How does Community Connect work for Members?

Community Connect is exclusively available to Scotmid Co-operative members in our trading areas across Scotland and the Lakes and Dales areas – to find out how to become a member click here.

How does Community Connect work?
A Scotmid member panel formed from elected members and employees will select a shortlist of three Good Cause Groups from those applying for a Community Connect award. Members can then follow the steps below to collect votes and then cast those votes to award the three Good Cause Groups a share of £25,000. Click here to find out more about the shortlisted groups in your area.

Scan and Collect:

Members receive one Community Connect vote for every transaction in Scotmid or Lakes and Dales Food stores*
There is no limit to how many votes members can collect
There are two vote collection cycles each year which run from April to September and September to April the following year

Members who join more than three months before the date of a Scotmid member meeting (held in April and September) can register and attend the meeting to cast their votes
Members will receive registration instructions and be told the meeting location a few weeks before registration opens
Alongside casting Community Connect votes the member meetings enable members to receive an update on the performance of Scotmid Co-operative

How to Vote

Scotmid members in the North, West and East member regions have been issued with a Community Connect Membership cards. This card should be presented at the till each time the member shops.
With each shop, a vote is collected. These votes continue to accumulate during the six month cycle and there are two collecting cycles each year: April until September culminating in the allocation of either £15,000, £5,000 or £5,000 to three local Good Cause groups at the Member Meeting (AGM) in April and September to April culminating in the same sums being allocated at the Member Meeting (OGM) in October.
All votes whether they have been cast or not will be zeroed at the end of the collection period and all members will begin with 0 votes.

There are two ways to cast accumulated Community Connect Vote; either in a Scotmid Store or at the Member Meeting

In a Scotmid Store

Members cast their accumulated votes in their local Scotmid store.
To cast their votes for one of the Good Cause groups, members simply go to a manned checkout and inform the checkout operator who they would like to vote for
Posters providing details of the three shortlisted groups in your specific region will be displayed in store, or you can visit our website to find out more information.
Members do not need to purchase an item to allocate their votes but do need to present their Community Connect card
When a member votes in-store all of the Community Connect votes that they collect up to the end of the current collection cycle are assigned to the group they voted for
Members can change their mind about which group they vote for by scanning their card and voting again – the last vote registered on the till will be used to calculate the number of votes each good cause group has
The Good Cause Group that the member has voted for will be displayed on the till receipt
All of a members votes must be cast for one group – votes cannot be split
Members who cast their votes in-store and then attend the meeting cannot re-use their accumulated votes however they will be given 15 bonus votes to cast at the meeting
All votes cast in store will be added to those cast at the relevant member Meeting

At the Member Meeting

Members will be given a ballot paper with the names of the three relevant Good Cause groups on it when they arrive at the meeting.
Members will have the opportunity to meet and chat with the groups before the meeting starts.
Members will hear a 5 minute presentation from all three of the good cause groups before they are asked to vote
Members who register and attend the meetings will receive 15 bonus votes in addition to the votes they have collected in store
Members who attend the meeting will hear the announcement of which group will receive £15,000, £5,000 and £5,000 respectfully

There’s also personal benefits for members:

Each time a member scans their card in store they will be entered into the Community Connect prize draw to win up to £100 in Scotmid vouchers every month (click here to see previous winners)
For every 25 votes a member collects they will receive a money off voucher on their till receipt
If you’ve lost your card, please complete this form and we’ll send you a new one

Where can I get more information? Contact the membership team by emailing membership@scotmid.co.uk or by calling 0131 335 4433. The full terms and conditions for Community Connect can be found here and the Monthly Member prize draw terms and conditions can be found here.

*PayPoint transactions will not generate a vote