JANUARY 2018

JANUARY 2018
news
LEADERSHIP
Finding the route
to collective
decision-making
Plus ... Helping
Looking ahead to 2018
... Working for gender
equality ... Co-housing
for homeless veterans
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CONNECTING, CHAMPIONING AND
CHALLENGING THE GLOBAL CO-OP
MOVEMENT SINCE 1871
Holyoake House, Hanover Street,
Manchester M60 0AS
(00) 44 161 214 0870
www.thenews.coop
editorial@thenews.coop
EXECUTIVE EDITOR
Anthony Murray
anthony@thenews.coop
DEPUTY EDITOR
Rebecca Harvey
rebecca@thenews.coop
EDITORIAL
Anca Voinea | anca@thenews.coop
Miles Hadfield | miles@thenews.coop
DESIGN: Keir Mucklestone-Barnett
DIRECTORS
Elaine Dean (chair), David Paterson
(vice-chair), Richard Bickle, Sofygil
Crew, Gavin Ewing, Tim Hartley,
Erskine Holmes, Beverley Perkins and
Barbara Rainford.
Secretary: Ray Henderson
Established in 1871, Co-operative News
is published by Co-operative Press Ltd,
a registered society under the Cooperative
and Community Benefit Society
Act 2014. It is printed every month by
Buxton Press, Palace Road, Buxton,
Derbyshire SK17 6AE. Membership of
Co-operative Press is open to individual
readers as well as to other co-operatives,
corporate bodies and unincorporated
organisations.
The Co-operative News mission statement
is to connect, champion and challenge
the global co-operative movement,
through fair and objective journalism and
open and honest comment and debate.
Co-op News is, on occasion, supported by
co-operatives, but final editorial control
remains with Co-operative News unless
specifically labelled ‘advertorial’. The
information and views set out in opinion
articles and letters do not necessarily
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@coopnews
news
cooperativenews
Our view: Plotting a course for
co-operative leadership
Collective leadership is a phrase that must put fear into many managers – but this is
undoubtedly the co-operative way.
Co-operatives are the epitome of ‘collective leadership’ – typically this is led
in collaboration between the member-elected board and the board-appointed
managers. Through the act of co-operation, these two groups of people reach the
common goals of the co-op.
There are some gleaming examples, such as the East of England Co-op which,
as a retail co-op, abolished the role of chief executive and instead established a
management team, which works closely with the board.
Then there are worker co-operatives, which strive for a flat structure. Bob Cannell,
who was a worker-owner at Suma, says that people at Suma quickly learnt that
“management is a function, not a status”.
It’s not always positive. There are co-ops that operate their own elite structure, which
keeps ordinary members out. But there is no one-size approach to co-operative
leadership, according to business adviser Kate Whittle. She also believes that some
people are fearful of leadership in a co-operative – but this is only because people
assume that “command and control” is the only way to lead.
As well as looking inside the co-op sector, it’s always helpful to look outside. Craig
Dearden-Phillips is a long-time leader of social businesses, and he has interviewed
many other leaders to figure out how leaders are categorised – and what also makes
a good leader.
There are many opinions on what constitutes leadership – and Bob Cannell may sum
it up perfectly when he says the co-op leader is the one who says: “Listen everyone,
we have a problem. What are WE going to do about it?”
ANTHONY MURRAY - EXECUTIVE EDITOR
Co-operative News is printed using vegetable oil-based
inks on 80% recycled paper (with 60% from post-consumer
waste) with the remaining 20% produced from FSC or PEFC
certified sources. It is made in a totally chlorine free process.
JANUARY 2018 | 3

the Co-operative Party ...
Crunch time for Croatia’s
Co-ops ... Has Co-ops
Fortnight lost its way?
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news Issue #7287 SEPTEMBER 2017
Connecting, championing, challenging
news
September 2017
FOOD
Celebrating
British Food
Fortnight
Plus ... 100 years of
£4.20
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THIS ISSUE
REVIEW OF THE YEAR
REVIEW OF THE
YEAR 2017
CLOCKWISE FROM FAR LEFT
Our 32-page pull-out takes a look back at
the past 12 months; Egyptian co-op Sekem
is working to improve training and work
opportunities for women (p20-21); Abcul’s
Scottish policy officer Karen Hurst (p30-31);
a former policy academy which is now home
to a housing co-op to homeless US military
veterans (p22-23)
news
2017
news
ING
ildings
sent and
...
e Alliance’s
onference...
pment in
ebrating
ay
01
10
£4.20
ews.coop
If you did not receive your Review of The
Year 2017 in this edition, please request
a replacement copy by calling 0161 214
0870 or visit www.thenews.coop/missing
news Issue #7291 JANUARY 2018
Connecting, championing, challenging
news
JANUARY 2018
LEADERSHIP
Finding the route
to collective
decision-making
Plus ... Helping
Looking ahead to 2018
... Working for gender
equality ... Co-housing
for homeless veterans
£4.20
www.thenews.coop
20-21 GENDER EQUALITY
Social investment co-op Oikocredit is
working with Egyptian co-op Sekem to
improve opportunities for women
22-23 HOUSING
A co-op housing scheme has opened for
homeless military veterans in the USA
24-29 A NEW YEAR
Leading figures from the co-op movement
look back on the last 12 months and
discuss their hopes for 2018
30-31 MEET ... KAREN HURST
The Scottish policy officer at ABCUL union
tells how she was drawn to the movement
32-45 LEADERSHIP
32-35 Business expert Craig Dearden-
Phillips looks at social sector leadership
lessons from his time in the worker co-op
movement and his work advising co-ops
on leadership
46-47 BIG DATA
Technology is bringing opportunities and
challenges to co-ops and a session at the
Global Conference of the ICA discussed
its transformative implications
32-PAGE PULL-OUT:
2017 IN REVIEW
We take a look back over the past 12
months – including the most-read online
stories, the biggest events of the year,
and how co-ops have performed in
areas such as solidarity, equality and
sustainability. Plus tributes to some of
the key figures of the movement who
have passed away
REGULARS
COVER: Leadership presents
specific challenges for co-ops.
This month we speak to experts
and leaders from within and
outside the movement to
find some insight into how a
collective model of leadership
can work in practice
Read more: p32-45
36-39 Kate Whittle asks: “Who’s afraid
of leadership?”
40-41 We speak to Simon Parkinson, CEO
of the the Co-operative College, and Ben
Reid, CEO of Midcounties Co-operative
42-45 Bob Cannell from Co-operative
Business Consultants shares some of the
5-13 UK updates
14-19: Global updates
31: Letters
48-49: Reviews
50: Diary
4 | JANUARY 2018

NEWS
BREXIT
Irish co-operative body still has concerns after Brexit border deal
The last-minute agreement on the Irish
border, which has allowed Brexit talks to
move to the second stage, has been met
with a cautious welcome from the Irish
Co-operative Organisation Society (ICOS).
The provisional deal avoids a hard border
in Ireland, with “regulatory alignment”
taking effect when the UK leaves the
single market and customs union.
ICOS, which is the voice for co-ops
in Ireland, is concerned about possible
disruption to supply chains and joint
operations across Ireland and Northern
Ireland, with the rural economy in the
border counties supported by the €3bn
(£2.5bn) cross-border trade.
European affairs executive Alison
Graham said: “Ireland currently has an
all-island agricultural economy, with
strategies, economic structures and
government policies which span both the
Republic and Northern Ireland.”
She said many goods repeatedly cross
the border before they become a finished
product, with dairy co-ops “uniquely
exposed” – half of the northern Irish milk
is bought by co-ops in the Republic.
These concerns led ICOS to call on the
UK to reverse its policy and remain in
the single market and customs union.
But last week’s deal has eased some of
these fears, said Ms Graham. She added:
p The Irish dairy industry is especially exposed to disruption by Brexit
“We are now able to move on to the trade
talks, which was vital to overcome the
uncertainty facing business, and we have
also established a new default position.
“Should the negotiations end with a
trade deal the UK has agreed to ‘maintain
full alignment’ with single market and
customs union rules. This goes a long way
towards easing fears on the possibility of
a cliff-edge scenario, of a hard border and
WTO rules”.
“The alternative – regulatory divergence
– is a top concern for Irish co-ops, as it
would add significantly to trade costs,
increase customs issues and threaten the
position of EU imports to the UK.”
But there is still some uncertainty
surrounding the agreement. Brexit
secretary David Davis was forced to clarify
remarks which suggested the deal “was
much more a statement of intent than
it was a legally enforceable thing” and
Theresa May has said that “nothing is
agreed until everything is agreed”.
Ms Graham warned: “The clear
contradictions in the UK’s desired
outcome remain. UK government stresses
that it will be leaving the single market
and customs union, however within the
agreement it also commits to a ‘guarantee’
on avoiding a hard border on the island of
Ireland, while at the same time ensuring
p Alison Graham
‘the same unfettered access for Northern
Ireland’s businesses to the whole of the
United Kingdom internal market’, with no
indication on how this will be achieved.”
She added: “We maintain our call for
transitional arrangements, which maintain
the status quo, to be agreed as soon as
possible to remove the uncertainty facing
businesses. We also call on the EU and
the UK to ensure that these commitments
are fully respected and translated into a
legally binding agreement.
“We also very much welcome the
strategy outlined in the agreement to
address specific Irish issues also within
the trade talks, including the matter of the
transit of goods through the UK on their
way to mainland Europe.”
Irish co-ops rely on the UK as a land
bridge into the EU, she said, because it
is quicker than ferry transport, and ICOS
is worried these routes would be affected
once the UK leaves the customs union.
“It is doubtful that the current physical
infrastructure at the ports and other entry
points in the EU and the UK have the
sufficient space to conduct the necessary
customs checks,” she warned.
“Any delay would mean missed
connections to further destinations,
mandated rest times for drivers, and
spoiled goods.”
JANUARY 2018 | 5

