Ospreys in the Community have teamed up with Wales’ leading independent food retailer after CK Foodstores agreed to become a community programme partner.
The new agreement will see Llanelli based CK supporting a range of local sporting opportunities and events with both clubs and schools across Ospreylia.
It continues an already well-established relationship that has seen CK acting as headline sponsor for tag rugby events in the region as well, as well as their distinctive logo featuring on the back of the senior Ospreys team’s white away shorts last season.
Paul Whapham, Foundation Manager, Ospreys in the Community, said:
“We are delighted to confirm such a well established and respected community focused company on board. Like ourselves they hold a strong position in the local community and it makes perfect sense for us to team up and use the influence that we both have to create positive change. It is important to us that, as a partner, CK will help increase the profile and awareness of Ospreys in the Community throughout its network of local stores
“We look forward to working closely with CK on our community focused events over the coming season, starting with our summer rugby camps which are proving more popular than ever.”
Alun Littlejohns General Manager of CK Foodstores, said:
“We are delighted to be supporting grass roots sport across the region, and were impressed when the Ospreys introduced this foundation last year, as we think its exactly the focus sport needs locally. As a community based food supplier, we serve thousands of families every day, and if supporting this excellent initiative gets more kids into sport, then it’s something we want to be right behind.”
CK Foodstores is now the largest independent food retailer in Wales with 12 food stores, and 2 petrol forecourt operations in the Ospreys region alone. In total they employ almost 500 people and serve over a quarter of a million customers every week.
Despite their expansion, CK still maintain strong community links as they did when established by Managing Director, Christopher Kiley, in the mid 1980’s, with Post Offices, in-store bakeries and trained butchery units in stores right across West Wales.
The business now operates a range of consumer led outlets, from corner shop convenience stores in Swansea City centre, to larger out of town units further west, with all stores featuring scratch bakery and bespoke butchery counters as well as increasingly focusing on food produced locally by some the excellent producers within the region.