Marchwood Store Manager

Leftover Cheeseboard Macaroni

Posted on by Adam Page

Turn your party leftovers into the star of the show with this comforting cheesy creation.

  • Feeds 4Feeds 4
  • Ready in 30 minutes

Ingredients

  • 2 pints Co-op semi skimmed milk
  • 250g Co-op macaroni
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 150g leftover mixed cheeses, a mixture of blue, mature and rinded is ideal, crumbled, grated or cubed depending on style
  • 600-700g leftover cooked vegetables (or fresh, see tip), including sprouts, carrots, peas
  • 2 tsp Dijon mustard
  • 2-3 tbsp cranberry sauce
  • 4 cream crackers to crumble on top, optional

Method

  1. In your largest saucepan, gently heat the milk, macaroni and bay leaf, stirring until it begins to simmer. Cook over a low heat for about 15 minutes, stirring often, until the pasta is just cooked. Season with lots of black pepper.
  2. Meanwhile, chop veg into bite sized pieces.
  3. Heat grill to high. To the pan, add three quarters of the cheeses and the cooked vegetables and cook for 2 minutes until the sauce has thickened and the vegetables are hot. Stir in the mustard and discard the bay leaf, season with plenty of black pepper. Pour into a 1.5-2 litre heatproof dish, and scatter with the remaining cheese. Add the cranberry sauce in small blobs, and ripple through the surface with a spoon. Place under the hot grill for 2-3 minutes until golden and bubbling.
  4. Optional: Crumble cream crackers and scatter on top to serve.

TIP: if using fresh veg, boil 2 large sliced carrots for 10 minutes, then add 200g sliced brussels sprouts and cook for a further 2 minutes, then add 200g frozen peas and cook for a further 2 minutes. Drain well.

Each serving contains

  • Energy 32% 2692kj 641kcal
  • Fat High 32% 22.3g
  • Saturates High 48% 9.5g
  • Sugar Low 16%14g
  • Salt Low 20%1.19g

% of adult’s reference intake | Carbohydrates per serving : 92.5

Happy New Year!

Posted on by Adam Page

It’s another New Year and a time for celebration. We hope you all enjoyed a little bit of a break over the Christmas holidays and you’re feeling refreshed.

For us, it was just as busy as ever, but as we reflect on another successful year, it’s certainly not been without lots of exciting changes – and challenges!

As ever, we would like to thank all our customers, colleagues, suppliers and community partners for all their support in 2023 – we very much look forward to seeing what 2024 has in store for you all!

Here’s a few highlights from us.

The big changeover!

Earlier this year we were very sad to see Richard and Karen Dance take a step back from the business after more than 30 years. But, we hear that they are very much enjoying the quieter life!

They are still frequent visitors to our Brockenhurst store and do a number of things to support the community. We’d again like to express our thanks and appreciation to Richard and Karen – and we wish them all the very best.

With Richard and Karen stepping back, our six shops became part of the Southern Co-op as they celebrated their 150th anniversary year.

Back then, 30 people attended a public meeting and unanimously agreed to pay one shilling to establish a local Co-operative. Back then, the Co-Operative Society was formed by dockyard workers to tackle exploitation and inequality, and 5 months later, the Portsea Island Mutual Co-operative Society’s first shop opened in Charles Street on 9 May 1873.

There was recently a special edition of the Portsmouth News, which included a pull-out section on Southern Co-op’s beginnings as part of its 150th birthday in May – you can read it here.

Want to join us? If you’re looking for a new role and you’re interested in becoming part of our Welcome store team you can read more here.

Support for Ukraine

In April, Welcome stores teamed up with New Forest for Ukraine to donate 300 disposable barbeques that were removed from our shelves two summers ago.

Disposable barbeques are a huge risk of causing wildfires. They are devastating for ground nesting birds and other animals, and the impact is felt for years. Plus, climate change also means hotter, drier periods are inevitable, and the risk of starting a deadly fire by taking a barbecue out into the woods increases.

While they were no good to us, New Forest for Ukraine said they could make use of them, and gave them to reservists on the front line in Poland and Ukraine who used them to heat their food for daily essential cooking.

You can read more about the donation here.

New Forest for Ukraine was set up to help the war efforts in Ukraine and has since filled 100 trucks with aid, including 3,000 trauma kits, 150 generators and over 10,000 bandages.

Here’s a photo of us handing over the final batch!

Solent Mind support – and thank you

We’ve been working in partnership with Solent Mind for a few years now and they do some incredible work providing mental health support across the region.  