COMMUNITY SHARES
£3m boost for local communities wanting to develop their own businesses
Local groups needing an extra boost to
set up or grow a community business
can access support and match funding
through a new round of the Community
Shares Booster programme.
Community shares are a popular
approach to raising finance, in which local
people invest often small sums of money
and become co-owners of vital local
enterprises – from affordable housing to
community pubs to green energy.
A new £3m injection into the programme
will support groups in England seeking
to launch community share offers,
potentially boost their investment and
provide ongoing support.
The first development grants and equity
investments will be awarded from early
2018 as part of the five-year programme,
delivered by the Community Shares Unit,
a joint initiative between Co-operatives
UK and Locality, and funded by Power to
Change, the independent trust supporting
community businesses in England.
Successful applicants could receive a
support grant of up to £10,000 in advance
of launching their community share offer.
After that, their organisation could access
up to £100,000 match funding when the
share offer goes live. Match funding will be
in the form of equity held on equal terms
with other community shareholders.
The original £1m programme, which
began in 2016, supported 15 community
businesses. Local people were able to
restore a Stretford Hall, a grade 2 Listed
Victorian ballroom in Manchester, build
a new green-build straw-bale roundhouse
p The Shotley Pier restoration project is one of those which has received support
in South Derbyshire, expand a community
farm in London, build communitydeveloped
homes in Leeds and save the
122-year-old Shotley railway pier for
community use in Suffolk.
Simon Borkin from Co-operatives UK
said: “The community shares market
has the potential for further growth and
the booster programme will provide
a welcome stimulus to community
businesses considering raising this form
of socially aligned and patient finance.
“We have already invested alongside as
many as 3,000 investors and look forward
to supporting many more offers.”
Tony Armstrong, CEO of Locality, added:
“Community shares harness the power
and spirit of enterprise in communities.
“We welcome this new investment to
boost community shares so that more
people can come together to develop new
projects, and benefit local economies and
thriving communities.”
And Ged Devlin, programme manager
at power to change, said: “Around a third
of Community Shares Booster awards to
date have been made to groups located
in the 10% most deprived communities
as identified by the Index of Multiple
Deprivation and we are confident the
programme has engaged groups which,
but for this support, would not have
considered issuing a share offer. We
are looking forward to supporting more
disadvantaged groups and help put
businesses into community ownership.”
To date, the programme has supported
15 community businesses, awarding
over £100,000 in development grants
allowing them to develop their share offer,
as well as investing over £600,000 in 11
community businesses as matched equity
investments, releasing as much as £1.5m
into the community business market.
uApply at communitysharesbooster.org.uk
ENVIRONMENT
Co-op Insurance’s clean cookstove programme reduces CO2 emissions in Ghana
Co-op Insurance is working to offset its
customers’ carbon emissions by helping
to fund cleaner cookstoves in Ghana.
Over 140,000 people have benefited
from the project, which enables people in
Ghana to gain the skills and knowledge
required to manufacture, market and sell
Gyapa stoves.
Each month, 12,000 stoves are
produced by 350 manufacturers,
benefiting over 500 local retailers. The
stoves reduce carbon emissions and
produce less smoke. They also require
60% less charcoal than traditional stoves,
saving families around $100 a year in
fuel costs.
Mark Summerfield, chief executive of
Co-op Insurance, said: “We offer new
customers carbon offset as standard on all
home and motor policies, at no extra cost.
We have chosen this project specifically
as, in addition to its environmental
impact, it offers excellent long-term
social benefits such as job creation and is
helping to facilitate a better quality of life
for thousands in the developing world.
“This exciting project is one of the
many ways we’re committed to doing
business ethically; we already source 99%
of our electricity from renewable sources
(including our own wind farms), and have
reduced our direct carbon footprint by
46% since 2006.
6 | JANUARY 2018

CO-OP GROUP
Co-op Group comes to the rescue as Costcutter’s supplier P&H collapses
Local groups needing an extra boost to
set up or grow a community business can
access support
The Co-op Group will become the
exclusive wholesale supplier to Costcutter
Supermarkets Group, (CSG) it has been
announced.
The Group jumped in to fill the gap left
by the collapse last week of wholesale
giant Palmer and Harvey (P&H), which
supplied about 90,000 outlets around the
UK including major chains, convenience
stores, corner shops and petrol
station forecourts.
From spring 2018, the Group will
become the exclusive wholesale supplier
to CSG and the 2,200 Costcutter, Mace,
Simply Fresh, Supershop and Kwiksave
convenience stores across its network.
The deal will also provide the
opportunity for CSG’s independent
retailers to become Co-op franchisees.
Given the unexpected P&H
announcement, the Group says it is also
looking at practical short-term ways to
support independent retailers within CSG.
Jo Whitfield, chief executive of Co-op
Food, said: “We are operating in a dynamic
market environment and this deal, coming
shortly after our Nisa announcement,
shows how we are positively responding
to the changes occurring within the sector.
Jo Whitfield, head of food at the Group”
Our Food business is going from strength
to strength in what is clearly a challenging
retail market. We recently reported our
14th consecutive quarter of like-for-like
sales growth and this agreement will
further strengthen our ability to offer
customers great products at great prices.”
“Our Food business is going from strength
to strength in what is clearly a challenging
retail market. We recently reported our
14th consecutive quarter of like-for-like
sales growth and this agreement will
further strengthen our ability to offer
customers great products at great prices.”
She added: “While our deal with
Costcutter will start formally in spring
2018 we are looking at practical ways we
can support independent retailers during
this busy trading period, in light of the
news concerning P&H. It is essential that
we maintain a strong independent retail
sector and the Co-op is committed to
playing its part, along with others in the
industry, in ensuring this occurs.”
Costcutter chief executive Darcy
Willson-Rymer said: “With P&H no
longer able to supply our stores, we have
activated our contingency plans that will
see our retailers supported by the Co-op
and other suppliers in the run-up to our
deal with the Co-op.”
pJo Whitfield, head of food at the Co-op
Groupq The Group will become Costcutter’s
sole wholesaler.
“We all have a part to play in addressing
the pressing issue of climate change, and
through this offer, we’re making it easier
than ever for Co-op customers to make
that choice.”
For this project, Co-op Insurance has
partnered with ClimateCare, a profit for
purpose company focused on tackling
climate change.
Edward Hanrahan, chief executive of
ClimateCare, added: “By tieing climate
action into its products as standard,
Co-op Insurance is showing real ambition
on climate change, and driving carbon
emissions reductions at scale. Through
projects such as Gyapa stoves, the Co-op
and ClimateCare are working together
to enable scalable, locally appropriate
solutions to climate change which create
opportunities and develop skills in some
of the world’s underserved communities.
One of those benefiting from the
programme is stockist Ebrahim Dowda,
who said: “I can sell 900 liners a month
which gives me enough money to send my
son to school.”
Gifty Aberig Awimpowa, a local retailer,
has also managed to expand her retail
network by selling the Gyapa cookstoves.
These get sold for USD $10 and save the
customers $100 in fuel costs each year.
For each new motor policy, Co-op
Insurance offsets 10% of its customers’
carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from their
cars in the first year.
Similarly, for each new home policy,
the business offsets 10% of its customers’
home energy CO2 emissions during the
first year.
JANUARY 2018 | 7

ENVIRONMENT
East of England to sell food after Best Before date to cut food waste
p Joint CEO Roger Grosvenor launches the society’s latest food waste initiative
The East of England Co-op has become the
first major retailer to start selling products
beyond their ‘Best Before’ date with the
aim of significantly reducing food waste
in its stores.
The biggest independent retailer in
East Anglia will now sell products over
their Best Before date in its 125 food stores
for a nominal 10p. The move follows
a successful three-month trial in 14
stores and will be launched with new a
campaign, “The Co-op Guide to Dating”.
It is estimated that every year between
30–50% of food produced globally for
human consumption is wasted. East of
England hopes the initiative will save at
least two metric tonnes of waste a year.
Shoppers will be told ‘Don’t be a
binner, have it for dinner!’ and ‘It’s
not nice to get dumped’ in an effort to
encourage participation.
Joint chief executive Roger Grosvenor,
said: “This is one of many initiatives we
have instigated to make the East of England
Co-op as efficient as possible, reducing
our impact on the environment.”
The Food Standards Agency says
products past their Best Before date
are safe to consume but may not be
at optimum quality. The products will
remain on sale for one month past their
Best Before date.
“During our trial we found our 10p
items went within hours of being reduced,
sometimes quicker,” said Mr Grosvenor.
“The vast majority of our customers
understand they are fine to eat and
appreciate the opportunity to make a
significant saving.
“This is not a money-making exercise,
but a sensible move to reduce food waste
and keep edible food in the food chain. By
selling perfectly edible food we can save
50,000 plus items every year.”
p A slogan for the 10p food items
The majority of products that use Best
Before dates will be included, such as
tinned goods, packets and dried food.
The 10p reduced products will not include
‘Use By’ dated products, which should
not be consumed after the Use By date
has passed.
Sales data is more closely reviewed
to monitor waste levels in each store, to
enable the co-op to reduce products which
generate excessive waste.
East of England has also instigated
a new Reduced to Clear policy, offering
more significant discounts earlier in the
day on products nearing their Use By
dates to further help reduce waste.
These changes are the latest in a string
of environmental initiatives at the society.
Customer recycling points and recycling
facilities for stores help manage packaging
waste, and partnerships between local
suppliers in its Sourced Locally range
recuce transport distances, reducing the
carbon footprint.
The 10p discounted food cannot be
donated to charities such as food banks,
as they do not accept food after its Best
Before date. Instead, the society collects
non-perishable food and toiletries within
date in all its stores. Donations for more
than 80,000 meals were collected last
year, supplying 22 food banks.
8 | JANUARY 2018

FAIRTRADE
‘Owned by cocoa farmers’ – Divine shouts about
its ethical ownership in packaging redesign
Divine Chocolate’s new packaging is
putting its farmer-owners at the forefront.
The ‘Owned by Cocoa Farmers’ seal
is stamped on the front of all packages
in the redesign, highlighting its ethical
credentials and that family farmers in
Ghana hold a 44% stake in the venture
with board representation. Inside the
packaging, each bar tells a different
story about a farmer, the structure of
the organisation and what the African
Adinkra symbols which adorn the
packaging mean.
The sharing bars are hitting stores
across the UK, USA and the rest of the
world this month, while the rest of the
product range is rolling out in 2018.
Divine says the design taps into
consumer trends including demand
for transparency on the provenance of
ingredients, concern over nutritional
content, and sustainability impact, all of
which have grown in the past five years.
Divine appointed Lewis Moberly to
lead the strategic design development for
the change.The company says great care
was taken to maintain important brand
assets such as the intricate Divine logo,
accents of gold and bold colours, and the
recognisable pattern of Adinkra symbols.
The changes mean the brand is bolder
against the cleaner one-colour pattern,
it adds.
“The new design also aims to boost
impulse purchases by improving
communication for premium chocolate
decision-making,” Divine added. “The
product name is more legible and more
prominence is given to the percentage of
cocoa. Divine research shows more than
half of premium chocolate shoppers look
for this when choosing quality chocolate.
Divine has made ethical commitments
across its range for many years, but only
communicated these consistently through
marketing channels.
AGRICULTURE
Scottish government: ‘Co-operation
is good for farming –we need more’
A discussion document on agriculture published by the Scottish
government includes a call for more collaboration among farmers
and within their supply chains.
The document was produced by the agricultural champions
team appointed by cabinet secretary Fergus Ewing to advise on
the government’s Vision for Agriculture.
It notes that “most farmers have not reaped huge benefits from
the spectacular growth of Scotland’s food and drink sector in
recent years.
“The failings of our supply chains are well documented. But
the solution must be for the various players to work together.”
The paper gives credit to the work of co-op players such as
the Scottish Agricultural Organisation Society (SAOS), which
contributed to the research sessions.
“We have discussed collaboration at length with our
contributors and are struck by how many benefits it can bring:
economies of scale in purchasing and selling; sharing of
specialist machinery and staff; risk management; logistics;
branding and marketing.
“We see great potential in encouraging greater used of
collaboration and building on the excellent, if sometimes
unrecognised, work of the SAOS.”
The paper also highlights the internship scheme run by
Ringling, a business ring owned as a co-op by its members.
JANUARY 2018 | 9

