Co-op boss donates part of salary to fund supporting community causes
The chief executive of the Co-op is donating part of his salary to launch a fund for food banks and other community causes. Steve Murrells will give a fifth of his salary for the next three months into the Co-op Members' Coronavirus Fund.
Money will be channelled into food banks, a funeral hardship fund and frontline community causes.
The fund has been established so that the Co-op's 4.6 million members can donate their unspent existing member rewards, totalling more than £30 million, into these vital areas.
Initially the fund will be supporting food banks, a funeral bereavement fund established for those in financial hardship and local causes that are already being supported by the Co-op and working to alleviate the impact on the present lockdown.
Mr Murrells, whose annual salary is £750,000, said: "Millions of people are suffering financial hardship at the moment and so it felt right for me to offer to take this pay cut and directly support causes which are very important to me and close to my heart.
"One per cent of what our members spend already goes to local causes and now if they wish they can donate their 5% personal rewards to help lessen the impact the emergency is having on millions of our fellow citizens."
Last week the Co-op announced it had pulled its Easter TV advertising campaign, which was originally publicising its chocolate eggs, and donated the airtime - worth £2.5 million - to promoting the work of food bank charity FareShare.
Published: by Radio NewsHub