It only seems like yesterday that we were first discussing the possibility of being involved in the World Para Athletic Championships London 2017. Time has flown by and now the opening session is just a few hours away. Here’s a round up from Jemima Bird, our Customer Director at Co-op Food. There’s a lot of great activity to share so you might want to grab a cuppa!

Carly Tait: Customer team colleague and British Para athlete

Carly’s now in London preparing herself physically and mentally for the championships. She’s racing this evening in the 100m T34 race which is being broadcast live on Channel 4. She’ll also be racing on Monday in the 800m and Wednesday in the 400m.

If you’re visiting London, there’s a good chance you’ll see Carly; as part of our partnership with Muller and UK Athletics Carly’s featured in the takeover of Café Football in Westfield, which has become Café Athletics along with other photo features throughout the area. If you’re on Twitter then please do wish Carly good luck @CarlyT_WcRacer and use the hashtag #goodluckcarly. If you’re not on Twitter you can still upload a selfie and message of support for Carly and the entire team at www.goodluckcarly.com.

A Co-op experience with our delicious food

Yesterday we built this brilliant Co-op brand experience in a fantastic location in Hero Village at the stadium. We’re looking forward to welcoming visitors, talking to them about how we’re supporting British and serving up some of our tasty food.

Welcoming our suppliers to the event

We’re inviting 20 of our top suppliers to join us at the London Stadium to soak up the atmosphere and discuss informally opportunities for the rest of this year! It’ll be a great opportunity to showcase Co-op and create some exciting plans for the rest of 2017 and into 2018.

Stadium branding

Keep an eye out for our British messaging being displayed on LED boards and also at the start/finish line, as well as other branding throughout the stadium. Our British ad will also be playing on the giant screen.

On TV screens

Our British ads will feature during the ad breaks of the TV coverage on Channel 4. Carly will also feature in the Muller ads around the live broadcasts.

Everyone’s talking about it

We’ve had some great press coverage in the media so far; here are some highlights including coverage of our store fascia takeover.  carly press coverage

Get set – Go Co-op runners!

18 colleagues from across Food, the support centre, Digital, Logistics, Funeralcare, Insurance and Legal are travelling to London today, ready for their first shift as a ‘runner’ on Saturday. Take a look at what they’ve been up to so far – they’ll be sharing more about their experiences next week.

Medal presenters

Three of our colleagues will be presenting medals on behalf of Co-op during the championships and they’re looking forward to this fantastic once in a lifetime opportunity to be part of such a magical event:

Amanda Jennings (Customer team) will be presenting on Saturday 15 July

Nick Crocker (Area Manager from South Division) will be presenting on Saturday 22 July

Andy Phelps (Commercial team) will be presenting on Sunday 23 July

Facebook frame

Look out on Facebook for a special frame that you can add to your profile picture to show your support for our British Para Athlete heroes.

Homecoming heroes

Although we obviously don’t know who’ll win medals, we are looking at how we can extend the campaign to celebrate the homecoming of our athlete heroes so watch this space!