The Co-Operative Bank Donates GBP28,000 to Community Groups Across the UK

MANCHESTER, England - The Co-operative Bank is donating GBP28,358 to help community groups across the UK carry on making a positive difference, through its Community Directplus account.

The Community Directplus account gives community groups a bank account with free banking, with the added bonus of being able to gain additional financial support for their community projects.

As a benefit of the account, The Customer Donation Fund makes twice yearly donations to Community Directplus customers. Since the account was launched in 2003, it has given over GBP220,000 to 266 groups that undertake important work within local communities.

The projects which will benefit from funding include, a project to build a wildlife garden in a school, the building of a skate park, the setting up of a parent and toddler group and the purchasing of computer equipment to help an isolated community.

John Barker, Head of Business Banking at The Co-operative Bank comments: “In the difficult economic times we have had over the past year, these donations will really help to support community groups across the UK to fund projects that reach to the heart of their communities.”

At The Co-operative Bank community involvement is an integral part of the business and the Customer Donation fund helps us to support other organisations that carry out exemplary work at a local level.

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Community Directplus is the leading bank account for community organizations, charities and social groups. In addition to providing the opportunity to apply for financial support via the customer donation fund, other benefits include free banking, credit interest on balances over GBP2,000 and a choice of easy ways to manage the account, from online and telephone to branch and the Post Office.

More information on The Co-operative Bank Community Direct plus Account can be found at www.co-operativebank.co.uk

The Co-operative Financial Services is part of The Co-operative Group, which is the world’s largest consumer co-operative with over 3 million members. CFS currently has 5.5m customers and employs over 8,000 staff. It has 116 retail and corporate branches/centres and over 1,000 face to face financial advisers. It has GBP38bn of assets under management across its retail and corporate business areas. This includes the Co-operative insurance, leading home insurance and car insurance providers.

For further information contact: Alejandra Solis / Catherine Laycock, The Co-operative Financial Services Press Office, Tel: +44(0)161-903-3808 / 3833, Fax: +44(0)161-903-2751.

Source: The Co-operative Bank

For further information contact: Alejandra Solis / Catherine Laycock, The Co-operative Financial Services Press Office, Tel: +44(0)161-903-3808 / 3833, Fax: +44(0)161-903-2751, e-mail : alejandra.solis at cfs.coop / catherine.laycock at cfs.coop.