be encouraged to embrace the many benefits of a level playing field, and of diversity of ideas, backgrounds and circumstances, within their organisation.

The 14 Levelling Up Goals are designed to categorise the many facets of levelling up, and provide a gauge against which employers can measure themselves.

Momentum around the goals is building, as more employers awaken to the urgent need to play their part in levelling up.

Increasingly, they are recognising that purpose and performance are intertwined, and supporting levelling up makes business sense, rather than simply being the right thing to do.

Many organisations have, of course, been long time drivers of social mobility. None more so than Co-op, which has social purpose at the heart of its organisation.

Thanks to the drive of its leadership team, led by Steve Murrells to April 2022 and by Shirine Khoury-Haq from then, and the will of its members the Co-op is committed to having an impact well outside its role as a food retailer, food wholesaler, and provider of funerals, insurance and legal services.

In undergoing this benchmarking process, they are able to measure how far they have come in supporting levelling up, but also how much further they could go to deliver more positive impact to the wider world, strengthening their business in the process.

The challenge ahead is not just to encourage more organisations to follow their lead and put levelling up at the forefront of their activities. We must also ensure that the levelling up message cuts through to everyone within organisations.

To create a country where people can get on in life regardless of their background or upbringing, we need everyone to play their part.

The Co-op is an excellent example of how this can be achieved, as shown in this report. I urge you to consider the many insights provided within, and how you might apply them to your own organisation or, individually, in your own career.

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Foreword

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Foreword

1. Foreword Shirine Khoury-Haq Group CEO

The imperative to help the UK Level Up and achieve fairness for all is fast becoming a national economic and social emergency.

COVID19 laid bare the inequalities in UK society; but those inequalities were not created by the pandemic and nor will they disappear with it. Too many individuals and communities across the UK don’t have access to opportunities to use the talents they have to fulfil their potential and prosper.

Clearly, something is not working. And if we are to succeed as a nation, we must co-operate to find a solution quickly.

For me the answer is clear – it is vital that business and government work hand-in-hand to unlock the talent that is found in every part of the UK and ensure everyone has the opportunity to meet their potential. Postcodes should not prescribe poverty or prosperity.

In a pre-pandemic world this might have been a ‘nice thing to do’ for some but for the Co-op, it’s always been at the core of who we are. We have always believed we simply cannot afford to leave people, groups, and entire regions behind.

The Co-op is the original business with purpose – since 1844.

The reasons people might not be able to succeed in meeting their potential are almost infinitely complex. For some it will be a lack of connectivity in their hometown; for others it will be the challenges associated with race, gender, or mental ill-health; and disgracefully, in a modern and affluent society, some simply will not have had the nutritious meals vital to fully function.

The Co-op takes seriously the responsibility we have to help spread opportunity and make a real difference to communities around the UK: we always have.

For the 177 years of the Co-op’s history it has always been at the forefront of helping meet society’s challenges and this will never change. Equality and equity are founding values of our Co-op, so celebrating diversity and being inclusive are fundamental to how we do business.

But it’s not good enough to claim that our business is ‘doing good’. We need to collect evidence and consider the impact our actions have. We must then take the insight to challenge ourselves to do even better. That is why this report and the work of The Purpose Coalition is so important. It puts our work under the microscope and makes independent and challenging recommendations on where we can, and should, go further.

I wholeheartedly and enthusiastically accept the challenge. Not just to continue the mission of The Co-op but because I believe the only way of doing business is to do it with purpose.

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The Journey

2. The Journey to the Levelling Up Goals In 2015, as Secretary of State for International Development, Justine Greening MP led the UK delegation to the United Nations (UN), to establish the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) alongside 184 international partners.

In 2017, the SDGs were made more ‘actionable’ by a UN resolution adopted by the General Assembly which identified specific targets for each goal, along with indicators used to measure progress towards each target. These 17 interlinked, global goals were designed to be ‘a blueprint to achieve a better and more sustainable future for all’. They marked a shift from the previously established Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), following the Millennium Summit of the United Nations in 2000. In contrast to the MDGs, the SDGs were nationally-owned, country-led and targeted wealthy, developed nations as well as developing countries.

The SDGs emphasised the interdependent environmental, social and economic aspects of development by centralising the role of sustainability.

As Secretary for State, Justine recognised how useful a common set of accessible but ambitious objectives could be in galvanising action to effect change. Since then the COVID-19 pandemic has only exacerbated many of the problems relating to social inequality in the UK. The recovery is a chance for the United Kingdom to address these issues and level up but that requires updated and specific goals in order to outline, inspire and measure progress. The Purpose Coalition, of which Co-op has been a key member, aims to improve social mobility in the UK and has responded to this challenge with the launch of their own Levelling Up Goals in February 2021.

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The Journey

Successful 1 Strong foundations school years 2 in Early Years

3 Positive destinations Post 16+

recruitment 5 Open

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Widening access to savings & credit

enterprise 9 Extending

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Right advice and experiences

career progression 6 Fair

health and well-being 8 Good

the digital divide 10 Closing

for opportunity 12 11 Infrastructure

Building homes & sustainable communities

the energy 13 Harness 14 transition

Achieve equality, through diversity & inclusion

These new Goals build on the foundations laid by the UN’s SDGs by outlining 14 clear goals, and draw on expertise provided by academia and businesses which has been applied to the unique challenges facing the UK in levelling up. They focus on key life stages and highlight the main issues that need to be resolved in order to create a level playing field for all in this country. The Levelling Up Goals are intended to guide how the urgent ambition to level up the UK can actually be achieved. The impact of the work carried out to do this can, and should, be measurable.

Sub-goals with quantifiable targets and measurements against which progress can be charted within the 14 goals are being developed by the Purpose Coalition in partnership with universities across the UK. Co-op is a key part of that work and has now committed to go even further with its own Levelling Up Impact Report.

Further metrics will create a more transparent and measurable framework with which to monitor and subsequently address problems of social mobility and inequality. The Levelling Up Goals are designed to look at the outcomes of CSR strategies and measures that organisations operate.

Many organisations are doing outstanding work and making important contributions to society but are still measuring this via inputs – a measure that focuses on pounds, pennies and numbers rather than real impact on human lives.

