On 31 March the new Co-op opened its doors to the residents in and around Talgarth. Following a significant investment from Co-op for the refit the weeks of the mobile ‘pop-up’ shop came to an end.
To officially open the store the children of Talgarth Primary School were asked to come down and ceremoniously cut the ribbon. The Friends of Talgarth School are beneficiaries as one of the 3 charities locally to benefit from the ‘Swipe your Card’ scheme. So far using your membership in the Talgarth store has gone to benefit not only the Friends, but the Friends of Bronllys Hospital and the local Cadet Force.
Accompanying the school were the staff and Acting Head Teacher Sam Toone, wearing Co-op donated baseball hats. Members of the School Council joined the original shop owner Mr John Gwynne in officially opening the new Talgarth Store.
Joining in the festivities were Talgarth Town Mayor Jacqui Wilding and Talgarth County Councillor William Powell along with members of the Co-op Staff, Management and Training Team. After the cutting of the ribbon and a photo shoot the children were sent back to school with bags of healthy snacks which some of the children took no time at all in tucking into!
As part of the advertising campaign a bike-board had been stationed outside and both the Acting Head and the Mayor joined by Store Manager Chris Gunning took turns to have a go on the bike… aided helpfully along by a group of the children.
During the proceedings Mr Brian Cargill of Harvey Shop Fitters Ltd, donated a fantastic cheque to the value of £250 to the Friends of Talgarth School. This surprise donation was enthusiastically received by the committee members and Acting Head Sam Toone. The School expressed their huge thanks to Mr Cargill and the company and were delighted to receive the unexpected donation.
During a tour of the new layout in store, which features wider aisles and an enhanced product range, we looked at the Post Office unit featured at the left-hand side of the tills. Originally it was thought that the Co-op would lose its Post Office strong box when the refit took place. A petition of more than 800 signatures was raised and assisted by Assembly Member Kirsty Williams and members of the Talgarth and District Regeneration Group led by Alva Corbett, Jacquie Wilding and Pan Banford along with William Powell. Last summer they met with the Senior Management Team of the both Co-op and the Post Office on a Bank Holiday last year to raise community concerns. After much negotiation, the new store now features a dedicated Post Office and a till based offering which will supplement the Post Office counter opening times. A huge success showing the power of community action and the Co-op’s willingness to make the new store a success and acknowledge the community concerns.
Staff recently attended a training session led by Regional Training Manager Jacky Savage and were very enthusiastic about the new refit and store layout! During the session Ann Dierikx of the Friends of Talgarth School gave a talk about the benefits of the Swipe your Membership Scheme and explained in some detail what the fund raising goes towards at the School. During the session Team Manager Dianne James was so impressed by the work done by the Friends, that she very kindly made an impromptu donation of £700 from the charity egg sales she does locally. This fund raising is kindly supported by the staff of the Talgarth Co-op. These much-needed funds will go towards buying special puppets from America through the “Incredible Years’ project which is used as a teaching aid and assists in behaviour issues in students helping them with problem solving, social skills among some of the benefits. We hope the puppets once arrived will visit the store so people can see first-hand the importance of swiping with your membership card very time you shop and how it directly goes to additional funding for the school supported by the Friends.
All in all, a great morning for the community!
For more details of your local Co-op Store : https://www.facebook.com/cooptalgarth
Children from Talgarth Primary School were joined by John and Les Gwynne original owners of the store along with staff and guests and Town Mayor Jacquie Wilding to open the new store
Jacqui Wilding Talgarth Town Mayor with William Powell Talgarth County Councillor, Chris Gunning Store Manager and Mr John Gwynne who owned the store originally
Children from the school were all given a 'healthy option' goody bag to go back to school with
School Acting Head Sam Toone and Ann Dierikx receive a cheque donated to the Friends Charity from Brian Cargill of Harvey Shop Fitters Ltd
One student tucks into a healthy banana from the goody bags kindly given by the store to all the children
Mayor Jacqui Wilding takes to the bike!
The new store features a new Post Office counter whom members of the Talgarth Regeneration Group sought to keep during discussions with the Co-op and Post Office.
Store Manager Chris Gunning looks on as Acting Head Sam Toone takes to the wheels pushed along by the children
Members of the Friends of Talgarth School after successfully applying to be one of the nominated charities who benefit directly from customers using their Membership Cards. New cards and details are available from store members in Talgarth Co-op... do pop in and enquire... it means cash for the kids and the other two charities registered!
Chris Gunning and Member of the Friends from Talgarth School with Dianne James, Team Manager who donated a whopping £700 to the fund which will buy teaching and learning aids for the School, during a Team Training session prior to the store official opening
** All photos ©Ann Dierikx Photography 2017
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