Not only were we thrilled to announce our partnership with them for another year, in August we handed over a cheque for £3,699.71 to help fund some of their vital services.

What’s more, this year we rolled out a partnership with Solent Mind that gives all our colleagues access to mental wellness kits, so that staff can recognise symptoms of poor mental health and how they can access help if they need it.

Being well physically and mentally is so important and as you can imagine at this time of year, keeping well can feel like a tricky task sometimes.

If you need to talk to someone, you can head to the Solent Mind website to find out more about the services available in your community.

Thank you Solent Mind for everything you do, it’s a pleasure to partner with you.

Becoming Plastic-free!

As an eco-conscious business, we were absolutely thrilled that our Brockenhurst store was recognised with “Plastic Free Community” status back in June.

As an initiative of Greener Brockenhurst, the campaign started last year after the idea was put forward at a community meeting and taken forward as a way of encouraging villagers, community groups and businesses to change habits.

It is a great achievement for the village and illustrates that there is a want and a wish to do more to reduce the amount of plastic used given the right encouragement.

Bringing Christmas cheer to Brockenhurst!

While on the topic of Brockenhurst, we thought we’d share a few pics from the fantastically festive Brockenhurst Christmas Fun Evening, an annual tradition that took place this year on Friday 1st December on Brookley Road.

Welcome Stores has had a long association with the event which was jam-packed with local acts like the Brassed Toffs Band, Magic Jack the magician and the Friday Girls, as well as stalls selling a variety of treats on offer from local businesses, activites and fairground rides.

It was great fun watching everyone get into the Christmas spirit as our colleagues set up a stall outside our shop front in Brockenhurst and handed out free mulled wine and mince pies to residents and visitors who came to enjoy all the fun of the festive fayre – and we raised an amazing £200 for our chosen charity, Solent Mind, in the process.

We also teamed up with Plastic Free Brockenhurst to offer a few things for their raffle prize – another way we wanted to collaborate with such an important organisation following Brockenhurst’s plastic-free status!

We’re already looking forward to getting involved again next year – we hope to see you all there! 

Here are some of our favourite pictures from the day.

More shout-outs and thank yous

We must also give a special mention to our wonderful suppliers who create some fantastic products all made locally.

Wishing you all a very prosperous New Year – and watch this space for more exciting news coming your way in 2024!

Got some old batteries? Empty vape cartridges lying around? We’ll take them!

Posted on by Adam Page

The Christmas presents have been unwrapped and if you’re already tired of tripping over all the new toys, don’t worry we feel you! But what happens when toys need new batteries and are you one of the many people throwing away some 600 million batteries every year?

Land down under

In the UK, we throw away enough batteries that laid end to end in a single line would go all the way from London to Sydney, Australia – and back again!

Most of them end up in landfill, but as they contain dangerous chemicals including lead, zinc, lithium and even mercury, these can find themselves entering the environment, polluting the soil and our water supply. Not only can this present hazards to humans, but it is a direct threat to our natural ecosystem and wildlife.

What’s the alternative?

The thing is, when they are used in so many devices and are probably present in every room in the house, what are the alternatives?

If, like most people, you dispose of your single-use batteries in the household rubbish – STOP. You can bring them in to our recycling stations inside our Welcome stores and we will dispose of them safely.

Plus, this year, we’ve also introduced vape recycling centres to our till points – so you can bring those into us as well.

Vape cartridges are just as hazardous as batteries if they are not disposed of correctly.

With the rise in the use of vapes as an alternative to smoking, it is thought around 5 million disposable vapes are thrown away each week once their few-hundred puffs have expired.

Non-profit organisation Material Focus, calculated that around 30 million vapes are purchased each month in the UK which all contain copper wires and lithium batteries, which when disposed of, contain enough lithium to provide batteries for 5,000 electric cars each year.

We “welcome” your disposeables!

As a retailer that is constantly striving to improve its carbon footprint, vape and battery recycling points are right at home in our stores.

It is really important that we all do our bit to protect the environment and help reduce some of the 5 million disposable vales and 600 million batteries going into landfill.

Here’s a picture of what our recycling stations look like and if you don’t find them in your local Welcome store, please do ask a colleague who will happily point you in the right direction – and let’s get the new year off to a cleaner, greener start!

Supplier Spotlight: BottleUp – sustaining the environment one reusable bottle at a time

Posted on by Adam Page

In a world that’s increasingly embracing sustainability and conscious consumer choices, BottleUp is Welcome Store’s latest supplier to be on board and doing its bit for sustainability.

A Sustainable Vision

Emerging in 2019, and just a matter of weeks before the global pandemic gripped the world, BottleUp has not only thrived but also significantly contributed to a greener, more sustainable future.