AGRICULTURE
Farmers’ co-op brings
the latest superberry
to Scotland
A farming co-op has been formed to bring
a new crop to Scotland, the honeyberry
– which has commercial potential as a
health food and as a fruit wine.
The Scottish Honeyberries co-op,
based in Invergowrie, near Dundee, was
formed in July to develop cultivation
methods and spread knowledge
of the crop.
It is hoped the venture – created with
the help of local food and drink marketing
advisory service Connect Local – will
help make Scotland a world leader in the
production of the berry.
Chairman Stewart Arbuckle, who
brought the plants from Canada and
has created an orchard at Invergowrie,
says the co-op currently includes four
farms, each cultivating between five and
10 acres. He hopes this will increase to
nine farms by the end of the year. “We
have to start small,” he said. “It’s a
question of finding out which varieties are
best for Scottish soil and what is the best
way to grow them.”
The plan is to sell the plants to
other farmers as well as marketing the
berries themselves – which makes the
organisation a knowledge co-operative as
well as a farming co-op, says Mr Arbuckle.
The intention is “to show off our growing
ideas and methods, create a brand, keep a
value of that brand within the co-op”, he
added. “We’re trying to build that knowledge.
Everyone has something to contribute.”
Honeyberries Co-operative is looking at
the health market to take advantage of the
crop’s reputation as superberry – it is high
in vitamin C and antioxidants – and has
developed a frozen smoothie bag.
As well as being suited to Scotland’s soil
and climate, the berry has brix and tannin
levels that make it ideal for winemaking.
“We can’t grow grapes in Scotland,”
said Mr Arbuckle, “so here’s an option for
making Scottish wine.”
ECONOMY
Concern for city’s alternative culture as wood co-op loses its home
An acclaimed wood recycling co-op is
looking for a new base after its tenancy
was terminated by Bristol City Council.
Bristol Wood Recycling Project has been
a mainstay of the city’s alternative scene
for 14 years, and has been praised for
creating jobs, supporting volunteers and
reducing environmental impact.
The council granted the co-op
“meanwhile use” on the land, next to
Temple Meads train station, when it
formed in 2004 but now it wants to sell the
site for development.
Bristol City Council is selling the land
to the University of Bristol to help fill a
hole in its budget after cuts to central
government funding for local authorities.
The co-op is a sustainable business that
reclaims disused wood and turns it into
products including firewood to furniture.
It now has nine paid employees and has
saved more than 4,000 tonnes of wood
from landfill over its lifetime.
It success has promoted apex body
Co-operatives UK to make a film highlight
Bristol Wood Recycling as an example
of how co-ops can make a
difference.
The council is working with
the co-op to identify suitable
site but staff and volunteers
at Bristol Wood Recycling fear
the move could threaten the
alternative identity of the city.
Workshop manager Kaleb
Debbage said: “Social
enterprises like ours add a
valuable layer of social and
environmental resilience to
our communities, a kind of
biodiversity.
“If we continue squeezing them out
of central public spaces we can expect
all kinds of hidden costs as inclusive
support networks and developing circular
economies are marginalised.”
Ed Mayo, secretary general of
Co-operatives UK, said: “Bristol Wood
Recycling is a shining example of how
co-ops can make a difference to local
areas. It has created jobs, has had a huge
environmental impact and crucially it has
p Co-op member Callum Burns at work on the site
helped hundreds of volunteers gain skills,
confidence and support.
“We want to see co-ops like this
springing up everywhere. It’s a shame that
just as we’re calling for more people-led
recycling businesses like this, the model
that inspired us is under threat.”
The business continues to operate as
usual, six days a week, collecting wood
waste, selling reclaimed timber, making
bespoke furniture and hosting volunteers
at Cattle Market Road.
10 | JANUARY 2018

Lincolnshire Co-op members raise £108,000 for local causes
Members of Lincolnshire Co-op have
raised £108,000 for local community
groups through its Community Champions
scheme. More than 147,000 members
helped raise the total by shopping with
their dividend card, with funds going
to 167 groups, ranging from scouts and
sports clubs to health networks.
p The Scottish Parliament building
CREDIT UNIONS
MSPs discuss ways of
working with the credit
union sector
MSPs have met to discuss ways the Scottish
government can work with credit unions.
Scotland’s Cross Party Group on Credit
Unions has met to discuss how the
government can work with the sector to
raise awareness.
This follows the commitment by the
Scottish government to fund promotion
of the sector, announced in this year’s
Programme for Government.
The group, convened by Ruth Maguire
MSP, invited MSPs, credit unions and
stakeholders to the session, where Kenny
Pentland of the Scottish government joined
a discussion which gave several credit
unions the opportunity to express their
view.
The meeting also heard from the Scottish
government on its plans to address funeral
poverty, and their ambition to pilot a new
funeral bond with credit unions.
After the meeting, Ms Maguire said: “The
discussion was engaging and insightful,
and I look forward to seeing both the
campaign and the funeral bond take shape
over the coming months and years. I would
like to thank everyone who came along for
contributing to such a successful evening.”
Karen Hurst, Scottish policy officer at
the Association of British Credit Unions
(ABCUL), which provides the secretariat to
the cross-party group, said “It’s great to see
credit unions in Scotland working together
to influence the government in this way.
We really look forward to continuing
this conversation and ensuring that the
campaign has as much impact as possible.”
Southern Co-op raises £190,000 in funeral charity donations
Branches of the Co-operative Funeralcare
operated by the Southern Co-op are
celebrating after raising more than
£190,000 in charity donations, through
their memorial webpage over the last year.
The online tribute service, run in
partnership with memorial charity
MuchLoved, was set up after growing
numbers of people asked for donations
instead of flowers at funerals.
Top award for Co-operative Childcare manager
A Warwick-based early years professional
has been named Nursery Personality
of the Year at the Nursery Management
Today Nursery Awards. Babita Saroy,
quality excellence manager at the
Co-operative Childcare, impressed
the judges with her drive and passion,
including her work on a programme to
ensure all pre-school children are schoolready
by the time they leave.
Training team gong for the East of England Co-op
The learning and development team
at the East of England Co-operative has
been named Team of the Year at the
Training Journal Awards. It competed
with more than 260 entrants to take the
top title in the category. The team was also
runner–up for the Best Organisational
Development Programme.
Co-op Energy praised for rescue of GB Energy customers
Co-op Energy has won the Customer Care
Award at the 2017 Utility Week Awards
for the way it stepped in to look after
customers of GB Energy when it failed late
last year. Judges said it supplier “bravely
took on a high-risk project, providing a
retailer of last resort for customers who
had nowhere else to turn”.
JANUARY 2018 | 11

AWARDS
Plunkett Foundation names winners of the Rural Community Co-op Awards
The 2017 winners of the Rural Community
Co-operative Awards have been
announced by the Plunkett Foundation.
Now in their fifth year, the awards
showcase the co-ops that have made a
real difference to individuals within their
communities, from helping to overcome
social isolation and loneliness, to address
specific health issues.
Barkers of Huby in North Yorkshire
won the Yorkshire and North East England
Award, sponsored by SUMA Wholefoods.
Judges commended the group for:
Old Crown Co-operative (The Old
Crown) in Cumbria won the North West
England Award, presented by Prince’s
Countryside Fund.
Bamford Community Society (The
Angler’s Rest) in Derbyshire won the
Midlands Award, sponsored by BCRS
Business Loans.
Rocklands Community Shop in
Norfolk won the East of England Award,
presented by Fram Farmers. Judges were
particularly impressed with:
p Winners included the Ewelme Village Store
Ewelme Village Store in Oxfordshire
won the South East England Award,
sponsored by the Phone Co-op.
Exbourne & Jacobstowe Community
Association (The Burrow) in Devon won
the South West England Award, sponsored
by the Retail Mutual.
GlenWyvis Distillery in Dingwall won
the Scotland Award, sponsored by the
Co-operative Group.
Cletwr Shop in Machynlleth won
the Wales Award, presented by Wales
Co-operative Centre.
Raglan Community Development &
AWARDS
Credit Union Awards
recognise performance
and education work
Credit union practitioners have been
honoured at the Edward Filene Credit
Union Awards and the Joe Biden
Development Educator Awards.
The ceremony took place in London and
featured Marlene Shiels, chief executive of
Capital Credit Union in Edinburgh.
“We have work to do,” she said at the
ceremony. “Let all of us be the one who
makes the difference. Share the values and
ethics of credit unions with all you meet.”
Ms Shiels is one of the small number of
people from the credit union movement in
the UK and overseas be given an OBE, for
her contribution to financial services and
financial inclusion.
The Joe Biden Awards for Development
Educators from around the world
acknowledge the contribution of active
graduate development educators. Their
qualifications denote the development
educator courses they took.
This year’s winners were:
Justine Lynn Limocon, PhDE, Lamac
Multi-Purpose Cooperative, Cebu City,
Philippines (Asia);
Paul Dawson, ACDE, First Choice Credit
Union, New South Wales, Australia
(Australasia)
Carla Decker, CUDE, DEUK, CaribDE,
CanadaDE, Academic Director & Lead
Facilitator, Caribbean DE programme
Christina Stoneman, Dragonsavers
Credit Union Ltd, Treorchy, Wales (Europe)
The Edward Filene Awards for
Performance Excellence recognise the
work of credit unions and practitioners
to demonstrate how the sector can be
a viable alternative offering financial
services in Great Britain and Ireland.
Barry Epstein, co-trustee of the ICULD&E
Foundation which promoted the awards,
said: “The standard improves year on year,
being a tribute to standards of delivery of
products and services to the consumer,
giving them an ethical, alternative choice
for their financial affairs.”
The winners were:
Single Benefactor of the Year
(organisation): Karbon Homes
(Derwentside Homes), partners of
Prince Bishops Community Bank,
Stanley, Co. Durham
Single Benefactor to a Credit Union
(individual): Ian Gylee, President,
Dragonsavers Credit Union Ltd, Treorchy
Chief Executive Officer/General
Manager of the Year: Amanda Ivey, Chief
Executive Officer, Commsave Credit Union
Ltd, Northampton
Young Credit Union Leader, either paid
or unpaid and aged between 17 and 35
in 2017: Bethany Moss, South Yorkshire
Credit Union Ltd., Doncaster, S. Yorks
Customer Service Officer of the Year
2017: Christine Bates, Dragonsavers Credit
Union Ltd., Treorchy, Wales
Hosting Saving Schemes for Primary
and Secondary School pupils: Prince
12 | JANUARY 2018

