Co-op, Coca-Cola Europacific Partners and Special Olympics Great Britain have relaunched Meals That Matter for 2026.
The national campaign raises funds for Special Olympics GB through Co-op lunchtime meal deals while using in-store visibility to highlight athletes with intellectual disabilities.
The first burst of the 2026 campaign is running until 19 May in Co-op stores nationwide. It will help build momentum towards the 2026 National Summer Games, described as the largest celebration of inclusive sport in Great Britain in almost a decade.
For every Co-op lunchtime meal deal purchased that includes a 500ml bottle or can of Coca-Cola Original Taste, Coca-Cola Zero Sugar or Diet Coke, 25p will be donated to Special Olympics GB.
The 2025 campaign ran for 12 weeks and featured in-store images of Special Olympics GB athletes. It sold more than 350,000 meal deals across 2,400 Co-op stores and raised almost £80,000 for Special Olympics GB.
The spring campaign is fronted by Angus Leckonby, a triathlete and swimmer from East Yorkshire, whose images will appear on in-store materials across participating Co-op stores. Leckonby has competed nationally, qualified for the GB Aquatics National Championships in 2024, set three Guinness World Records in 2025 and completed two London Marathons.
Swimmer Taylor MacKenzie, gymnast Ellie-Bea Thomas and table tennis player and Co-op employee Alex Rae will feature in later bursts during 2026.
The campaign will appear across Co-op stores nationwide, with in-store materials and digital touchpoints featuring Special Olympics GB athletes. Activity includes front-of-store displays, digital screens and shelf talkers across 113 stores.
Makaton symbols are again being used in point-of-sale materials to make the campaign accessible to the more than 10,000 children and adults in the UK who use Makaton to communicate.
Special Olympics GB supports more than 12,000 athletes with intellectual disabilities across 27 sports, through grassroots clubs and volunteers in England, Scotland and Wales.
Coca-Cola has been a founding partner and global sponsor of Special Olympics since 1968, with the partnership extending to Special Olympics GB since its launch in 1978.
