A BOXING club for youngsters in Liskeard and a memory cafe in Pensilva are amongst the good causes that have taken a share in more than £36,000, thanks to Co-op members and shoppers.

The Co-op Community Fund has paid out grants to 33 groups in Cornwall to help them through the coronavirus crisis.

Organisations range from air cadets to arts festivals, from sports clubs through to groups providing activities for older folk.

When Co-op members buy own-brand goods, they receive a five percent reward with another one percent going to local causes.

Meanwhile the sale of carrier bags in stores has also contributed to the fund.

Rebecca Birkbeck, director of Community and Shared Value at the Co-op, said: ’All the local causes we’re connected to are at the centre of helping their communities.

’We’ve increased the payout to give the causes a vital cash injection to help them continue the essential work they do in the community at this time of crisis and difficulty for so many people.’

The Co-op is also urging its members to help, if they wish, by donating any of their personal unspent existing five percent reward to a new fund set up to support foodbanks, funeral hardship and local community causes.

Co-op CEO Steve Murrells has kicked started the fund by donating 20 per cent of his salary over a three-month period.

The company has also announced the national launch of Co-operate - an online community centre, available on https://co-operate.coop.co.uk/support. It connects vulnerable people to local and national support initiatives, but also to volunteers who are willing to run virtual events such as exercise classes, music groups, or arts and crafts classes for others, across the country.

Causes set to benefit from the local Co-op Community Fund in South East and Mid Cornwall include:

169 St Blazey Squadron, RAF Air Cadets

Friends of Par Beach

Biscovey Youth Football Club

Liskeard Elite Boxing Club

Liskerrett Community Centre; Pensilva Memory Café

Little Harbour Care & Training Equipment

St Blazey Amateur Operatic Society

Looe Festivals

Looe Lifeboats

Looe Town FC

Saltash U3A

335 Saltash Squadron ATC

The Core Saltash

The Hugs Foundation

Bodmin Town Band

Sing Along the River, Loswithiel, Cornwall

The Peninsula Trust

Rame Conservation Trust

Torpoint Sea Cadets

The Torpoint Archives and Heritage Centre

Friends of Thanckes Park, Torpoint