Renovation Society in Ballymena won
the Northern Ireland Award, presented by
Co-operative Alternatives.
Ronald Thorne from Chittlehamholt
Village Shop won the People’s
Choice Award, sponsored by Hastoe
Housing Association. For this award,
co-operatives were asked to nominate an
individual who has made an outstanding
contribution to their enterprise and
therefore their wider community.
When the Post Office in the north
Devon village closed in 2008, Mr Thorne
led efforts to save the service, leading
negotiations which secured a 50-year
lease for a site and leading a fundraising
committee which brought in £10,000.
Five years later, the Chittlehamholt
Community Shop was formally opened.
A statement from the community
supporting Mr Thorne’s nomination said
the shop offers “a social hub and meeting
place for all, particularly the elderly and
lonely. It has a coffee machine and table
and chairs leading to many happy noisy
sessions.
“The shop is much valued and the
untiring work of one man, Ron Thorne,
has made it all a reality.”
p Karen Arbuckle, chair of Co-operative Alternatives, presents the Northern Ireland
award to Tracy Wallace and William Millar of Raglan Community Development and
Renovation Society
Winners will receive a party pack,
sponsored by Power to Change, in the new
year to celebrate their achievement with
their communities.
They were chosen from a shortlist by
judges from the award sponsors Hastoe
Housing Association, BCRS Business
Loans, SUMA Wholefoods, the Phone
Co-op, Co-op UK, the Retail Mutual, Fram
Farmers, Co-operative & Community
Finance, Charity Bank, WBC and the
Co-operative College.
Bishops Community Bank, Stanley,
Co.Durham
Achieving Business Growth without
resorting to grant funding: Commsave
Credit Union Ltd, Northampton
Trading and Innovation: Prince Bishops
Community Bank, Stanley, Co.Durham
Credit Union serving as a financial
incubator for seed, small and medium
enterprises operated by credit union
owner-members: Killarney Credit Union
Ltd, Killarney, Co.Kerry, Ireland
Credit Union Advocacy with local and
national politicians: Joint winners –
Dragonsavers Credit Union Ltd, Treorchy,
Wales and Prince Bishops Community
Bank, Stanley, Co.Durham
Community Mobilisation and Outreach:–
Killarney Credit Union Ltd, Killarney,
Co.Kerry, Ireland
Dispensing Financial Education to the
entire Common Bond: Prince Bishops
Community Bank, Stanley, Co.Durham
Use of the Media: Salford Credit Union
Ltd, Salford, Greater Manchester
p The trophies on display before the ceremony; speaker Marlene Shiels
Award for making a film describing the
activity of an individual or a credit union:
– Justine Limocon, Lamac Multipurpose
Co-operative, Cebu City, Philippines
“Beacon” Credit Union of the Year
2017: Commsave Credit Union Ltd,
Northampton
Edward Filene Supreme Award
for Social Entrepreneurship 2017:
Prince Bishops Community Bank,
the credit union that has achieved the
highest aggregate score over all the
categories of performance excellence
open to it.
JANUARY 2018 | 13

GLOBAL UPDATES
USA
NCBA CLUSA working on project to improve nutrition in Senegal
The US co-op apex body NCBA CLUSA says
it is continuing its development work in
Senegal to develop a system of “nutritionled
agriculture”.
This follows the announcement of
a new $40m Feed the Future project,
funded by the US Agency for International
Development (USAID).
The Feed the Future Senegal Cultivating
Nutrition Project began last month and
will run through 2022, with the goal of
reaching over half a million children
under the age of five and their families
with nutrition interventions.
It will focus on nutrition and will build
on the foundation of the Feed the Future
Yaajeende programme, which reduced
child stunting by 30% and poverty by 7%
in 800 villages; this lifted approximately
56,000 people above the poverty line,
despite four years of recurrent drought
and weather crises.
Senegal has made progress in the fight
against child undernutrition, according
to a 2017 study by the International Food
Policy Research Institute, and the Feed
the Future Cultivating Nutrition project
will build on this.
“We are very excited that this new
project will allow more Senegalese
households and communities to build
on what we have learned in addressing
undernutrition,” said Amy Coughenour
Betancourt, NCBA CLUSA’s chief operating
officer for international programs.
p A Senegalese couple on their rice farm (Photo Stéphane Tourné)
The new project will see NCBA CLUSA
train and support local institutions to
lead their own community development.
It hopes this will allow communities “to
sustainably increase consumption of
nutritious and safe diets”.
Other goals are to increase the supply of
diverse, micro-nutrient rich foods, increased
resilience and income and increased
adoption of nutrition and care practices.
The project aims to improve the
governance of food systems in 3,500
villages across 150 communes in 10
regions – reaching 285,000 households
and 2.8 million people over five years.
The project will build out a food systems
approach pioneered by the Yaajeende
Project – Nutrition Led Agriculture, which
“integrates nutrition at every point of the
agriculture value chain”.
This will involve partnerships with
local, regional and national private and
public sector organisations including
mother’s groups, citizen working groups,
community-based solution Providers,
businesses and research institutions.
Partners with NCBA CLUSA on the
programme are Hellen Keller International,
JSI Research and Training Institute, Inc,
Sheladia Associates and Dimagi.
EUROPE
Co-op banks
urge action to create
favourable regulation
The European Association of Co-operative
Banks (EACB) has called on the European
Commission (EC) to improve regulations to
help the sector offer sustainable finance.
In a meeting hosted by MEP Sirpa
Pietikäinen at the European Parliament,
the EACB presented its latest policy paper,
which includes suggestions on regulatory
and supervisory changes and incentives.
Co-op banks across Europe have
58,000 outlets and 209m clients, and the
paper highlights their role in sustainable
financing. They provide sustainable
investments and savings products; finance
for energy transition projects; green
financing to SMEs; finance for energy
efficiency; and, through their social
mission, reinvest significant portions of
profits in the community.
But the EACB warns that the complexity
and continuous motion of the regulatory
framework harms local co-op banks,
and could lead to a less diverse banking
environment. It wants a standard
taxonomy for sustainable assets, and
the promotion of a low-carbon market
for retail banking activity with adapted
commercial tools.
It also calls for a stable legislative and
regulatory framework that is conducive
to a diverse range of business models of
financial institutions, which would create
an ecosystem which sustains different
needs and longer-term approaches.
“Acting in favour of sustainable
financing is in the very nature of co-op
banks whose mission is to accompany
members and clients, as well as their
communities, in the long term,” said
Etienne Pflimlin, chair of the EACB
Task Force on Sustainable Finance.
14 | JANUARY 2018

NEW ZEALAND
Fonterra launches plan to improve country’s waterways
New Zealand’s dairy giant Fonterra
is looking to improve the quality of
the country’s waterways through an
environmental plan based on six strategic
commitments.
The co-op, which is owned by 10,500
farmers, makes up 25% of the country’s
exports. The initiative is part of Fonterra’s
Tiaki Sustainable Dairy Programme,
which touched upon farm environment
plans for all suppliers, consent support,
nitrogen reports, farm mapping and plans
around managing riparian and effluent.
Miles Hurrell, chief operating officer
at Fonterra Farm Source, said: “Like
all Kiwis, we want healthy rivers. Our
farmers have spent over NZ$1bn on
environmental initiatives over the past
five years and fenced more than 98% of
significant waterways on the farm. That’s
a major undertaking but it highlights
our commitment to getting this right and
we’re already seeing that in some regions
these actions are having a positive impact
on water quality.
“All intensive land uses have had an
impact on water quality in this country.
That’s why we have to work together to
address the issue. Today, we’re putting
up our hands and promising to work
with communities to promote healthy
waterways for Kiwis to enjoy. Importantly,
we’re backing up our words with action
and making tangible commitments that
we believe will make a real difference."
The co-op has also recently pledged
to restore 50 key freshwater catchments.
p The co-op carried out clean water projects in the Waituna lagoon (Photo: Shellie)
Its six commitments include farming
within regional environmental limits
and encouraging strong environmental
farming practices. In addition, Fonterra
promises to reduce water use and improve
wastewater quality at manufacturing
plants and investing in science and
innovation to find new solutions.
Another commitment is to build
partnerships to improve waterway health
and make the products people value
most. As part of this plan, Fonterra sets
out some clear actions such as supporting
regional councils to set environmental
limits for water use, investing $250m to
drive a 20% reduction in water use across
its 26 manufacturing sites and doubling
the Co-operatives Network of Sustainable
Dairy Advisors.
The co-op has set a target that by
2025 all of its farmers will have a farm
environmental plan as part of their supply
agreement. Currently, 95% of its farmers
have nitrogen management reports,
which reduces the risk of leaching.
Furthermore, around 2.4bn litres of water
at its NZ manufacturing sites are recycled
or reused. Overall Fonterra farmers have
invested $1bn in environmental initiatives
over the last five years.
“We’re keen to show New Zealanders
the hard work going on behind the farm
gate, so on 10 December, we hosted one
of New Zealand’s largest ever community
open days, giving people across the
country the chance to visit one of 40 farms
and see what we’re doing for themselves,”
added Mr Hurrell.
“Households, local communities and local
entrepreneurs are mobilising in favour of
climate. Co-op banks are on their side.
“However, international initiatives are
often too focused on the capital and asset
management side. We believe a greater
emphasis shall be put on the retail side
of sustainable financing by providing a
tools and policies that are conducive of
green growth in the regions via SMEs,
households and local actors. Co-operative
banks shall be closely involved.”
Ms Pietikäinen, rapporteur for the
circular economy and former Finnish
minister of environment, responded:
“Resource scarcity and environmental
risks should be incorporated in financial
legislation inter alia concerning credit
ratings, capital requirements, insurances,
financial product information, accounting
and auditing. Capital markets can
also be reoriented towards long-term
sustainability through the integration of
environmental factors.
“These are aspects that I look forward
to emphasising as the Parliament starts its
deliberations on the Capital Requirements
Directive. Co-op banks, with their local
focus, play an important role in this
and we must preserve it, for example
with proportionality. I look forward to
continuing this discussion with EACB.”
p Sirpa Pietikäinen (Photo: Leila Paul)
JANUARY 2018 | 15

