UK groups to benefit from Scotmid charity action
RETAIL group Scotmid Co-op has launched a new initiative that is set to support over 60 charities and community groups across the UK with vital funding.
The new Member Choice Awards is a bold new programme from Scotmid that is designed to make Scotmid’s community funding more accessible, inclusive and impactful for charities across Scotland and the North of England.
Scotmid members will be allowed to vote for causes close to their hearts by simply using their membership card whenever they shop inside the stores.
Through this method, each region’s top-voted group will receive £5,000 in funding, with all other shortlisted charities awarded £1,000. And Scotland’s top-voted groups will also pitch at Scotmid Annual General Meetings for the chance to win a further £5,000.
This means that 63 key groups each year will receive practical, flexible funding to help them to enhance their services from Scotmid’s support.
The new launch comes during the ‘International Year of Cooperatives’, a time to celebrate how co-operative businesses, like Scotmid, across the world emphasise a community-first approach.
This also sits alongside Scotmid’s long-standing community grants and donations, which have helped to support 1,000 good causes every year from youth clubs to foodbanks, to environmental groups and mental health charities.
This work also saw a team of Scotmid ‘jail birds’ help to raise over £15,000 for cancer care charity Maggies in 2024 when members of the Scotmid team were banged up in The Lost Close, Edinburgh. If they failed to reach their initial fundraising goal of £10,000 by midnight, they would have spent the night locked inside the building.
Lynne Ogg, head of membership and community engagement at Scotmid, said: “This is a step forward in how we support our communities. We’re making our funding more accessible than ever and giving more groups the chance to benefit.
“In the International Year of Cooperatives, it’s the perfect time to empower our members and invest in the people doing incredible work at local level.”