It’s no secret that bringing single-use plastics under control is high on everyone’s agenda. So, it will be of very little surprise to know that the company was born to provide a reusable, sustainable solution in the “on-the-go” water category and to support a noble cause at the same time.

An attractive position

If you’ve stepped inside your local Welcome store recently, you may have noticed BottleUp’s attractive bottles in our chillers. The company prides itself on being able to change these colours on a whim, according to what the market’s preferences are at the time.

But these are not just a colourful addition to our shelves; BottleUp commits to generating donations for their water partner, Made Blue. Every purchase of a BottleUp bottle contributes to providing clean drinking water to communities in developing countries.

Conscious partnerships

This partnership between BottleUp and Made Blue demonstrates the company’s dedication not only to environmental sustainability but also to social responsibility – the perfect pairing for us here at Welcome Stores.

In fact, BottleUp has found an ideal partnership with Welcome Stores, which aligns perfectly with our sustainability ethos. We’ve done things like reduce single-use plastics, even introducing plastic-free stations to our Brockenhurst and Fair Oak stores, and limit the amount of food waste we produce, as well as using less energy in our stores and recycling more.

We also do our bit to support local businesses, as we realise by doing this we are supporting our local economy, and jobs, and by sourcing local produce we are reducing our carbon footprint.

What sets us apart?

Similarly, BottleUp is produced and filled in the UK. By producing and filling its bottles in the United Kingdom, BottleUp significantly reduces its carbon footprint and supports local industries.

Also, what’s pretty cool about BottleUp is that the bottles are made from sugar cane, replacing traditional oil-based plastics with a renewable resource.

Excitingly, BottleUp has announced a new product for 2024: a 330ml bottle to complement their standard 500ml offering.

Challenges and Solutions

Running a business in the competitive market of sustainable products is not without its challenges.

BottleUp acknowledges this and says its main hurdle is competing with cheaper single-use alternatives. However, they try and combat this by offering competitive pricing and hope that their target market already wants to do more to reduce their carbon footprint – so they focus heavily on the story-telling aspect of their business to communicate the value of their products, making it easier for consumers to make the environmentally responsible choice.

Have you tried BottleUp yet?

To read more about them, head to bottleup.com

Christmas tree breakfast buns

Posted on by Adam Page

These lightly spiced buns are full of festive fun. Get the kids involved in making the dough and decorating them

  • Feeds 16Feeds 16
  • Ready in 50 minutes

Ingredients

  • 320ml Co-op semi-skimmed milk
  • 500g pack Co-op white bread mix
  • 2 tsp ground cinnamon
  • 1 tsp mixed spice
  • Zest of 1 orange
  • 100g raisins
  • 1 Co-op British free-range egg, beaten
  • 3 tbsp Fairtrade icing sugar
  • 8 glacé cherries

Method

  1. Gently heat the milk in a small saucepan until lukewarm
  2. Put the bread mix, cinnamon, mixed spice, orange zest and raisins into a large bowl, and mix together
  3. Make a well in the middle, then pour in the milk and stir with a wooden spoon, until you have a tacky dough
  4. Turn out onto a clean work surface and knead for 5 mins, until smooth and elastic
  5. Leave to rest for 10 mins
  6. Divide the dough into 16 even pieces and roll into balls
  7. Arrange the balls in a Christmas tree shape on a lined baking tray, leaving a bit of space between them to allow the dough to expand
  8. Cover with a clean tea towel and leave to rise for 30-40 mins, until almost doubled in size
  9. Preheat the oven to 220°C/fan 200°C/gas 7
  10. Brush the buns with the beaten egg, then bake for 15-20 mins, until golden and the base of the buns sounds hollow when tapped
  11. Leave to cool fully
  12. To serve, mix the icing sugar with 1 tbsp water, until smooth
  13. Drizzle over the buns, then decorate with the glacé cherries

Each serving contains

  • Energy 8% 673kj 158kcal
  • Fat Low 2%1.4g
  • Saturates Low 2% 0.4g
  • Sugar Med 11%10.2g
  • Salt Med 7% 0.45g

% of adult’s reference intake | Carbohydrates per serving : 33g

Need a little meal inspo?

Posted on by Adam Page

Nights in? Eating healthy? Meals to keep the kids happy? We’ve got you covered.

Use our Welcome Stores Meal Planner to organise your week.

Keep everyone happy from fridge pickers to fussy eaters, simple snack-ers or mighty meals for breakfast lunch and dinner.

Click the image below to download and print.

You’re welcome!