The Co-Operative Group Invest To Help Keep Youngsters Safe And Out Of Trouble

The Co-operative Group has recently opened a new Co-operative Food branch, but with a difference. The store that has recently been unveiled in Rotherham will not have any permanent staff and will not actually be selling any produce.

The Co-operative Food branch is actually the latest addition to the Lifewise Centre in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, an interactive education centre that the South Yorkshire Police have used to effectively teach local youths about safety and crime.

With convincingly realistic settings the Police are able to portray real life situations that youngsters may find themselves in and the Co-operative’s presence will be helping to teach about a number of issues such as retail crimes like Shoplifting as well as other targeted problems such as antisocial behaviour and community safety.

The Co-operative’s Loss Prevention Manager Ryan Latham said, “The Co-operative works in conjunction with police forces across the country on a number of community initiatives and we are delighted to be involved with the Lifewise Centre.

“The centre is a fantastic educational resource to promote community safety and educate children and young people on a range of real life situations.

“With the support of our South Yorkshire and Chesterfield members’ area committee which has funded the project, we have created a real Co-operative food store complete with a working till and CCTV cameras which we are sure will prove to be a very valuable educational tool.”

The Store that the Co-operative have produced has well stocked shelves, CCTV cameras and working tills along with all of the real world fascias and fixtures that people would find in their local Co-operative Food shop.

As well as the Co-operative Food feature there are a number of other ‘scenes’ that form a part of the Lifewise Centre such as a railway line, Pub, houses and a bus interchange helping to teach real world skills in personal safety and responsible behaviour.

The Co-operative Food also provide great food recipes which can be made from products found at the real Co-operative Food stroes such as Co-operative - Healthy Recipes and Chicken Recipes and ideas for nutritious meals for all the family to enjoy.

Contact Information

Dave Smith

PR Manager

The Co-operative Group

Contact via E-mail