COVENTRY CHARITIES BENEFIT FROM THE LATEST HELPING HEARTS DONATIONS

Charities and community groups in Coventry are among the latest to share a cash windfall of more than £7,000 from the Heart of England Co-operative Society’s unique Helping Hearts scheme.

The scheme, launched nine years ago, pledges every penny of the Society’s tobacco profits to worthy causes across the trading area in Coventry, Warwickshire, south Leicestershire and Northamptonshire.

Earlier in the summer Helping Hearts celebrated reaching a landmark total of £500,000 pledged to groups since its launch.

Among the charities to benefit in the latest round were the Chris Wick Memorial Fund, Coundon Care Centre, Coventry City Mission, Fighting Blindness (The British Pigmentosa Society Coventry and Warwickshire branch), Trident Explorer Scouts, West Midlands Ambulance Service, Coventry Sea Cadets, Breast Cancer Care, Family Action, Coventry Vineyard Church, The City of Freemens Guild, Shaftesbury Young People in Foleshill and Coventry and Warwickshire Combined Barbershop Club.

Coventry City Mission will use its £500 towards its Giving Tree project, which supplies toys to disadvantaged families.

West Midlands Ambulance Service received £500 towards a lifesaving defibrillator and Coventry Sea Cadets received £500 towards a project to renovate their hut.

And the Trident Explorer Scouts will use their £250 towards buying tents and first aid kits for Duke of Edinburgh Award expeditions and similar activities.

The £200 pledged to Fighting Blindness will be used towards a Christmas lunch for members who suffer from blindness, deafness or visual impairments.

The Chris Wick Memorial Fund is using its £200 towards Christmas hampers, to help relieve poverty and sickness among those serving community or custodial sentences, as well as their families and victims of crime.

Shaftesbury Young People received £200 worth of Christmas treats for 16 to 21-year-olds care-leavers.

Coventry Vineyard Church was awarded £150 towards emergency food boxes.

The Coundon Care Centre’s £100 will be used towards goods for its Christmas party for elderly people.

Breast Cancer Care and the Coventry and Warwickshire Combined Barbershop Club each received a £25 gift voucher which will be used towards further fundraising for the groups.

Jo Dyke, Community and Membership Adviser at the Heart of England Co-operative Society, said: “Once again the groups benefiting from the latest round of pledges from Helping Hearts are wide and varied and each strive to make life better for different groups of people within our community.

“This is excellent news as it means every penny of our tobacco profits is reaching thousands of people across our trading area and the most deserving people within the area are benefiting.

“As a community retailer it is only right we share our profits with these organisations so they can continue in the excellent work they do, helping to benefit some of the most vulnerable people in the Coventry, Warwickshire and south Leicestershire areas.”