Crucially, these Goals are a shared framework. Justine and the wider Purpose Coalition believe that with a common understanding and objectives, there can be action that drives change on the ground. Distinct entities, including universities, businesses, policymakers, communities and NGOs, can work together, with the shared Goals being a uniting and motivating foundation for progress. As the problems which cause social inequality in the UK are interlinked, it seems that the response to these problems must also be collaborative. The Purpose Coalition has encouraged businesses, universities and public sector organisations to share their own best practice with others so they are not just demonstrating their own commitment, but creating a shift towards purpose-led organisations. The Goals can encourage an extension of this co-operative exchange of information which can be used to help level up Britain.

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Foreword

3. The role of the Co-op in levelling up and how the organisation is meeting the Levelling Up Goals It has been reported that with current levels of inequality and low intergenerational earnings mobility, it could take at least five generations – or 150 years – for the child of a poor family to reach the average income across OECD countries.

The vision of the Co-op Group – hereafter referred to as the Co-op for ease - is co-operating for a fairer world. The Vision is made up of three pillars: ‘Fairer for our Colleagues’; ‘Fairer for our Members and Communities’ and ‘Fairer for our Planet.’

It is the UK’s largest consumer co-operative, with more than 4.2 million active members and a presence in every postal area in the country, and one of the oldest of the 3 million cooperative organisations worldwide. Its operations span food, retail and wholesale, funeral provision, regulated consumer legal services, life planning and insurance products.

Social purpose has been at the heart of the Co-op since its origins, which can be traced back to 1844. It prides itself today on being an ethically responsible business, championing a “better way of doing business” for individuals and communities, through products and services which create value in “the broadest sense” across the country, and indeed globally.

In 2021, the Co-op invested more than £41m in UK and international communities, with £37.6m UK community

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investment in total. More than £20m supported local community organisations through the Local Community Fund and national partnerships in support of its community missions. Since the Co-op launched the Local Community Fund in 2016, it has shared over £84m to help local causes deliver 25,000 community projects across the UK. The organisation is built on a set of co-operative values and principles which were first articulated in 1844 and most recently by the International Co-operative Alliance in 1995.

These values and principles are shared by the 3 million co-ops worldwide: Values • Self-help - members joining together and making a difference.

• Self-responsibility - every member doing their bit.

• Democracy - all members are equal.

• Equality - giving all members an opportunity to get involved.

• Equity - committed to fairness.

• Solidarity - “together we’re stronger”.

The Role

Principles • Voluntary and open membership - anyone over 16 can join.

• Democratic - anyone spending over £250 in a year can vote.

• Member economic participation - encouraging every member to be a loyal customer.

• Autonomy and independence - accountable to members, not shareholders.

• Education, training and information - giving members what they need to play a full part in the business.

• Co-operation among co-operatives - working with other co-operatives, for example, in jointly buying from suppliers to keep prices lower for customers.

• Concern for the community - using profits to support local communities.

The Co-op contributes to levelling up through its day-today operations, employing thousands of colleagues across the business and supporting employment in its UK and global supply chains.

Within the Co-op there is a strong emphasis on promoting opportunities for colleagues.

Much of the Co-op’s ‘beyond business as usual’ levelling up work is encapsulated in its community plan, which focuses on connecting communities through its assets and partnerships; to address challenging social and economic issues.

In April 2022 the Co-op published it’s annual ‘Co-operate Report’ which includes the plan which focuses on three interrelated community missions: • Fair access to food.

• Fair access to mental wellbeing support.

• Fair access to education and employment for young people.

These missions are directly relevant to a wide range of the Levelling Up Goals and, in delivering them, it partners with charities, community groups, social enterprises, academies and other like-minded organisations to create lasting impact. Partnership working enables the Co-op to scale up its purposeful work to a level that few outside government have the capacity to match.

Key to delivering its mission are: Funding – its members fund the Local Community Fund and Community Partnership Fund. Additional funds are generated through fundraising, match funding and wider Co-op funding. Its grantmaking charity, the Co-op Foundation, has made more than £10m in grants to charities and community organisations in the last three years.

Member Pioneers – around 1,100 colleagues are working to activate the organisation’s vision in communities.

Co-operate – an online community centre for co-operation which can be used by anyone for free. 13,500 groups and activities have been shared, connecting people across the UK. Co-operate has been created with communities, for communities, and funded by the Co-op’s members. In 2021 the Co-op added a simple and easy to use volunteering service on Co-operate – matching groups who need support with people who want to make a difference. Over 18,000 opportunities are listed across the UK. While the Co-op has relevant approaches in all 14 areas, the key Levelling Up Goals that its community plan influences are: 2) Successful school years 3) Positive destinations post 16+ 4) Right advice and experiences 8) Good health and wellbeing 10) Closing the digital divide 11) Infrastructure for opportunity.

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Analysis

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Analysis

4. Analysis of the Co-op’s activities This analysis has been completed after reviewing the information in section 6 of the report.

Many organisations are committed to making a difference on the ground and spreading opportunity. Some of these can only influence a handful of the goals but the Co-op is in a position to make a tangible impact across the full levelling up agenda.

The Co-op believes that social mobility and levelling up is about individuals and communities prospering together.

The organisation is embedded in communities through its operations in food, retail and wholesale, funeral provision, regulated consumer legal services, life planning and insurance products, but also its work in local communities in support of its vision and running of its own academy trust.

Through its role as consumer co-operative, with more than 4.2 million active members, it can accurately say that it has a presence in every postal area in the country.

This is important because levelling up is a national problem which needs regionally focused actions.

A one-size-fits-all approach simply won’t lead to the results that are needed.

The Co-op recognises this within its multi-academy trust - with all schools guided by common principles but uniquely tailored to the needs of pupils in specific areas. Through its Local Community Fund, it supports projects across the UK which help deliver its community missions (of access to food, access to mental wellbeing and access to skills and opportunities for young people) and which its members believe will have the most impact in their community.

Thanks to its apprenticeship programme, the Co-op can provide a pathway for individuals from every community.

With over 500 apprenticeships supported at one time, the Co-op is providing opportunity to those who need it most.

The organisation’s influence does not stop with its own workforce. The Co-op is committed to working together with others for the greater good - as its vision states ‘Co-op is Co-operating for a Fairer World’.

This is evidenced with the creation of its levy share portal which enables employers, including within its supply chain, to share their levy too. To date, 726 apprentice opportunities, worth an estimated £7m, have been matched with support from employers such as Royal Mail, Nationwide and Pertemps.

