Co-operative selects Mencap and Enable Scotland as joint charity of the year for 2011

The learning disability charity Mencap and its sister charity Enable Scotland have been named as the Co-operative Group’s charity partners for 2011, in a move that is expected to net the charities £5m between them.

More than 42,000 employees of the supermarket giant took part in selecting the organisations to be the Co-op’s charities of the year. The arrangement will start in January.

The expected £5m windfall will allow the charities to launch a new programme offering more support to young people with learning disabilities, including volunteering, employment and community involvement opportunities.

Mark Goldring, chief executive of Mencap, said: “Having a learning disability should never mean that a young person is victimised or ignored. The Co-operative charity of the year support will help us to empower young people with learning disabilities to challenge these prejudices and inspire others to see the person and not the disability.”