Sustainability Report 2009 - The Co-operative

The Co-operative Enterprise Hub:
financial support by funding stream, 2009
Funding stream
Number of
projects
supported
Financial
contribution
(£)
Co-operative development 95 81,000
Wider
co-operative
support
Regional
Co-operative
Councils
Renewable
Energy Grants
12 132,000
2 98,000
(page 60)
Co-operatives overseas 3 186,000
(page 27)
Total 112 497,000
The Co-operative Enterprise Hub funding for H2ope Water
Power Enterprises (pictured above) and Energy4All
In 2009, H2ope Water Power Enterprises was awarded
£48,000 to help establish three community-owned hydro power
schemes, and Energy4All was awarded £50,000 to establish a
fund to develop potential renewable energy sites in preparation
for purchase by start-up co-operatives.
The Co-operative Loan Fund
The Co-operative, together with Midcounties and East of England
co-operative societies, finances The Co-operative Loan Fund,
which provides support to co-operatives throughout the UK through
the provision of accessible, ethical loan finance. A contribution of
£50,000 was made to The Co-operative Loan Fund in 2009. As
at 31 December 2009, total funds stood at £1.3m.
Loans are provided to set up new, or expand existing, enterprises;
assist employee buyouts or company successions; purchase a
property or business; and purchase capital equipment or create
working capital. The Fund is managed by Co-operative and
Community Finance, which is authorised and regulated by the
Financial Services Authority. A number of Co-operative Loan Fund
case studies are available on the Fund’s website 34 .
Co-operative schools and learning
In 2009, The Co-operative continued its work on schools and
learning, investing some £388,000 in programmes that bring
co-operation into education:
• Co-operative trust schools The Co-operative, in partnership
with The Co-operative College, has developed a model for
co-operative trust schools in England, and is additionally
providing trustees and expertise. In 2009, over 100 schools
indicated their wish to become co-operative trust schools, and,
in October, a national conference was held to launch a national
co-operative school network. The network will be developed in
2010 to enable co-operative schools to collaborate and share
good practice. To facilitate this, The Co-operative will second
a member of staff to the network, fund the legal framework,
provide business expertise and banking facilities, and lobby for
governmental support.
In Scotland, support is provided to Co-operative Educational
Trust Scotland (CETS) 35 . The Co-operative’s involvement includes
financial support, representation on the board and provision of
secretariat support and office space. CETS delivers co-operative
enterprise education to schools, runs continuous professional
development programmes for teachers, and provides schools
with access to the Co-operative Movement across Scotland.
• Business and Enterprise Colleges Throughout 2009,
relationships were maintained with the 10 Business and
Enterprise Colleges 36 sponsored under the Government’s
specialist schools programme. Support involves provision of
governors 37 , assistance with curriculum development, access
to the family of businesses, and funding for The Co-operative
College to develop curriculum materials. During 2009, four of
the colleges continued to develop their links with co-operative
schools in Spain, and with schools linked with the co-operative
sector in the Trentino region of Italy.
• Co-operative Academies The Co-operative continued to act as
lead sponsor of The Co-operative Academy in Manchester, and,
in addition, became the lead sponsor for a second Co-operative
Academy in Stoke-on-Trent. Led by CFS in Manchester, and
The Co-operative Travel in Stoke-on-Trent, and working in
partnership with local councils and educational institutions 38 , the
sponsorship provides extensive business expertise and funds the
community work of the Academies. The Academies, specialising
in business and finance (Manchester) and business, maths and
ICT (Stoke-on-Trent), will open in September 2010.
Representation
The Co-operative seeks to actively promote national and international
co-operation through its support for and involvement with
representative bodies, including the International Co-operative Alliance
(ICA), Co-operatives UK , Mutuo, European Association of Co-operative
Banks (EACB), The International Co-operative and Mutual Insurance
Federation (ICMIF), Eurocoop, The International Co-operative Banking
Association (ICBA) and The Co-operative Party. Some of The
Co-operative’s work with such bodies in 2009 is exemplified below,
with details of monetary support provided on pages 114−115.
• International Co-operative Alliance (ICA) The ICA is the
world’s largest non-governmental organisation, representing
and supporting co-operatives and mutuals worldwide through
its regional institutions. The Co-operative was ranked 15th in
The Co-operative Group Sustainability Report 2009 93
Delivering value Membership and co-operation Economic impact Employees Customers Public policy