Underpinning all of its work on the levelling up agenda is its commitment to the planet, including by reaching net zero by 2040, and its dedication to all aspects of diversity and inclusion. Equality of opportunity no matter where you come from is evident in its activities and ambitions across the levelling up goals.

In many areas the Co-op’s work is leading the way and it should continue to promote this, so that others can learn from best practice and implement initiatives that can make significant change.

Most importantly, the Co-op should continue to work in partnership with local communities and businesses to ensure everybody prospers together. Only through this collaboration will progress be made.

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Recommendations

5. Recommendations 1. Set the standard for diversity reporting The Co-op is already showing great leadership in this space with the adoption of socio-economic tracking, alongside ethnicity, gender and disability reporting. The organisation wants to go one step further and introduce pay gap reporting across all these areas. The Co-op should ensure that this is done in a consistent manner and create a gold standard for diversity reporting that others can actively adopt.

Through the Equality of Opportunity Coalition, the Purpose Coalition is bringing together employers who are committed to socio economic reporting. The Co-op should be a lead member of this group and could be used as a case study in a report that will be produced by the Coalition to take into Parliament. Working in collaboration, the Co-op can showcase best practice in diversity reporting and encourage others to follow its lead.

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“Working in collaboration, the Co-op can showcase best practice in diversity reporting and encourage others to follow its lead. “

Recommendations

2. Use learnings from socio economic reporting pilot The Co-op should ensure that results from socio economic reporting are evaluated closely and actions are taken to address any issues that are found. At present, even for those companies already looking at socio-economic diversity, there is little sharing of results or approaches to then take action following them. If tangible action is taken on the back of these results, it will show staff that reporting is worthwhile but also demonstrate how what gets measured gets done.

3. Create a best practice model on transition from education to work The transition from education to employment can be a struggle for certain people if the correct support and training is not available. The Co-op could create a model for transition that can be easily replicated across all areas of the business. This model could include four phases.

1. Aspiration - ensure that those looking for employment have the aspiration to achieve whatever they want to. This is around education and raising awareness of the wide variety of roles available within the Co-op.

2. Knowledge and skills – the Co-op should work to ensure that they are as open as possible to work experience.

Without this experience, the transition between education and work is always going to be harder. While online work experience has been absolutely invaluable during the pandemic, getting back to large numbers of in person, targeted work experience placements will be very beneficial.

3. Resources - Taking part in work experience placements can prove to be expensive and potentially out of reach for many. The Co-op previously covered the cost of travel for all students from its academies in Stoke, Leeds and Bradford who are completing work experience. The Co-op could ensure that this is the case for anybody undertaking work experience within the organisation.

4.Employer ladder - Once someone is employed, there needs to be the correct support in place for them to be able to succeed. Those coming from under-represented groups should be identified and extra support given so that they are able to fulfill their potential. Employees need to be given the confidence to perform at work - every member of staff, no matter what part of the business, should be given a structured programme of progression with the correct support included within this. Support could include mentoring and targeted training.

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Recommendations

4. Focused and tailored support in schools on Education Investment Areas (EIA) As part of its Levelling Up White Paper the Government identified 55 Education Investment Areas. These ‘cold spots’ are parts of the country where school outcomes are the weakest and will receive targeted investment, support and action that help children from all backgrounds and areas to succeed at the very highest levels.

The Co-op should ensure that their support is targeted towards these areas identified by the Government as needing extra support and leveraging its existing work to raise education outcomes and tackle education inequalities.

The Co-op already has academies within some of these areas but there will be plenty where they do not. The Co-op could identify new schools in EIAs where they already have a potential to become part of the Co-op Academies Trust to turn them around and develop other partnerships where that is less possible.

In EIAs where the Co-op already has academies, it could act as a local convener to bring like-minded organisations together to support schoolchildren. Schools could support in a number of ways, including opening up their facilities for a wider range of children to use (Saturday schools etc.) and innovation - collaboration with local health organisations or businesses.

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On this recommendation the Co-op could learn from some of the existing successful place-based work that has taken place both in Opportunity Areas and via the earlier London Challenge.

5. Promote positive mental health and wellbeing in a post-pandemic world As part of its Charity Partnership with Mind, SAMH and Inspire, the Co-op are calling for investment in mental wellbeing and community support within the levelling up agenda.

In particular, there are calls around promoting positive mental wellbeing amongst children and young people, adopting a whole School Approach to mental health and wellbeing in a post-pandemic world and promoting and championing positive mental health and wellbeing of children and young people in schools.

The Co-op could commit to promoting these approaches through Co-op Academies, setting a precedent for others to follow.

The overall aim is for transformation in mental health care for children and young people through investment in early support in communities.

Recommendations

6. Consider the outcomes of the National Food Strategy Independent Review Henry Dimbleby’s National Food Strategy Independent Review is a Government commissioned review of the UK’s food system, including recommendations to the entirety of the food industry and government, to support a healthier, more sustainable food future for all. The Co-op is well placed to consider its findings, particularly through its focus on making healthy, sustainable choices accessible, and through its work in schools given the importance of a well-balanced diet in childhood.

As the Government proceeds in responding to this Independent Review, including through Defra’s Food Strategy White Paper and DHSC’s Health Disparities White Paper, the Co-op should consider how it can support and drive forward the transformation that is required across the food system to ensure there is equitable access for all to healthier and more sustainable diets.

Beyond the impact the the Co-op has through its Food business, the Co-op should continue to build on its work in the community through its Access to Food mission. From the funding provided to local causes working on this agenda within the community, to optimise redistribution of good food that would otherwise have gone to waste, to its work to expanding the capacity of local communities to new food solutions that decrease stigma and increase dignity, there is a powerful role to be played in equipping families and communities with the tools and skills to prepare healthy and nutritious meals.

7. Embed levelling up in supply chain In many ways the Co-op is leading the way in spreading opportunity and levelling up through its work directly in the communities in which it operates and its grass roots membership. However, one way in which the organisation could now equally trailblaze and grow its influence even further is through its supply chain.

Once the Co-op has introduced its full suite of diversity reporting, it could ask and encourage its supply chain to do the same. Importantly, the Co-op could support them to introduce this through knowledge exchange sessions.

The Co-op could introduce a new part of its tendering process which asks suppliers to produce a levelling up impact statement or similar statement of intent and action. This statement, however short or long, would be a chance for suppliers to outline what they are doing around the levelling up agenda and how this could be incorporated within the contract with the Co-op.

