Co-op to support Rochdale in Bloom in new sponsorship deal

Photo: Rochdale Online

The Rochdale in Bloom committee is presented with a cheque from the Co-op; Carl England presents a cheque to Billy Sheerin

The Co-op has signed on as a major sponsor of Rochdale in Bloom for this year’s RHS North West in Bloom competition.

To kick-start the partnership, representatives from the Co-op presented the Rochdale in Bloom committee with a cheque for £2,000 on Thursday (6 June).

Alex Price, Area Manager for Co-op in Rochdale, said: “As a community retailer, we are delighted to be supporting Rochdale in Bloom, especially this year as we celebrate 175 years since the birth of the Co-op here in the town where it all began.

“The Co-op has a commitment to supporting local spaces and places such as those that will benefit from being brightened up by the many members that make Rochdale in Bloom such a great success.”

Paul Ellison, vice chair of Rochdale in Bloom, said: “We are thrilled to have the Co-op sponsor Rochdale in Bloom this year.

“This partnership will be fantastic for both of us as we have the support of one of our leading high street businesses whilst the Co-op will benefit from working with a grass roots community group which works with a real sense of co-operation."

Last year, Rochdale in Bloom scooped an outstanding number of awards at the 2018 RHS In Bloom contest, with a gold award for the third year in a row in the Large Town/Small City category at North West in Bloom, plus gold at the national Britain in Bloom.

North West in Bloom is the voluntary regional organisation that administers the Britain in Bloom competition in Lancashire, Cheshire, Greater Manchester and Merseyside, one of the 18 regions comprising Britain in Bloom.

Since 1964, the Royal Horticultural Society’s Britain in Bloom is one of the most effective, and longest running environmental competitions in the UK, with communities demonstrating their ability to create and maintain attractive environments that benefit all.

The Co-operative group developed from a set of principles birthed in Rochdale by the famous Rochdale Pioneers, 28 local workers who began trading as a co-operative from Toad Lane in 1844.

Their original principles have guided co-operative societies across the world to this day and their original store on Toad Lane, now a museum, is regarded as the home of the co-operative movement.