p Refugee children are getting the chance to learn thanks to the school bus project (Photos: Co-operative Party)
FRANCE
Co-operative Schools Network supports Calais refugee bus classroom
A yellow bus sponsored by the
Co-operative Schools Network has become
a pop-up school for refugee children in
Calais, France.
The initiative is based on the idea of
sharing learning expertise and has been
funded through a crowdfunding campaign
launched by the Co-op Schools Network.
Around 70 refugee children, from
countries including from Eritrea, Ethiopia,
Afghanistan and Libya, meet inside the
bus twice a day where they take part in
discussions, music sessions and other
learning activities.
They receive support with improving
their English and touch upon themes like
identity, health and well-being, art and
place. The bus provides a shelter where
they can play games and cards and study
while staying warm. The youngest student
is aged 10 and comes from Afghanistan.
Upstairs on the bus are three
compartments: the main teaching area
supports around 20 students improving
their English through themes such as
Identity, Health and Well-being, Art and
Place. A middle area is for games and cards,
with banter and chatter shaping maths,
language and problem solving experience.
At the front is a quiet study room for four
people, dedicated to those who need a
retreat, a place for counselling or personal
reflection.
The bus also has onboard solar power, so
the pupils to recharge their mobile phones
to help them stay in touch with home.
The refugee camp known as the Calais
Jungle was demolished nine months ago
leaving many refugee children without
shelters. It is estimated that over 200 child
refugees are living rough in Calais, where
they have no sanitation or clean water.
The project, which is run on cooperative
lines, is led by a team of unpaid
volunteers, including some of the refugees
themselves. The driver and two lead
educators are joined on the sceheme by
volunteers from other projects including
Help Refugees, Refugee Youth Service and
Refugee InfoBus.
The School Bus Project was set up in
2015 to support refugee education, in
response to the crisis in France. Between
2015 and 2016 the team developed
lesson plans, training and mobile school
resources. In addition to the Big Yellow
Bus, they also run a red minibus with
17 seats.
Now a registered UK charity, the
School Bus Project has run refugee
education projects in Calais as well as
other countries. Over the past 12 months
the team has funded four months of
primary maths teaching in Northern
Greece camps, provided transport for Kent
Refugee Action Network field visits and
curriculum enrichment and supported a
UK based refugee catering employment
training project.
“The gist of this is that we know
we cannot always deliver a heroically
personal response to the massive issues
of refugee needs, but we believe we can
make a difference by empowering and
supporting others,” wrote Jon O’Conner,
UK project lead at the School Bus Project
in a blog post.
He added: “If you want to join us,
support us, advise us or encourage us - do
get in touch.”
The Co-operative Schools network says
the project draws on the values whcih
inform thousands of co-operative schools
around the world.
The schools share a commitment to
local accountability and to achieving
the highest possible standards and best
learning outcomes for their pupils, by
working with their communities and with
each other.
16 | JANUARY 2018

USA
‘Built on the power of the co-op’: Another
alliance for Texas electric co-operatives
Texas Electric Co-operatives has formed
an alliance with Comanche Electric
Cooperative (CECA), one of North Central
Texas’ top electric co-ops.
The agreement brings approximately
5,000 miles of line and more than 16,000
meters in seven counties into areas already
served by TEC alliance partnerships.
“This is an important alliance,”
said Johnny Andrews, chief operating
officer of TEC Manufacturing &
Distribution Services. “Comanche
Electric Cooperative is a vital part of the
infrastructure serving North Central
Texans. We are eager to work with them as
they deliver power to their members.”
Alan Lesley, general manager of CECA,
said: “Comanche Electric Cooperative is
built on the power of the co-operative.
Through the alliance partnership with
TEC, we look forward to taking the power
of the co-operative to the next level
for our members.”
TEC now has 22 alliance partnerships,
developed to strengthen the co-op
sector in a competitive market; the
previous alliance, with Greenbelt Electric
Co-operative, was formed in October.
TEC provides members with many
services, but says the alliance supply
model is especially notable because it
immediately reduces operational and
redundant costs, benefiting each co-op’s
bottom line.
The partnerships also mean it can
leveraging aggregation and scale to
obtain high-quality products from leading
manufacturers at competitive prices.
Texas Electric Cooperatives, formed in
1941, represents 75 electric co-ops with
more than 3 million members, and offers
a full line of utility supplies and services.
INVESTING IN A
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These are fixed-term bonds and funds cannot
be withdrawn until the end of the term.
JANUARY 2018 | 17

SPAIN
Blockchain offers competitive advantage to renewable energy co-ops
A team of Spanish engineers is developing
a Blockchain platform to enable renewable
energy co-ops to exchange the power
they generate.
The Pylon Network wants to create the
first open, renewable energy exchange
community. Its users will be able to
exchange green energy, bought directly
from renewable energy co-ops.
To exchange the power generated from
solar panels using the decentralised
platform, Pylon Network has created its
own cryptocurrency – Pylon Coin.
The network’s reward system is based
around servers called “green miners”,
said Gerard Bel, one of the founders of
Pylon Network.
“The green miners are like servers
validating transactions,” he explained.
“As in the case of Bitcoin, the miners are
big computers which solve the algorithm
to secure the data,” he added.
A start-up working for energy solutions,
Pylon Network was formed three years
ago but only took off in 2016.
Me Bel said the technology means
users can constantly monitor their energy
consumption and be charged based on
a “live” electricity price; this enables
them to modify their energy habits to
avoid consumption during high-price
pThe team hope to expand their operation to other countries
periods, reducing the cost of electricity for
the co-operative.
To finance the project, Pylon Network
launched an initial token sale of
Blockchain cryptocurrency. It will now
run a pilot project with a renewable energy
co-op in the Basque Country, Goiener
Cooperative. The pilot will last for one
year, with a limited number of customers.
Pylon-Token is based on Ethereum.
The team behind Pylon Network has
pre-mined 3,750,000 Pylon-Tokens, from
which 3,250,000 will be offered at the
token sale. The remaining 500,000 will be
used to fund all operations of the project
development by the team and partners.
Investors participating in the initial
sale of tokens will receive a share of the
pre-mined Pylon-Tokens. For the Pylon
Network purposes, Pylon-Coin is used,
based – this time – on the core algorithm
of FairCoin a cryptocurrency developed
by FairCoop.
The project is focused on the Spanish
market but plans to expand to other
countries, particularly the UK and
Germany. There are around 20 renewable
energy co-ops operating in Spain. GoiENER
is a qualified and certified player in
the wholesale Spanish energy market
and is supporting the project by being
the first adaptors during the pilot
demonstration stage through the
development of the project.
Mr Bel thinks Blockchain has a strong
appeal to renewable energy co-ops
because it allows greater transparency
and more security due its decentralisation.
USA
US agri co-ops
expand soy crushing
capacity to meet rising
global demand
Agri co-ops in the USA are building
soybean crushing plants at the fastest rate
in 20 years as demand soars for the crop to
make livestock feed.
The new plants will have the capacity
to process at least 120 million bushels of
the crop in 2019, an increase of 5% and the
highest since 1997-8.
Reuters has reported that farmers in
the US, the world’s top soy producer, are
planning to sow another record area.
The rise of a new global middle class
with money to spend on meat increased
the demand for animal feed, with industry
experts predicting production of soy will
have to rise 20% over the next decade.
This increased demand has increased
margins at crushing plants to more than a
$1 per bushel, the strongest for 18 months,
according to financial exchange company
CME Group.
“Margins on soybean processing were
very good, some of the best we’ve had in
many years. And when the industry has
good margins, you expand production,”
Mark Sandeen, vice president of product
marketing at farmer co-op Ag Processing
Inc (AGP) told Reuters.
AGP, the largest farmer-owned soybean
processor in the world, has already started
work a new soy plant in Aberdeen, South
Dakota, that will have an annual capacity
to process 40 million bushels.
It is owned by local and regional co-ops
representing over 250,000 farmers from
16 states throughout the US. and Canada,
and already operates nine soybean
processing plants.
Another of the new plants is being built
by North Dakota Soybean Processors
(NDSP), which is working on a similarsized
facility on an 80-acre site near the
town of Spiritwood.
NDSP says the plant will offer an
integrated soybean crush facility and
refinery to produce soybean meal, refined,
bleached and deodorised oil and biodiesel.
It has completed a feasibility study and
a preliminary front-end engineering
and design study for the estimated $287
million project.
The new plants are expected to increase
demand for local soybeans, which could
be pushing up prices that farmers nearby
will receive for their crops, and reducing
transport costs.
18 | JANUARY 2018

