Our partnership with Co-op
From October 2019 until October 2023, we worked with Co-op to empower communities, and offer support when things felt like they were getting too much.
On this page, learn about:
Our partnership research showed that 1 in 3 people don't have the support or tools to cope with life's ups and downs.
Highlights from the partnership
Check out some of the highlights from our incredible 4-year partnership:
- Co-op raised £8.45 million for Mind, SAMH and Inspire
- We delivered more than 60 new services, directly supporting over 30,000 people
- Our partnership research reached 5 million people
- We distributed 1.7 million pieces of printed information in more than 20,000 community spaces
- We’ve supported 3,600 people through an online learning course
- Time to Talk Day generated more than 5 million additional conversations about mental health and wellbeing
- We scooped 2 awards too!
How much we fundraised
During the partnership, Co-op raised a staggering £8.45 million by fundraising with staff, members and customers.
We want to say a huge thank you to Co-op colleagues and customers. Your hard work, enthusiasm, and support has had a huge impact on the mental wellbeing of communities across the UK.
Services we funded
Money raised from our partnership with Co-op went straight to our communities. It was used to fund more than 60 new mental wellbeing services across the UK.
The services helped people to develop the tools they need to stay mentally well.
Of the 30,000 people we supported so far:
- 81% said their mental wellbeing had improved
- 77% felt more closely connected to their community
In the video below, hear from Ryan from Llanelli Mind. He explains the work they've been doing with Evolve, a programme which helps young people in the local community.
You'll hear from these people in the following order:
- Ryan, CYP coordinator at Llanelli Mind
- Shannay, a young person at Evolve
- Group mentor, Tom
- Anna, a staff member at Evolve
- Alissa, another young group member
- Bethany, a young person at Evolve
“Sometimes I come to the group feeling really dismal about the world. But when I leave, I do feel like I’m not alone like I have hope, and that I can keep going forward.”
One of the young people from a Co-op-funded peer support group
Research about mentally resilient communities
Through our partnership, we carried out research to understand what makes mentally resilient communities. The research paper is called Together Through Tough Times.
Our findings revealed the importance of communities in supporting mental wellbeing. When people play an active role in their community, they develop support networks. And these support networks can be there for them when they need it.
When you help others, it can improve your own mental wellbeing, as well as others. Whether it's small acts of kindness, or volunteering in your community, it can make a real difference.
Information resources we created
We printed mental health and wellbeing information and distributed it to 20,000 communities across the UK.
The information was developed with people with lived experience, and it was tailored to their needs.
We gave out 1.7 million pieces of printed information to people across the UK.
Our online course on having conversations about mental health
We also developed a free online course, called Conversations in the Community. This helped people build the confidence to have conversations about mental health and wellbeing.
Conversations in the Community has empowered more than 3,600 people to learn how to have supportive conversations.
The course is free, and it's open to everyone. To learn more about the course, watch the video below.
Or, you can sign up for Conversations in the Community right now.
Awards we won
And if that wasn't enough, in May 2022, our partnership won 2 awards at the Third Sector Business Charity Awards:
- Employee Engagement Initiative of the Year for Co-op's innovative fundraising events
- Best Charity Partnership in the Consumer Food and Beverage category, for our collaboration with Co-op, SAMH and Inspire
The legacy of our partnership
We want our work to have a long-term impact on the mental health of communities across the UK. These are some of the ways we're doing that:
- We’ll continue to use our research to shape Mind’s future work, and campaign for change.
- We’ve created a collection of resources called ‘How to improve community resilience’. They're designed to support community projects to build resilience in their local communities.
- Mind, SAMH and Inspire have continued to partner with Co-op on Time to Talk Day 2024.
Find out more about our Co-op partnership
For this partnership, we worked with Co-op, SAMH in Scotland, and Inspire in Northern Ireland. To learn more:
