The Co-operative Food has received The Employment Award 2010 for its pioneering Making Opportunities scheme at the Business Charity Awards.
The award recognises the work Co-op has done to ensure its workforce in stores across the UK reflects the diverse nature of the communities in which the group trades.
It also highlights the excellence in charity partnership work focusing on young people.
Through the programme, The Co-op worked with the charity Mencap, to introduce people with a learning disability into paid employment. There are currently over 1.3m people with a disability in the UK who are available for work and who want to work.
The Co-operative’s Making Opportunities scheme is unique in that it offers guaranteed paid employment to people with a learning disability, in Co-operative food stores, on successful completion of a work trial.
Jessica Moore, senior community manager for The Co-operative Group, said: “We are extremely proud to have won two Business Charity awards. As a co-operative business, local communities and young people are at the heart of the way we do business and by working in partnership with charities, to develop new and exciting projects, we can help those people who face adversity everyday to overcome and break down some of the barriers that prevent them from reaching their full potential.”