FRANCE
Co-operative
cryptocurrency venture
launched in France
An open-source blockchain co-op has
been set up in France to operate a cryptco
currency.
ARK Ecosystem was incorporated as a
Co-operative Society of Collective Interest
(SCIC), a French model, on the suggestion
of François-Xavier Thoorens, one of the
co-op’s 26 founding members. The team
sought legal advice from a French law firm
and realised the model would be the most
suitable for their project.
The SCIC structure allows employees,
users, volunteers, public bodies,
companies, and associations to act
together to in a legal framework to govern
an entity. The format also allows public
institutions to become shareholders if
seen fit by the board. As with other types
of co-ops, the principle of one member,
one vote applies.
Another requirement is for a SCIC to
keep at least 52.5% of the company’s
profits as legal reserves. Since Ark plans
to hold 100% of any profits for use in
development, marketing, and operations,
the model was seen as the perfect fit.
The co-op, whose members hail from
a dozen different countries, raised US
$750,000 via its ARK Token Exchange
Campaign (TEC). This was lower than
the $1m they hoped for but the team is
continuing to develop the platform.
Its main objective will be to create
blockchain ecosystems. The business
will use technology to offer customers
smart contracts, mobile wallets and faster
transactions. They are also integrating
different programming languages to
allow more flexibility within the world
of developers.
Via its smart bridge technology, Ark aims
to position itself as the “cryptocurrency
of cryptocurrencies”, creating a platform
that connects currencies and blockchains
so that token holders can have a unified
platform to execute smart contracts and
other blockchain-based interactions.
“RK has been envisioned as an
ecosystem from its very beginning,”
founder member and chief financial
officer Lars Rensin wrote in a blog post.
“The founders believe in decentralised
blockchain technology — working toward
a global and inclusive community. It is
only fitting that our legal entity aspire
to these same visions. Inclusion of
all involved is the ultimate objective:
companies, users, token holders,
delegates of the DPoS network, technical
staff, academic advisers, employees, as
well as public institutions.
“The SCIC is a co-operative form
of incorporation that addresses this
objective. This type of legal entity
offers the structural framework to
achieve ARK’s innovative goals as an
open source software project. The cooperative
structure will naturally speed
up development and adoption of the
technology, and strengthen the value of
the ARK Token.”
The Midcounties Co-operative is the largest independent co-operative in
the UK and is an innovative co-operative business owned by our members.
We operate across a number of sectors including, Food retail, Energy,
Travel, Childcare nurseries, Healthcare and Funeral services.
JOB VACANCY
Chief Operating Officer
Funeral Services
Following a review of our Executive leadership requirements, we are now
seeking the appointment of a permanent Chief Operating Officer to lead our
funeral services operations. Reporting to the Chief Executive for trading, the
Six figure package
successful applicant will have full budgetary control for all of funeral services
operations, including 83 funeral homes and logistics and support centres.
Drawing from previous experience, the role holder will be accountable for all aspects of Funeral services providing direction and
leadership to the operational teams ensuring they fulfil their objectives to deliver the group’s strategic objectives.
Accountability will also extend to all aspects of people performance within the Funeral group, including training, development
and succession planning. This will include optimising operational efficiency and standardising policies and procedures to
ensure financial and overall business targets are met. Our funeral services group has an excellent reputation based on the
highest standards of client service and the successful applicant will need to demonstrate a track record in service excellence
along with a strong degree of understanding relating to the sector.
As a member of the senior leadership team, the role holder will be expected to contribute to the wider business strategies
and represent the Society within local and business communities. Candidates should be degree educated (or equivalent)
from a senior funeral, service or retail background with extensive experience in managing and developing similar operations.
To apply for the role, send your CV to:
kelly.shorthouse@midcounties.coop
JANUARY 2018 | 19

How an Egyptian co-op has made
strides towards gender equality
EQUALITY
BY ARCHIE PEARSON,
CLIENT AND OFFICE
EXECUTIVE FOR
OIKOCREDIT
For many of the poorest people in Egypt, life can be
tough. With a population of 95 million, Egypt is one
of the fastest growing and most densely populated
countries in the world. Competition for jobs and
resources runs high. People with less education
and fewer skills face tremendous obstacles to
employment and can struggle to improve their
living standards and lift themselves out of poverty.
Additionally, societal norms expect women
to stay at home and not work. Low pay, lack of
access to diverse vocations, financial literacy and
economic resources are just a few of the forms of
discrimination affecting women.
A significant proportion of the world’s poor live
in rural areas, and around two billion adults lack
access to the necessary financial services they need
to start a business and build a path out of poverty.
In September 2015, the United Nations launched
the sustainable development goals (SDGs) with
a vision to end poverty, overcome inequality and
injustice, tackle climate change and ensure a
quality education for all by 2030. The Sustainable
Development Solutions Network estimates that it
will cost around $1.4tn (£920bn) each year to meet
these 17 goals. Governments alone will not be able
to foot the total bill, so the investment community
must step up. This is where the social investment
co-op Oikocredit steps in, where I work as client
and office executive in the UK.
During a trip to the Egyptian desert, I met with
one co-op that is tackling the problems in Egypt
head-on is Sekem. Founded in 1977, Sekem focuses
on supporting rural farming communities using
social impact investment to introduce fair trade
principles, adopt biodynamic farming methods,
and transform areas of desert land into fertile
soil for producing organic herbs, teas, spices and
other crops.
During the trip, I observed how impact investment
can have a positive impact on disadvantaged
groups while supporting the SDGs.
Sekem uses impact investment to enhance the
education of smallholder farmers and their families.
They have established a nursery, kindergarten, and
primary, secondary and vocational schools, as
well as the Heliopolis University to serve the local
population from childhood through to adulthood.
Thomas Abouleish, son-in-law of Sekem founder,
Ibrahim Abouleish, showed me one four of Sekem’s
schools, citing his motto: “We are tearing down the
adult gender walls, ensuring they are not rebuilt for
the next generation.”
20 | JANUARY 2018

LOW PAY... FINANCIAL LITERACY
AND ECONOMIC RESOURCES
ARE JUST A FEW OF THE
FORMS OF DISCRIMINATION
AFFECTING WOMEN.
From childhood to adulthood, both genders are
taught the skills they need for working life, as well
as a vision of gender equality as the foundation for
sustainable human development.
From primary school upwards, discrimination is
ironed out, and messages of respect and equality
are ingrained.
Sekem’s vocational school is a unique
educational establishment in Egypt. It provides
inclusive, quality education and skills development
for future employment, and gives schoolgirls an
equal right to learn diverse vocations that were
previously labelled as male-only.
Professions such as mechanics, plumbing,
carpentry, agriculture, electronic technology and
welding are among those now being adopted by
girls, whereas in the past they tended to choose
textiles or administration partly for fear of breaking
societal norms.
Two Sekem girls are now apprentice carpenters;
four are studying to become electricians and, for the
first time, Sekem’s head of electronic technology is
female. Vocational classes also extend to girls in
neighbouring communities so they can learn under
the tutelage of experienced professionals.
For adults, ongoing
technical and vocational
education plays a pivotal
role in teaching lifechanging
skills to both
genders. Courses on
farming techniques,
sustainable development
training, supply chain
management, financial
literacy and money
management are also
held, as well as gender
awareness training.
Konstanze Abouleish,
commercial manager for
Nature Tex – an organic textile company which is
part of Sekem – explains that “awareness days”
give men and women an equal opportunity to voice
discomfort and help develop collaboration.
The children’s nursery, built in 2013, frees up
local women to study, work and earn their income
without having to worry about childcare. At the top
end of the educational tree is Heliopolis University.
Graduates have included female physicians who
have gone on to run Sekem’s pharmacy and health
clinic, which provide affordable services to more
than 41,000 people.
My last day in Egypt was spent celebrating
Sekem’s 39th anniversary where men, women,
boys and girls share sentiments about equality
and respect. I am struck by how innovatively this
co-operative has used impact investing to build an
education system that addresses gender inequality
at its roots, at the same time developing a network
of sustainable work and economic growth for
previously disadvantaged farming communities.
Yet I am also reminded of how much more
the investment community might need to do if we
are all to achieve the global goals 13 short years
from now.
JANUARY 2018 | 21

HOME SWEET HOME
p The new housing development is in the impressive building that once housed a police academy
HOUSING
BY DAVID J THOMPSON
David J. Thompson has
visited Soldier On twice
for this piece. He has
written several articles on
veterans’ housing co-ops
and worked on the
California legislation
and successful bond
measure in 2014 which
made $1bn available to
house veterans. He is a
partner in Neighborhood
Partners, LLC which builds
non-profit housing in
California
When the first 51 homeless US veterans were given
the keys to their own housing co-op last month,
it was a potent sign of how the movement can
transform people’s lives.
The co-op, in Agawam, Massachussetts, offers its
new residents not just a roof over their heads, but
a new start and a range of services to support them
on their journey.
It is the second Gordon H. Mansfield Veterans’
Community to open in the state, with the first
opened in nearby Pittsfield, in 2010. They are
limited equity co-operatives set up by local veterans
organisation, Soldier On.
The Pittsfield co-op provides housing for 39
veterans in a community of all newly built housing.
Members must invest $2,500 to obtain a share
in the co-op when they join – a problem for many
homeless ex-servicemen. Fortunately, Soldier On
has worked with a number credit unions and banks
to create a pool of funds. Those dollars can be
donated or lent to prospective members.
When he moved in to Agawam, Anthony Wilson,
told his case manager: “Walking into my unit
brought tears to my eyes. This is my home and no
one can take that away from me.”
For Soldier On, based in Northampton,
Massachussetts, the Agawam co-op was a key
chapter at the end of a near ten-year struggle to
establish the site as a veterans’ community.
When the team set their eyes on the empty former
home of the Western Massachusetts Regional
Police Academy it was love at first sight. It had
classic architecture of white columns highlighting
the stately four-storey building and the seven acres
of landscaped open space. It would surely be an
uplifting palace for poverty-stricken veterans.
The site was given to Soldier On by the State of
Massachusetts for $1 in 2010, when state Lt. Gov.
Timothy P. Murray said it was “a generational
responsibility” to help the nation’s veterans.
State Rep. Rosemary Sandlin, D-Agawam, who
initiated the project and filed the state bill to allow
for the sale of the property for $1, characterised the
project as “a hand up, not a handout”.
At the time, it was expected that the veterans
would move in two years later – but delays meant it
would not be until September 2017 that the Academy
was re-opened as a permanent, supportive and
sustainable community. A dedication ceremony
last month signalled the successful move in.
Just prior to the September dedication ceremony,
I spoke to Bruce Buckley, chief executive of Soldier
On, about the Agawam project.
He said: “One of the key foundations is that every
programme begins with a human relationship and
that through professional support and service,
Soldier On would help build a sense of community
where the resident veterans would take ownership.”
Numerous federal, state and local officials took
part in the September dedication ceremony. After
all, funds to make the community a reality were
given by many different hands.
The development consists of 47 one-bedroom
apartments of 475 sq ft each, and four studios. Each
22 | JANUARY 2018

t Doug Field, joint
CEO of East of England
Co-operative
p New resident Anthony Wilson
p Inside one of the new apartments
has been supplied with a TV that also servesas ae
computer, which is tied into a Soldier On service
desk where the resident veterans can get immediate
help and support through Skype or text.
Although these dual-purpose units are expensive
to put in, Soldier On feels they will be important
not to deal with emergencies or medical alerts but
also to build community and announce activities.
Isolation is a major source of depression for
veterans and dealing with this problem that in real
time will be bring positive health impacts.
Homeless veterans who meet HUD VASH (HUD
Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing) and lowincome
housing credit income thresholds are
eligible to be members. The monthly carrying
charge or rent is set at one third of their income.
Once they have moved in there are number of
communal facilities. Mr Buckley said: “We have
two patios with gas grills, a dining area for special
events and social events, a 15x30 greenhouse open
to all, two laundry rooms two onsite office rooms,
and a converted auditorium that houses two units
with the remainder being used as a library and/or
meeting room.”
He added: “We make every effort to use our
resources to maximise the number of apartments
for veterans and we make use of all of the space.
“The path to permanent, independent living
from institutional living requires a conscious effort
to form independent relationships. We promote
socialising by choice in individual apartments,
as most of us do, with community events being
promoted with people outside of the formerly
homeless veteran community, and those in the
community that fits ones interests and lifestyle.”
The organisational structure of the Gordon
Mansfield Agawam Veterans’ Village means the
property is owned for the first 15 years by Agawam
Veterans Village LLC, which used state and federal
historic tax credits to obtain the equity financing.
Gordon Mansfield Veterans’ Village Cooperative-
Agawam is the limited equity co-op, which is the
non-profit partner in the project. After the charter
board, the intent is for the co-op to have four to five
members elected by the residents and one or two
board members appointed to the board from the
Agawam community.
It is named after Gordon Mansfield, a former
deputy secretary of Veterans Affairs, a highly
decorated Army veteran who survived two tours
of duty in Vietnam. As company commander of
the 101st Airborne Division, Mansfield sustained a
spinal cord injury during the 1968 Tet Offensive, for
which he received the Distinguished Service Cross
— the second-highest personal decoration for valor
in combat.
Solder On President, John “Jack” Downing,
conceived and spearheaded the program for
limited equity housing. Just before the dedication,
he said. “Agawam is a community that many of our
people would be comfortable living in,” he said. “It
offers a lot of supportive services, and this building
is on rural property that allows our veterans to live
together and do very, very well.”
Many groups involved in housing veterans are
beginning to take a look at the Solder On’s veteran’s
co-operative housing program that promotes
ownership and involvement.
These two new housing co-ops are not the first
of their kind but there should be many more.
After World War II housing co-ops gave a home to
veterans and their families, helping them to rebuild
their lives.
In an amazing national effort, 46 housing co-ops
for veterans were built in 15 states providing 14,721
units of co-operative housing for 50,000 people.
u
More on Soldier on at www.wesoldieron.org
JANUARY 2018 | 23

Looking ahead to
Co-ops offer solutions to the UK’s problems
LOOKING AHEAD
BY ED MAYO,
SECRETARY GENERAL,
CO-OPERATIVES UK
Do it
ourselves
A National Co-operative Development Strategy
pThe Do It Ourselves strategy launched
by Co-operatives UK
With Brexit looming and continuing economic
challenges facing the county, this year has seen
something of a national debate about inequality
and inclusive growth in Britain.
We know that co-ops offer solutions to these big
issues and, in a true spirit of co-operative self-help,
we as a sector took matters into our own hands with
the publication of Do It Ourselves, a new 20-year
strategy to give more people a voice in the economy.
With input from over 500 co-ops it is a call to
action for co-ops large and small. An ambitious
piece of work, it focuses attention on those parts of
the economy where co-operation is sorely needed –
the gig economy, social care, tech workers, student
housing, among others.
It also puts stress on the need for existing
co-ops to be exemplars of co-operation. As such,
we’ve worked closely with our members to create
a series of high-quality resources to help co-ops:
for example, a thorough toolkit for directors, a new
framework for reporting to members, and a guide to
data regulations coming into effect next year. Our
HR service has seen significant growth over the last
twelve or so months too, with more worker co-ops
subscribing to get HR advice and guidance.
And we’ve seen some effective policy wins. Over
the year we have revitalised the Cross Party Group
in Scotland, where interest in worker ownership
and community engagement is growing; we’ve
seen the Labour leadership discuss policy ideas
we have been developing, like co-ops for the selfemployed
and taxi co-ops; and
the government has agreed to
increase the audit requirement
threshold for medium-sized
co-ops, helping to put them on
a level playing field with other
businesses.
Looking ahead, there will
Your invitation
to shape a future
powered by co-operation
be some significant challenges
for co-ops in 2018. Brexit offers
strategic opportunities for
co-operatives, not least around
co-operation as a way to help small
and medium-sized businesses
compete. And the continued
focus on the future shape of the
pEd Mayo says co-ops must take the lead
economy is one where co-operatives, as people-led
businesses, have a lot to offer.
But the ongoing economic uncertainty of leaving
the European Union, and the impact it may have on
core business costs, is likely to be a worry next year
that will affect what many co-ops do. And more
immediate challenges, like the introduction of new
data regulations in the form GDPR, will also need
to be negotiated to ensure co-ops are compliant in
their use of members’ information.
At a sector-wide level, 2018 is set to be a year of
experimentation in support of the Do It Ourselves
strategy. We’ll be doing more to promote inspiring
co-ops across the UK, with new films of amazing
co-ops and campaigns around the co-operative
economy and Co-operatives Fortnight.
And, because developments around platforms
and technology are coming fast, it’s important for
existing co-ops to keep on innovating and new ones
to emerge that provide fairer ways of organising
in a digital economy. We will be working with
members and partners to support more student
housing co-ops, helping to incubate new tech coops
and scoping approaches to joint procurement
for co-ops.
The world is moving fast at the moment. I’ve
been pleased to see co-ops taking leadership on
some big issues last year and it’s vital we continue
to do so over the next year.
24 | JANUARY 2018

2018
Q&A
Leading co-operators reflect on
the past 12 months and discuss
their hopes for the coming year
Claire McCarthy, general
secretary, Co-operative Party
What have you been most proud of in 2017?
Throughout 2017, the Party has been celebrating
its centenary, in which we’ve sought to look
forward, as well as back. Marching our specially
commissioned banner alongside our friends from
the trade union movement at Durham Miner’s Gala
was a real highlight.
We were also very pleased to welcome
Andy Burnham – our newly elected Labour &
Co-operative mayor of Manchester – to an
exhibition of our history at the People’s History
Museum. The year culminated at our Centenary
Conference in October, where 500 visitors and
delegates were addressed by Jeremy Corbyn, the
first elected Labour leader to speak at Co-op Party
conference since Jim Callaghan.
There were also dozens of events organised
by our members up and down the country to
commemorate the Centenary from Cornwall, to
Anglesey to Perth. 2017 has seen our membership
reach a modern high of 11,000. There were over 350
local Co-operative Party meetings this year – the
equivalent of one a day.
June’s snap General Election saw members
campaigning up and down the country for the
election of Labour & Co-operative MPs, having
already worked tirelessly in May’s local and
mayoral elections. We were proud to stand with
Labour on a manifesto that committed the next
Labour & Co-operative government to doubling
the size of the co-operative sector. More than 1.3
million people voted for a Co-operative candidate
in June, securing the election of 38 MPs – the
largest number in our history.
What are you looking forward to in 2018?
Having secured a commitment to doubling the
size of the co-operative sector in Labour’s General
Election manifesto, we’ll be developing plans to
make that ambition a reality.
We’ll be working with the movement to identify
opportunities for growth and to remove the barriers
that hold co-operation back, as well as setting
out the ‘why’ and ‘how’ for accountable public
ownership in key areas including transport and
utilities.
We’re also looking forward to an important set
of local elections in May, in which we’re hopeful of
significant increases in councillors in London and
in other major cities across England. The work of
councils such as Preston show the huge value that
co-operators in local government can bring.
What challenges are you facing in 2018?
The Co-operative Party is working with our elected
representatives to understand and mitigate the
challenges and uncertainties Brexit poses for the
co-operative sector, as well as seeking to ensure
that co-operative values and approaches have an
important role to play in Britain after March 2019.
Equally, we’re acutely aware of the very real
consequences of economic uncertainty, falling
living standards and low productivity for millions
of people. That’s why we’re continuing to champion
co-operative and employee ownership as a means
to ensure that our economy’s rewards, as well as
risks, are fairly shared.
pClaire McCarthy
speaks at a private
viewing on a centenary
exhibition on the
history of the Co-op
Party at the People’s
History Museum in
Manchester (Photo:
Co-operative Party/
David Lake)
JANUARY 2018 | 25

‘The relevance of
employee ownership
has never been greater’
LOOKING AHEAD
BY SARAH DEAS,
DIRECTOR,
CO-OPERATIVE
DEVELOPMENT
SCOTLAND
Q&A
What have you been most proud of in 2017?
We believe the appetite for employee ownership
has never been greater. In the last five years the
number of employee-owned businesses operating
in Scotland has trebled and in particular this
year we have been working on a ‘deal a month’
on average. Our client pipeline is expanding too,
indicating take-up of the model will continue to
accelerate in future years.
Furthermore, there are over 16,000 Scottish
businesses expected to transfer ownership in the
next few years, so the opportunity for employee
ownership is significant.
One of the main challenges we face is a limited
awareness of the model, however we’re making
good progress and in 2018 we’re looking forward to
building on the momentum we’ve created.
Derek Walker, chief executive,
Wales Co-operative Centre
The co-op sector has continued to grow in Wales as people increasingly see
the co-operative advantage. We have been pleased to help groups apply co-op
values and principles to the pressing issues facing Wales today for example
the need for social care, affordable housing, energy etc. Examples include:
uCartrefi Cymru, Wales’ largest rural social care provider, became a co-op.
This means they are now a multi stakeholder organisation whose members
work together for mutual benefit. By June they had already exceeded their
year-one target of 100 members.
uGower Power Co-op launched a public share offer in May to put its £1m solar
farm in Swansea into community ownership. It offers a projected 5% annual
interest to investors and provides enough clean electricity to power over 300
houses annually. The offer is now closed and raised a whopping £905,640.
What are you looking forward to in 2018?
Next year we will continue our support for the co-op sector in Wales and
look to improve what we do. We hope to launch exciting new initiatives – for
example, a business advice service for new co-ops and social enterprises. We
also looking to work in the agri food sector.
What challenges are you/your co-op facing in 2018?
Preparing for Brexit a will be a key challenge for the co-op sector. Many of the
most deprived communities in Wales benefit from EU Structural Funds. We will
be working with these communities and with government to ensure the Welsh
economy and services are supported during this challenging period.
pSarah Deas wants improved succession planning
Our aspiration is to achieve a tenfold increase
in employee ownership in Scotland over a 10-year
period. As the baby boomer generation reaches
retirement age, many business owners will be
considering what will happen to their business
when they choose to take that step back. Starting
that process early opens up more options for
businesses and we’ve been working hard to reach
owners at the relevant stage.
Promoting employee ownership will help drive
growth in Scotland’s economy and create greater
wealth equality in society. This helps deliver the
Scottish government’s vision to achieve inclusive
growth that ‘combines increased prosperity with
greater equity; that creates opportunities for all
and distributes the dividends of prosperity fairly’.
There is growing recognition of this potential
contribution, to both the inclusive growth agenda
and also to international competitiveness. As
a result, the 2017 Programme for Government
included a commitment to investigate the scope to
expand support for the model. This commitment
was reinforced by a debate in the Scottish
Parliament in September at which all parties
supported the motion calling for business owners
to consider employee ownership in their succession
planning and for further support to be given to
enable take-up of the model. We were delighted
to receive this cross-party recognition and will be
working to maximise this in 2018.
Ownership succession is now a prominent
issue in the UK and internationally as baby
-boomers increasingly wish to exit the businesses
they’ve created. The issue is compounded by the
recession having slowed the market for business
sales, causing a backlog of ownership transfers
sometimes referred to as the ‘succession time
bomb’. For these reasons, we believe the relevance
of employee ownership has never been greater.
u Watch a video of the parliamentary debate at
s.coop/25xi5 or read the transcript at s.coop/25xi6
26 | JANUARY 2018