Moving forward, the Co-op could continue to open up some of its levelling up programmes and activities to its supply chain. Whether that’s mentoring, career advice or English language lessons.

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Activities

6. The Co-op Group’s activities benchmarked against the Levelling Up Goals This section of this report will map several of the Co-op’s specific initiatives against the Levelling Up Goals, to track where progress is being made and where efforts could be redirected or better targeted.

It is important to note that it would be difficult for any one organisation to work effectively toward every single one of the Levelling Up Goals. However, due to the Co-op’s wide range of services and its Academy Trust, the organisation can confidently say that it is making a significant impact across a wide range of the goals.

1 Strong foundations in Early Years

Goal 1: Strong foundations in early years The Co-op has harnessed its influence and purposedriven approach to bring about change which is directly impacting on early years.

The government-run Healthy Start scheme provides financial support to pregnant women or individuals with a child under four. Its aim is to ensure they have sufficient funds to purchase a healthy diet, in particular fruit and vegetables.

Currently only those on certain benefits, such as Universal Credit or income support, are eligible, with vouchers used to help buy basic foods such as milk, vegetables and fruit.In December 2020, the Co-op committed to ‘top up’ Healthy Start vouchers redeemed in its stores by an additional £1.

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This came after its commitment to Part 1 of Henry Dimbleby’s National Food Strategy Independent Review; and as a response to the pandemic and in support of the campaign spearheaded by footballer Marcus Rashford.

At that time, Healthy Start vouchers were worth £3.10, meaning vouchers could be used to purchase £4.10 of eligible goods in Co-op stores.

The value of Healthy Start vouchers was increased by the Government to £4.25 in April 2021 and at that time the Co-op continued to offer a £1 uplift in response to the challenges many households were still facing due to the pandemic, making the ‘value’ £5.25. Between December 2020 and the end of July 2021, the Co-op had topped up 359,814 Healthy Start vouchers.

As part of its aim to increase fairer access to food, the Co-op has since partnered with Marcus Rashford and the Food Foundation to support the #EndChildFoodPoverty campaign, backing calls to: • Extend free school meals to children in every household that receives Universal Credit.

• Increase the number of families eligible for Healthy Start vouchers.

• Provide long term funding for holiday activities and food programmes.

Most recently, the Co-op became the exclusive digital partner for Facebook’s Hack for Good initiative to drive awareness of Marcus Rashford and Tom Kerridge’s Full Time campaign in support of the #EndChildFoodPoverty campaign.

Activities

school years 2 Successful academies aligned to the Gatsby Benchmark (guidance around good career support) and key employability skills.

Goal 2: Successful school years The Co-op works to support better education outcomes in England through its Co-op Academy Trust. Through the Co-op Academies Trust (CAT) it sponsors 30 academies across Manchester, Leeds, Bradford, Merseyside and Stoke-on-Trent. At present over 17,000 students are educated within the Trust.

It has committed to growing the total number of schools to 40 by 2023 – spanning primary, secondary and SEND schools, as well as a sixth form college. The academies are typically in challenging socio-economic areas where free school meal take up is above average.

The relationships between the Co-op and individual schools in CAT is guided by common principles but they are also uniquely tailored to the needs of pupils in that area.

As a business, the Co-op is able to provide governance support and also access to an array of educationally beneficial assets that come with being a major, multifaceted employer. It brings together business, education and community for the benefit of young people in challenging areas to help them fulfil their potential, The academies are founded on co-operative values, to help nurture socially responsible young people and focus their attention on community, self-help and self-responsibility amongst other values.

Many of the institutions it works with were previously failing schools serving some of the most economically challenged communities in the North of England.

In the last five years, the Co-op has invested over £8m, plus more through in-kind support to this work. This has helped to grow the trust, support students during the pandemic, back new projects to further benefit students and leverage the benefit of the link with the Co-op.

As part of its support, the Co-op provides ongoing opportunities for young people to develop skills in careers education, information, advice and guidance (CEAIG).

It also provides centrally co-ordinated support for

In addition, it offers further opportunities for academies to engage with wider campaigning and social action activities including those based on fairtrade, addressing climate change and mental wellbeing in partnership with MIND. The Co-op funds a Co-op co-ordinator in every academy to help maximise the opportunity to engage with the Co-op’s activities.

These activities encourage civically minded young people and connect them more closely to their local community.

The Co-op seeks to develop links with like-minded organisations and suppliers to extend opportunities for young people within its academies, developing skills and experience beyond the classroom.

It believes that connecting suppliers with academies has enabled it to provide a much wider range of career opportunities, knowledge and skills; including in areas such as digital and STEM. One example saw students given exposure to exciting careers in Microsoft’s gaming arm, Xbox.

The Co-op works with suppliers to help them to understand the difference they can make externally. This work spans career opportunity engagement, career mentoring, employability skills and pathway knowledge support. It encourages senior leaders in supplier organisations to take part as judges in Dragon’s Den-inspired panels, providing alternative perspectives on student projects.

Partners in delivering this work have included Envision, a charity funded through the Co-op Foundation to deliver social action projects in secondary academies.

The Co-op has also worked with suppliers to fund the Teen Tech and InnovateHer programmes in its academies, to develop tech skills and address the gender imbalance in STEM. It also worked with Microsoft to engage its academy students in the Microsoft DigiGirlz programme – which gives middle and high school girls opportunities to learn about careers in technology, connect with Microsoft employees and participate in hands-on computer and technology workshops. The Co-op also provides work experiences that form part of the programme.

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Activities

3 Positive destinations Post 16+

Goal 3 - Positive destinations post 16+ As part of its pandemic response, the Co-op launched its ‘access to education and employment for young people’ mission in August 2020.

The mission empowers young people to better themselves and overcome challenges in a dignified and sustainable way. It focuses on three pillars: • Giving young people a voice.

• Helping them to make a difference in their community.

• Helping them to access opportunities.

Also in 2020, it partnered with the Rio Ferdinand Foundation on the Youth Voices project. This enabled 250 young people, 54 per cent of whom were Black, asian or minority ethnic, to access online training which developed their leadership, self-expression, campaigning and social action skills.

This collaborative approach to addressing post 16+ challenges is also evident in its partnership with the Youth Endowment Fund and the #iwill partnership, a joint investment between the National Lottery Community Fund and the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport.

