Founded more than 150 years ago in Rochdale, the now multimillion pound supermarket known as the Co-op was built on strong community values and the belief that everyone deserved high quality goods at a fair price. And whilst the quaint little building in North West England has faded to fond memory, the Co-op today still holds those values at its heart today-no more so represented by its 1% charity fund program. I visited Ashington Co-op, to find out how much they had raised for local causes this year.

The Co-op membership programme costs just £1 to join and essentially rewards customers by giving them 5% of their money spent on Co-op products back at the checkout. In addition to this, customers can go online and choose one of three local charities to donate 1% of their shopping value to. In an ‘every little donation helps’ approach, Co-op members have raised a staggering £19 million for local causes in just one year. And Ashington Co-op customers, proving their immense community spirit, have rallied around their local shop in droves, raising £10,365.85 for their three local causes.

Receiving a cheque for £3,822.85 were  The Racehorse Sanctuary, based in Guilford, who in their own words “help provide a life after racing though our rehabilitation, retraining and sanctuary programmes”. They make sure ex-racehorses are looked after and re-homed after exiting the racing business.

Next, were Little Lifesavers, a charity originally founded in West Sussex, but which have now expanded to a countrywide organisation. They provide basic life support and CPR training for young children, to teach them what to do in the case of a medical emergency and just last year, the charity featured on ITV’s This Morning to spread their message. They received £3,297.13 in donations.

The final charity to benefit from this scheme was Ashington Scouts-the worldwide organisation that teaches life skills to over 460,000 young people aged 6-25 every week. The Ashington Branch received £3245.87 which can be put towards a variety of activities or camps for the members to attend.

Ashington were not alone in their epic fundraising marathon either, with other local Co-op’s also raising large amounts of money, including Steyning and Partridge Green.

And even if you don’t choose a charity, your 1% can still be donated towards the Co-op UK charity-“Belong”, which pioneers helping young people beat loneliness through co-operative action in a range of different projects.

So what are you waiting for? Visit your local Co-op today and get involved, or how about considering nominating a charity you feel could do with that little extra boost. Your 1% may be a tiny drop in the ocean, but after all, the ocean is made up of millions of tiny drops.