Thanks to Co-op Members for raising £117m, helping 7m people across the UK since 2016.

This week, we're celebrating the difference Co-op members have made in their local communities by choosing Co-op. When Co-op members buy selected Co-op branded products and services, 2p for every pound spent is split between community organisations and local causes.

With many community causes experiencing funding challenges and a surge in demand, Co-op funding is supporting projects which deliver vital services in their community around access to food, mental wellbeing support and opportunities for young people.

The Co-op supports three charities in Honiton, Open Arms, Cruse Bereavement and Honiton Carers.

The latest round of Co-op's Local Community Fund has supported 4,500 community projects, with causes highlighting that the funding and support is providing a critical life-line for communities during these challenging times:

• More than half of causes (53%) confirmed that the funding allowed them to develop new or improved partnerships with other local organisations
• Co-op's support has been shown to assist almost two-thirds (65%) of causes with mobilising volunteer support from their local communities
• While over two-fifths (41%) of causes reported that the project funded by Co-op had helped them to obtain further funding for their organisation

Co-op Member Pioneers have provided support to these groups throughout the funding period, connecting them to other local groups and helping them make the most of our support. They're now working with local colleagues during Payout Celebrations.

 In addition to the causes Co-op supports, it also works with community organisations across the UK:

• Funding over 280 fridges with Hubbub, we'll build the network to 350 by end of 2022
• Expanding the Your Local Pantry network to 225 within the next 3 years, providing more communities with sustainable solutions to access to food
• Sign-posting 900,000 people to helpful mental wellbeing information and services with Mind, SAMH (Scottish Association for Mental Health) and Inspire
• Helping 6,000 young people make communities safer and fairer places to live through our Peer Action Collective

*£117m raised over 6 years between 2016-2022. The figure of 7m people based on average estimated number beneficiaries submitted by causes we've funded at the point of application over 6 years between 2016-2022.