The three parties came together in 2021 with a shared objective to create a fairer world in which every young person can live a life free from violence. They recognised that change will not occur if young people who experience violence are not heard; and sought to give young people the chance to take the lead, shaping the solutions they want to see in their communities.

Collectively, the partners are investing £5.2m in building a network of peer researchers who will study young people’s experiences with the goal of transforming learnings into action.

At the time of writing 120 peer researchers aged 16 to 25 have been recruited. They will carry out research to find out what can be done in their community to make them safer and fairer. They will effectively enable over 4,000 young people to have a voice on issues they care about.

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At the same time, they are being given an opportunity to shape their own futures, via new skills and the positive experience of making a difference.

Ultimately, they aim to create opportunities for young people to make their community a safer, fairer place.

Activities might include campaigning to improve local mental health services, setting up youth centres or supporting young people into employment. The partnership operates in every national region but focuses on areas where youth violence is highest.

Supporting the apprenticeship route to social mobility With over 62,000 employees, the Co-op’s apprenticeship levy bill is approximately £5.3m per annum – and the organisation strives to utilise it, routinely supporting around 750 apprentices.

Apprentices are employed on a permanent basis from day one and earn the standard rate for their role.

Apprenticeships are also open to internal candidates as well as external applicants. Programmes are designed to deliver the skills, knowledge and behaviours required from the equivalent of GCSE level up to degree level, covering personal and career development, as well as the skills relevant to their role.

Through sharing its unspent apprenticeships levy, the Co-op has also supported apprenticeships in other organisations, including Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service.

The Co-op built on this experience and, in 2021, launched a dedicated levy share portal, the Co-op Levy Share, enabling other employers, including its suppliers, to share their levy too. The likes of Royal Mail, BT, Pertemps, Essex County Council, Johnson Controls, Encirc360, Greencore, Direct Line, Nationwide, Weightwatchers and Mitie are among the 42 business who have joined the scheme Around £11m has since been pledged by donating employers, with 96 organisations registering opportunities.

The Co-op pledged an initial £500,000 towards the initiative and encouraged other major employers to contribute. As of May 2022, 726 apprentice opportunities, worth approximately £7m, have been matched with apprenticeships in care, construction, engineering and health and science being supported and spanning apprenticeship standards from level two to six.

Activities

Importantly, the scheme is designed to address underrepresentation of several marginalised groups, including ethnic minorities and enables businesses pledging their unspent levy funds to support starts in those communities they are focused on supporting.

The Co-op’s own apprenticeships approach also includes • A maths and English pre-apprenticeship programme, which helps colleagues to meet the minimum standard required to access the full apprenticeship programme.

• Use of the government-backed Kickstart scheme, which encourages job creation for 16 to 24-year-olds. The Co-op created 150 Kickstart positions across the business, with locations selected based on where social mobility is most challenging. All Kickstart colleagues are guaranteed an interview at the end of their placement should they wish to apply for a permanent role, with a commitment of employing at least 50 per cent.

• Supplier apprenticeship schemes. The Co-op works with suppliers to encourage them to develop apprenticeship opportunities for its academy students. One supplier, Link Contracting, for example, partnered with Wirral Metropolitan College to offer two students at Co-op’s Bebington Academy apprenticeships in electrical engineering.

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Right advice and experiences

Goal 4 - Right advice and experiences Nurturing young leaders

The Co-op Young Business Leaders programme offers 20 students from the Co-op Academy Trust’s sixth form college a paid work placement in its Support Centre while studying for their Level 3 BTEC. The programme was launched in February 2021, with planning carried out during the pandemic and contingencies put in place to ensure the delivery of the programme; including the transition to a blended delivery model based on government guidelines for working in offices with laptops provided to enable placements to be accessed remotely when needed.

The second cohort has now completed the programme and the Co-op are looking forward to welcoming their next cohort in the autumn.

Virtual work experience

The unforeseen shift to remote working caused by the pandemic inspired changes in the Co-op’s outreach work, including through the creation of its first virtual work experience programme, VWEX. While borne out of necessity, this has proved hugely positive in many levelling up terms, including by helping young people to access work experience with employers not in their local area.

VWEX was launched in summer 2020 for Co-op Academy students and, in 2021, was extended to students in the locality of its schools. To date over 1,500 young people have attended, with over 7,000 student interactions across the programme. A number of Co-op suppliers were involved in the delivery of the programme.

The Co-op also hosted additional virtual careers sessions and ran masterclasses during the pandemic to ensure young people’s careers education remained on track despite wider challenges. These sessions were delivered to over 2,000 young people across the UK and continued throughout the 2020/21 academic year. Efforts have been focused on those most at need, with access to live job opportunities and coaching through the applications process both provided. Additional support and follow up events helped to give participants the best possible opportunity to access employment with the Co-op.

Running outreach online has enabled the Co-op to reach more young people, creating a larger footprint of outreach across its communities. At the same time, however, the Co-op is mindful of the digital divide and the need to make extra measures to make sure all young people have equal access to opportunities. It, therefore, aims to take a blended approach going forward.

For on-site work experience placements, the Co-op has covered the cost of travel for all students coming from its academies in Stoke, Leeds and Bradford for work experience.

It also offers to cover travel expenses for students from Greater Manchester academies if the costs would limit attendance. Lunch for all students is also provided.

The Co-op is also developing a work experience approach for its special educational needs (SEN) students, from both mainstream and special schools.

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recruitment 5 Open

Careers advice

In collaboration with the Co-op Academies Trust, the Co-op has developed a careers programme to support careers advice and guidance from Primary School to Further education and began piloting activity in 2021

Goal 5: Open recruitment

Interventions include careers sessions, employability skills workshops, virtual careers fairs and a coordinated effort to create access to opportunities for young people from lower socio-economic backgrounds.

The Co-op operates an inclusive recruitment policy.

It also provides support to candidates that may face disproportionately high barriers in accessing employment as well as ensuring hiring managers recruit inclusively without bias.

These activities lead to young people joining the Coop’s pipeline for apprenticeships across its level two to seven programmes.

The Co-op also runs employability programmes in local communities. One example of this saw the placement of more than 30 young people into employment within food stores in London and Manchester, via a structured development experience in retail.

