The East of England Co-operative Society is pleased to announce that its special 2011 calendar will support EACH (East Anglia’s Children’s Hospices) and the charity’s Treehouse Appeal.

The calendar, entitled Visions of East Anglia, will feature stunning images from local amateur photographers, and will go on sale in the autumn with 50p from the sale of every calendar going towards EACH and the Treehouse Appeal.

It is expected that thousands of calendars will be sold in Co-op stores across East Anglia giving a big boost to our local children’s hospices, including the new children’s hospice currently being built in Ipswich.

Miriam Harrup, Communications Manager for the East of England Co-operative said:  “The Society has a long history of supporting the local community and we are looking forward to being able to hand over a sizeable cheque to EACH and The Treehouse Appeal.

“This is an excellent local charity providing support to children and their families across our region.

Miriam added: “It’s not too late for budding photographers to send in their photographs for the calendar, but they will have to be quick as the closing date is 30th July! They will have the chance to see their photograph published and also support a very worthy cause.”

Patsy Johnson from EACH said: “We are delighted that the East of England Co-op has chosen us to benefit from the sale of the Visions of East Anglia calendar. Public donations are vital to EACH and without the support of companies like the Co-op we wouldn’t be able to build our new hospice or deliver care and support to life-threatened children.”

The competition is open to all amateur photographers living in Norfolk, Suffolk or Essex.   This is the second year the competition has run and last year it produced some stunning images from around the region.  Twelve high quality photographs were included in the calendar, which sold in its thousands through East of England Co-operative stores.

Taking the theme of ‘Visions of East Anglia’ this year’s competition is seeking vibrant photos showing the beauty of the East Anglian countryside, its towns and villages and distinctive landmarks within the Society’s trading area.

Each of the twelve winning photographers selected will see their image printed on the calendar – one for each month, as well as receiving £50 of Co-op vouchers to spend as they wish.

Judges will be looking for good composition and interpretation as well as photographs that will enhance a high quality calendar for everyone to enjoy.

Entries should be unmounted 10x8 inch (approximately) landscape full colour prints, clearly labelled with name, address, daytime telephone number and email address, if available.  Details should also be given of where and when the photograph was taken and photographs must be a minimum of 300dpi, with a maximum of two photographs for each individual entry.
 
They should be sent to: Visions of East Anglia Competition, Marketing Department, East of England Co-operative Society, 47 St Helen’s Street, Ipswich, Suffolk IP4 2JL.

The closing date for entries is Friday 30th July 2010, for more information and the full terms and conditions click here.

Picture Caption: Brancaster Staithe, by last year's September Winner Antony Burch.

Note to editors:

The East of England Co-operative Society is the largest independent retailer in East Anglia and has over 200 trading outlets which are located in over 70 towns and villages including the three regional centres of Norwich, Ipswich and Colchester.   

The Society’s diverse business activities include: supermarkets and food stores, travel, pharmacy, optical and funeral branches, petrol forecourts, a Training Academy, and an Events and Conference Centre.

About EACH:
 
EACH needs to raise £4 million in donations to deliver our services this year. This amounts to £11,000 a day, every day of the year.

We support families and care for children and young people with life-threatening conditions across Cambridgeshire, Essex, Norfolk and Suffolk.

We deliver a range of services that includes: short break care, specialist play activities, music therapy, hydrotherapy, parent groups, sibling groups, care at end of life and bereavement support for all family members.

We provide care and support wherever the family wishes– in the families’ own home, in hospital or at one of our hospices in Ipswich, Milton or Quidenham.

We continue to develop the quality and range of our services to support children and their families. Last year we helped 464 families by delivering 75,000 hours of care and support - an increase of more than 15 per cent on the previous year.

About the Treehouse Appeal:
 
The current EACH hospice bungalow in Ipswich is inadequate for the demands of children’s hospice care services in Suffolk and North Essex- which is why we need to move to new premises.

We have been donated a four acre woodland plot in Ipswich by a local charitable trust and the new building will allow end of life care to be delivered in greater privacy, provide more bed spaces for life-threatened children and provide private overnight accommodation for families to name but a few.

The Treehouse Appeal aims to raise £3 million to build and equip the new hospice and for more information contact The Treehouse Appeal Fundraising Office, EACH, Room 23, Epsilon House, West Road, Masterlord Office Village, Ransomes Europark, Ipswich, IP3 9FJ, Tel: 01473 276115.

For further information please contact:
Miriam Harrup, Communications Manager, East of England Co-operative Society, Wherstead Park, The Street, Wherstead, Ipswich, Suffolk IP9 2BJ
email: m.harrup@eastofengland.coop