By engaging with young people at different stages of their development, the Co-op is able to educate and enable those from lower socio-economic backgrounds to access careers, either with the group or with other organisations.

As with other elements of its levelling up work, the Coop’s careers advice activities have been extended to its supply chain. Suppliers work with the group on various such initiatives, including virtual and academy careers fairs, employability sessions, career mentoring and mock interview sessions.

Targeting activity towards business needs The Co-op’s work in providing the right advice and experiences is driven by business need, as well as being shaped by the socio-economic context of the communities it supports.

An example of this is the four-week employability skills programme it ran in March 2021 to correspond with the opening of a new depot in Biggleswade, Bedfordshire.

The course was designed to encourage and support local job seekers in applying for roles at the depot – at the same addressing the diversity needs and skills shortages in our warehouse teams

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Some of this work comes through partnerships, for example with Catch22, Princes Trust, DWP Job Centre, Damilola Taylor Trust and Talent Match. These relationships support the Co-op’s work in providing skills and employment opportunities to large numbers of individuals impacted by social inequality. The Co-op also works with the 10,000 Black Interns Programme, which aims to transform the horizons and prospects of young Black people in the UK by offering paid work.

Additional to the partnerships work, the broader recruitment approach for the Co-op is based on behaviour rather than capability, meaning that assessments for roles don’t always require someone to have previous experience – rather the Co-op select on values and behaviour in certain situations aligning to its co-operative values and principles. This goes a long way in reducing barriers to those entering employment from lower socio backgrounds, who may not have had access to opportunities and experiences in the past.

Finally, on the broader recruitment approach, all 5,000 hiring managers across the business have access to learning content to help improve inclusive recruitment and a full programme of learning on bias and inclusion will be delivered to managers by the end of 2022.

The Co-op’s employability platform, the Career Development Hub, is designed to support job seekers impacted by the pandemic. Importantly, any unsuccessful applicants can access the hub to help prime themselves for other roles within the group. The hub can also be accessed by Co-op academy students across the North of England and has also been offered out to charity partners to help improve the quality of employability skills provision in some of their communities.

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It is available for use on a mobile phone, ensuring the digital divide faced by non-computer owners is avoided. It also meets AA web content accessibility standards, with a number of enhanced features enabling access for users with a broad range of needs.

Connect - A self-driven development programme, covering a range of topics over nine months. The programme is designed to boost personal development and confidence. The project was developed with the Co-op’s women’s network, Aspire.

Key features of the hub include: • ‘Career Pulse’ diagnostics - presenting a personalised employability programme based on employability confidence.

• Interactive career profiling/assessments - encouraging users to think about career possibilities based on motivation and strengths.

• CV planning, advice and building tool, with an assessment process that benchmarks against 58 criteria.

• Cover letter/elevator pitch builder.

• Guides to developing LinkedIn profiles and making direct applications.

• Video and phone interview simulators.

• Online psychometrics and aptitude tests practice sessions.

Talent programme - For middle level leaders looking to progress to the next level. Features an inclusive online application process that does not need line manager approval and has been designed to remove any potential bias.

career progression 6 Fair

Internal coaches - A pool of internal coaches is available to staff at all levels of the organisation. The free-to-access service is provided online or face-to-face, depending on location and individual preference.

Leadershift - A periodic focus on behavioural development for leaders at all levels of the organisation.

Leadfest - Annual programme which started in 2017 as a festival of learning for leaders. The project focuses on innovation, “sharing the latest thinking and development for all”.

Mentoring and reverse mentoring - An internal mentoring pool is accessible to employees at all levels of the organisation. Reverse mentoring is offered to senior leaders through the Co-op’s ‘colleague networks’.

Goal 6: Fair career progression More than 30 per cent of the Co-op’s most senior 150 leaders come from a lower socio-economic background and the Co-op was one of the first organisations in the country to start monitoring the socio-economic background of its employees.

Using this data, the Co-op will be able to identify any areas where career progression is poor due to socio-economic background and implement policies for change.

Further inspiration for staff looking to progress through the business comes current and former senior colleagues whose own career journeys began on the shop floor.

The Co-op’s work towards Goal 6 is evidenced across a wide range of programmes and initiatives including: My Co-op Career - Bringing together development opportunities for staff on three pathways – ‘Core’, ‘Boost’ and ‘Excellence’. The programme is available in food retail, logistics, funeralcare, finance, HR and shared services (CBS), with plans to also extend it to food commercial and technology divisions.

Call for talent - An approach used in food retail to support specific pieces of work. Opportunities, posted on an internal ‘Yammer page’, enable staff to use skills outside of their role.

Reskill programmes - During the pandemic, workers in the Co-op’s food department were reskilled to support its Funeralcare division. Reskilling at the group is also helping to address the national driver shortage, via apprenticeships, its internal ‘warehouse to wheels’ initiative and DfE Skills Bootcamps.

Supplier support programmes - For example, working with its resourcing partner Omni, the Co-op gave 1,000 academy students free access to an employability platform/career hub featuring opportunities and input from its suppliers.

Advancing Diversity - A programme established to support career progression of colleagues from a minority background, enabling them to access opportunity and learning with a view to increase ethnic minority representation at leadership levels across the Co-op.

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Widening access to savings & credit

Goal 7: Widening access to savings and credit Though the Co-op’s ‘Your wellbeing’ web page, staff or members can access a range of advice and interventions related to accessing savings and credit.

For example, they can find out about help with travel costs, including season ticket loans, managing their finances and accessing discounts from other companies to lessen their household outgoings.

Other initiatives that enable the Co-op to widen access to savings and credit include: Wagestream - colleagues can stream up to 30 per cent of their contractual basic pay earned during a pay period up to a maximum of £300. This is available up to three times per pay period, providing the option to save automatically from their pay.

Neyber – a financial wellbeing support package that includes free financial education, tools and calculators to help with budgeting and saving and access to affordable loans (RRP 9.9 per cent APR) repaid straight from pay.

Step Change Partnership - access to free and confidential help with money worries from the UK’s leading independent debt charity.

Credit Unions - option to join two credit unions that provide savings accounts and affordable loans, all taken direct from the individual’s pay.

Grocery Aid - non-repayable, one-off grants to cover life’s unexpected emergencies, accessed via a 24/7 helpline open 365 days a year.

Rental deposit loan - Interest free loan for tenancy deposit, repaid directly from pay.

Talk Money week (November) - a programme of events and resources on money management.

Enhanced Pensions provision - Co-op’s Pension scheme, PACE DC, offers an enhanced pension provision to all staff.

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health and well-being 8 Good

Goal 8: Good health and wellbeing Focus on good health and wellbeing underpins the Co-op’s offering to its employees – and also influences its outreach work. Its external efforts in this goal area are supported by the Co-op’s Local Community Fund which helps deliver its community missions (of access to food, access to mental wellbeing and access to skills and opportunities for young people) and which members believe will have the most impact in their community.

In 2018 the Co-op, in partnership with The Young Foundation and Geolytix, set out to understand what ‘community wellbeing’ means to people across the UK. It did this to support the creation of an online data tool to provide hyper-local insight into the wellbeing of communities. The Community Wellbeing Index (CWI) is the first ever measure of wellbeing at a local level across all four nations of the UK. The Co-op felt it was important to find out directly from communities themselves what they feel helps them to live well. It wanted to get to the heart of what matters most in a local community.

With data on over 28,000 communities, the Index covers more than 50 different wellbeing related indicators. This enables the Co-op and external users of the data to gain insight into the strengths of, and challenges facing communities across the UK. In addition, the Co-op continues to support the hubs and networks in communities that its research shows are so vital to mental wellbeing through the Local Community Fund, Member Pioneers, and Co-operate, the online community centre.

In addition, to this charity and advocacy partnership, the Co-op’s has a range of good health and wellbeing interventions available to its colleagues: Access to Food - Hubbub Community Fridges provide a place where residents can share and access surplus food donated by local food businesses. As well as reducing

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waste, Community Fridges provide a range of services, such as healthy cooking advice, wellbeing and family support and digital inclusion training.

They empower people to develop knowledge and skills that will enrich their lives.

Cycle to work scheme - Loans of up to £2,500 repaid over 12 months to fund the purchase of a bicycle.

LifeWorks - Free for staff and family members to help with any situation affecting wellbeing, providing access to independent counsellors and professionals.

Smart Health - Access to a virtual GP. Includes mental health support, nutrition and fitness consultations and second opinions. Available 24/7, every day of the year and is completely confidential.

Mental health toolkit - Created to encourage employees to talk about their mental health and signpost support.

Sponsorship of Music Feeds - Online music festival in January 2021 supporting Fareshare to raise funds to fight food poverty.

Head smart mental health training - Sessions for line managers to help identify problems, support colleagues and signpost to mental health resources available within the Co-op.

Nightclub and ‘A manifesto for Night Workers’ - Initiative supporting the mental and physical wellbeing of night shift workers.

Parkrun - Co-op is an official partner of the grassroots movement that sees thousands of people across the country running in their local area every weekend.

The Co-op is in the process of supporting Hubbub increase the network of Community Fridges locations from 250 to 500 locations with Co-op suppliers are among the food businesses which contribute to the programme.

Represent - a network launched in 2021 which supports staff with disabilities.

World Mental Health Day (October) - A programme of events, activities and resources for staff.

Similar work is seen around Disability History Month (December).

enterprise 9 Extending

Goal 9: Extending enterprise The Co-op is the largest funder of Co-operatives UK, which promotes and develops co-operatives that broaden the base of entrepreneurship. The Co-op also works closely with Social Enterprise UK, which encourages the development of enterprises with social purpose.

The group is also working to achieve increased social value from its goods not for resale tendering activity and ongoing supplier relationship management, and in 2020 introduced a supplier facing Shared Value Charter This sets out some of the Co-op’ priority areas and suggestions of how suppliers can help support them. For higher value contracts, suppliers are asked to share a proposed shared value action plan, the delivery of which is then supported by the inclusion of shared value contract clauses where appropriate.

The Co-op has joined the ‘Buy Social Corporate Challenge’ which sees 30 major UK businesses sharing good practice on how to offer opportunities to social enterprise for the supply of goods not for resale.

Furthermore, by connecting suppliers with its academies, it is also delivering a more diverse range of opportunities for students; through work experience programmes, structured apprenticeships, skills workshops, career mentoring and technology provision.

In February 2022 the Co-op launched a new incubator programme, known as ‘The apiary’.

The scheme is designed to search for, support and mentor innovative and exciting smaller-scale suppliers. The first phase of the scheme will see nine small businesses participate, each at a different stage in their development. The programme will offer tailored and dedicated support including mentoring, advice on all aspects of the product journey, industry and consumer insight, workshops, technical hints and tips and access to the Co-op’s buying teams.

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the digital divide 10 Closing

Goal 10: Closing the digital divide The Co-op’s commitment to closing the digital divide is well evidenced in its academies work. During the pandemic, for example, it moved to make sure all 6,000 students without access to a device for home learning were provided with one by January 2021.

The Co-op also worked with suppliers who were equally keen to support students in providing essential homeschooling equipment, including dongles and laptops.

Its contribution to Goal 10 also comes through its role as a conduit between academy students and career opportunities in technology sector firms, including Microsoft.

In another example, the Co-op worked with Tata Consultancy Services to run an event giving academy students an insight into real-world problems that IT can resolve with ‘design thinking’. Other such events include ‘Apps for Good’, held at Co-op’s Bebington Academy, delivered in partnership with SAP. The Co-op also addresses the digital divide in its food hubs initiative, by delivering digital inclusion training.

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Infrastructure for opportunity

Goal 11: Infrastructure for opportunity The Co-op’s online platform, Co-operate, connects communities with opportunities, allowing people to offer their time and services or get support for themselves. As well as being a platform to connect volunteers with groups that need their support, there are also helpful guides available to charities on best practice. More than 13,500 groups and activities have been added to date, enabling people to join a group or activity, volunteer or set up their own.

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Building homes & sustainable communities

Goal 12: Building homes and sustainable communities The Co-op’s multi-award winning ‘Safer Colleagues, Safer Communities’ campaign focused on tackling crime and violence and protecting its colleagues both in store and in the communities in which they live addressing the factors which can threaten safety in communities.

As a result of the campaign, led by the Co-op alongside USDAW, the Scottish Parliament passed legislation making it an offence to assault, threaten or abuse a retail worker.

In Westminster, the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act will make it an aggravated offence to assault those performing a public duty or providing a service to the public, including shopworkers.

Thousands of Co-op colleagues took part in the campaign to secure these legislative changes, writing to Ministers, MPs and MSPs to campaign for change. The Co-op hosted roundtables, produced new research, gave evidence to the Home Affairs Select Committee and hosted more than 300 MP visits to stores. The campaigning approach is in line with its ‘assets-based campaigning approach’ described by the University of Nottingham in 2021.

In store, the Co-op has invested in technologies, such as intelligent CCTV systems and protocols like ensuring staff are able to spend more time on the shop floor to help customers feel safer. The Co-op has also been instrumental in publishing academic research on the impact of abuse and violence on shop workers – and sharing staff testimonies with the Home Office to help better understand violence against retail staff.

The influence of the campaign also extends into communities, with the Co-op working with causes that help to reduce crime and antisocial behaviour via its Local Community Fund.

Examples include working with youth charities to keep young people off the streets and away from criminal behaviour and giving young adults life skills for managing conflict in relationships without resorting to violence.

The Co-op collaborates with its suppliers on community volunteering projects - for example, it recently redeveloped a community garden with built environment firm Lancer Scott.

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the energy 13 Harness transition

Goal 13: Harness the Energy Transition The Co-op has recognised the need to act on climate change longer than most businesses, and as a result has reported its carbon footprint – and the progress made against the reduction targets set – since 2005.

In part as a result of being an early adopter of renewable energy, the Co-op reduced its direct carbon footprint by 54% between 2006 and 2017, and have since reduced by a further 51% - three years ahead of target thanks to a combination of investment to make our properties more energy efficient, using less impactful refrigerant gases, and more renewable energy in the UK grid.

In publishing their Climate 10 Point Plan in May 2021, the Co-op set out its blueprint for reaching its transformational and robust targets which have been assured by SBTi: • Reduce absolute greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from its own operations by 50 per cent by 2025, compared to 2016, in line with the pathway to limit global warming to no greater than 1.5°C above pre-industrial temperatures.

• Reduce product-related absolute GHG emissions by 11 per cent by 2025, compared to 2016, in line with ambitious best practice as defined by the SBTi coalition.

• Reach net zero GHG emissions from both operations and products by 2040 at the latest.

Also detailed in the Climate 10 Point Plan is the role that the Co-op sees for carbon offsetting, in light of the constraints as to how fast carbon reduction can be delivered. Co-op’s support for offsetting projects aligns to the highest possible standards (the criteria of VERRA, Gold Standard or the UN Clean Development Mechanism), and projects will only be funded if they have tangible benefits to people and communities all over the world. Project examples include wind farms providing renewable energy and employment in India.

As a result, and as of 2021, the Co-op funds carbon avoidance and removal projects equal to 100% of the carbon emissions from running the business. This means every Co-op store, funeral home and office is now carbon neutral.

It’s critical to the UK’s journey to Net Zero that every business embarks on this journey, which is why transparency of reporting and target setting has been central to the Co-op’s approach for so long.

The Co-op publishes its carbon footprint – and progress against its reduction targets – every year.

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Achieve equality, through diversity & inclusion

Goal 14: Achieve equality through diversity and inclusion The Co-op has active diversity networks dedicated to supporting and learning from the lived experiences of colleagues. This includes ethnic minorities, LGBTQ+ and disabled people, as well as Parents and Carers, women and younger colleagues.

• Require all leaders to have objectives that ensure they are playing their part in delivering on its commitments to racial equality from 2021 – all Co-op leaders have been set these objectives and will be assessed against them going forward.

In 2020, the Co-op published its 24-step commitment to racial equality and inclusion; a holistic set of commitments across colleagues, customers, membership and communities which sought to put inclusion at the heart of everything it does. Significant progress has been already been made against these commitments with the majority either achieved and the remainder are either in progress and on track to achieve.

• Develop specific products for ethnic minority groups and equip staff with training in order to service newly attracted customers well – Co-op Funeralcare reviewed and improved its range of products and services to better represent the communities it serves and has developed a wider proposition to support African and Caribbean communities, with a focus on locations in and around Greater London and the South East.

Examples of some of the progress made against the commitments includes:

• Increase the number of local causes whose projects include Black, Asian or minority ethnic beneficiaries to 25 per cent through the Local Community Fund [LCF] – by 2021 36% of LCF causes supported Black, Asian or minority ethnic beneficiaries, up from 3% on the previous funding round.

• Launch an Inclusion Think Tank, chaired by the CEO and including both internal and external partners committed to furthering equality across the Co-op – the Think Tank was launched in October 2020 and includes some leading thinkers on issues of diversity and inclusion on it including Lord Simon Wooley, John Amaechi, Leila McKenzie-Delis, Jack Parsons, Baroness Ruth Hunt, Dr Doyin Atewologun and Lord Victor Adebowale CBE. The Think Tank is enabling the Co-op to more effectively respond to the challenges of diversity and inclusion.

• Require diverse shortlists for all leadership roles – no exceptions, and we’ll partner with organisations that’ll help us to reach talent from Black, Asian or minority ethnic backgrounds – in 2021 the Co-op focused on creating diverse talent pipelines that naturally translate to diverse shortlists for Co-op jobs at all levels. It planned and delivered more diversity and inclusion (D&I) related careers content than ever before, profiling a wide range of Co-op colleagues, networks and initiatives, and showing how people from all kinds of minority groups can thrive at the Co-op.

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• Actively collect and monitor data which enables it to track progress and reduce inequalities within its internal systems and processes when it comes to promotion and opportunities – the Co-op launched an internal campaign that was inclusive of all colleagues to explain the importance of data and how it would help shape decisions and enable an inclusive culture in future. As a result more, better quality data, has been collected by the Co-op than ever before.

• Target racial inequality as part of a broader focus on youth inequality through national programmes and the partnerships it selects - In 2021, the Co-op secured Regional Delivery partners and started to recruit Peer Researchers (aged 16-20), who will design and lead projects with young people. To date, 35% of researchers are from ethnic minority backgrounds, supporting our commitment to reflect underrepresented communities.

• Work with our Co-op Academies Trust to develop a new curriculum on anti-racism so the next generation knows what it means to be anti-racist - The Co-op Academies Trust is working with Fig Tree International on a pilot project to support the Race Charter Mark at Co-op Academy Nightingale. Discussions are ongoing with Leeds Beckett University on a broader Trust-wide initiative.

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Foreword

LEVELLING UP

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