Q&A
James Alcock, general manager,
the Plunkett Foundation
What have you been most proud of in 2017?
It was a very good year for the Foundation, and one
of strong performance and high impact. What I’m
particularly proud of is the fantastic team who have
continued punching above their weight to grow the
rural co-op sector and raise our profile with policy
makers and national and regional stakeholders.
Throughout the year, we’ve seen a growth in new
enquiries from community groups exploring the
community co-op model to tackle a broader range of
issues such as health, loneliness and wellbeing. The
range of ideas and projects we are now supporting is
staggering, and the specialist nature of the support
being sought has grown tremendously. Our team
has certainly risen to the challenges and, according
to our independent evaluations, exceeded the
expectations communities have had of us.
Our AGM in July showcased the diversity of our
activities and achievement – even more impressive
given the financial challenges facing our sector.
An additional highlight for me was our Rural
Community Co-operative Awards. The day spent
with judges, poring over the applications, and
the ceremony where we hear from the shortlisted
groups, is truly inspirational.
What are you looking forward to in 2018?
Launching and delivering our new 2018-22 strategy.
Without giving too much away ahead of its launch
in July, the Foundation will seek to continue the
good work that it has been delivering in growing
the sector, our reach, and our impact so that more
rural communities benefit from the opportunities
that community co-operatives provide.
What this means is a continuation of our
activities to inspire communities to consider the
co-op approach while maintaining a first-class
support service that meets their needs. What will
be different is working in closer partnership with a
range of national, regional and local organisations
who can help us reach new audiences, provide
complementary support, and help us to get our
messages heard and give greater representation to
rural communities across the UK.
What challenges are you facing in 2018?
We will be working hard to continue providing,
and securing funding for, a national service that
is balanced across all parts of the UK, for all forms
of enterprise, at all stages of their journey. This is
an ongoing challenge, but the political uncertainty
of Brexit, and the unknown fate of EU funding
streams, adds concern as to what the issues facing
rural communities will be, and to what extent
we and our partners will have the resources to
respond to them. But wherever there is change
and challenge, there is also opportunity. Plunkett’s
longevity is in part owing to its ability to adapt to
the evolving needs of rural communities, so I have
no doubt that this challenge is not insurmountable.
Q&A
Tiziana O’Hara,
Co-operative Alternatives
What have you been most proud of in 2017?
2017 was a good year for Co-operative Alternatives and the co-op movement in
Northern Ireland. We have been working with new co-operatives addressing
urban regeneration, football ownership and community supported
agriculture. Most of all, we had great fun with a tour of local co-operatives at
the beginning of the year! Such was the demand for a place on the tour that
we had to change the size of the bus twice! We also ended the year with a
great conference, Co-operatives: Can-do, Will-do, Must-do, with Ed Mayo of
Co-operatives UK visiting Northern Ireland in November.
What are you looking forward to in 2018?
More co-operatives to come through…
What challenges are you facing in 2018?
pPlunkett supports
organisations such
as the Great Oakley
Community Hub in
Essex, which this year
bought a property to
run as a restaurant –
after saving village
pub the Maybush Inn
in 2016
The local Community Shares pilot programme is coming to an end in 2018.
However, with over £500,000 raised over the past four years, we proved the
point that community shares are an option for Northern Ireland, too.
JANUARY 2018 | 27

Q&A
Cicopa continues its efforts to
deliver a better future at work
What have you been most proud of in 2017?
The Employment Report and the incoming Global
Report 2015-2016 on Industrial and Services co-ops
Bruno Roelants, secretary general of CICOPA,
says: “Employment is one of the most important
contributions made by co-operatives throughout
the world.
“This report shows that people involved in cooperatives
constitute a sufficiently high percentage
to be considered as a major actor in the United
Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development,
as well as in the worldwide debate on the Future
of Work launched by the International Labour
Organization.
“In addition, the intent of the study is to improve
the methodology and the quality level of cooperative
statistics. This is particularly timely,
as the next International Congress of Labour
Statisticians will take place in 2018. The public
authorities and the co-operative movement itself
should pay particular attention to this.
“We are happy to share our second two-year
global report on industrial and service
co-operatives, covering the years 2015 and 2016.
A significant added value of this second report is
that it allows us to start monitoring systematically
the evolution of our global co-operative network,
both in the quantitative and qualitative components
of the analysis.
“It is also worth pointing out that our whole
exercise of reporting the situation of our
co-operative network, which started with data
from 2013, is the result of several years of patient
preparation. We started our first general survey of
members back in 2004, and our first questionnaire
on economic activities, based on the UN ISIC
classification system, in 2008.
“In 2009, we launched our surveys on members’
qualitative data in the wake of the global crisis.
But it is only in 2013 that we had collected enough
pieces of the puzzle to have a rather faithful (even
though far from complete) picture of our network.
On the other hand, during those years, our network
has also been undergoing a strong geographical
enlargement, jumping from 18 countries to 32
countries in 15 years (including large ones like
the USA and Brazil), thus making this reporting
exercise increasingly meaningful.
“Another added value of the report is that we
have been able to provide a quantitative estimation
28 | JANUARY 2018

The international organisation of co-ops in industry and
services, part of the International Co-operative Alliance,
on the next steps for a world of sustainable employment
of industrial and service co-operatives in the
world, beyond our own network. This has been
possible thanks to another big reporting exercise in
which CICOPA has been involved over the last few
years, namely the first and the second report on
Co-operatives and Employment, in 2014 and 2017.
“That series of reports, differently from the
present one, deals with employment in the entire
co-operative movement, but it provides us with
very useful data enabling us to make an estimation
of co-ops in industrial and service sectors as well.
“As the reader will discover, this reality is much
larger than the CICOPA network, suggesting there
still is a long way to go before CICOPA can include
all these co-ops (some of which are affiliated
to International Co-operative Alliance member
organisations, others not), and thus be able to
improve its level of reporting on, and representing
industrial and service co-ops in the world.”
uFind the global report at s.coop/mployment
What are you looking forward to in 2018?
The youth report and a strong presence in the debate
on the future of work
Elisa Terrasi, researcher at CICOPA and co-author
of the Youth report, says: “A global study on youth
co-operative entrepreneurship is presently being
elaborated, on the basis of a desk research and the
results of an online survey involving more than 60
youth co-operatives organised as worker, social
and producers’ coo-peratives in the five continents.
“The study will bring into the debate some
considerations about the main interests and
challenges for establishing cooperatives among
young people. It will be a source of inspiration
for further debates and studies, a tool at disposal
of CICOPA members and the whole co-operative
movement to promote a better understanding of
the potential of co-operatives for youth among
policy makers.”
uFind the youth report at s.coop/25xia
What challenges are you facing in 2018?
“Finding a better inter-sectoral dynamic inside
the International Co-operative Alliance and
demonstrating that worker ownership is a valuable
answer for current employment challenges and the
future of work.”
JANUARY 2018 | 29

MEET...
... Karen Hurst, Scottish policy
officer for ABCUL
Take-up of credit union membership in Scotland is much higher than in
England and Wales and the Scottish Government is strongly supportive
of ABCUL’s work in raising awareness and extending membership. Recent
initiatives led by Karen include a meeting with government officials and the
Cross Party Group on Credit Unions to discuss further plans and policy.
WHY ARE YOU INVOLVED WITH CREDIT UNIONS?
I got into this by chance – I had worked in politics
for a long time and decided I wanted to work in a
policy-focused role. So I sort of stumbled upon this
role with ABCUL and have been working with our
Scottish credit unions on their policy priorities for
around two years now. I think the best part is the
people involved in the sector. I try to spend some
time every week popping in to see our member
credit unions to find out what they’re getting up to
and see what the main issues are for them, and I’m
always amazed that they are often run by volunteers
– a role which involves ensuring compliance with
some pretty challenging financial regulation –
purely because they feel strongly that people in
their communities should not be ripped off by high
interest lenders. Credit unions come in all shapes
and sizes, but there is a real shared ethos that the
interests of the member not the shareholder should
always be at the heart of financial services.
WHAT IS THE CURRENT CLIMATE IN SCOTLAND FOR
THE CREDIT UNION SECTOR?
Scotland’s credit union sector has always been one
of the strongest in Britain – not only do we have
the highest percentage of membership (around 7%
compared to around 2% in England and Wales), but
Scotland is home to some of the UK’s largest and
most innovative credit unions. Glasgow, where I’m
based, can count around a quarter of residents as a
member of a credit union. It’s an interesting time –
the last couple of quarters have seen membership
level out slightly, after many years of consistent
growth. However, I think it’s fair to say that the
sector is more than ever looking at how it can serve
its membership in new ways and ensure that it
“”
PEOPLE FROM ALL WALKS OF
LIFE ARE SEEING THE BENEFITS
OF JOINING A CREDIT UNION
can stay relevant. When our members get together
at our forums there is always much chatter about
the new websites, apps and partnerships that they
are working on. We’re also, through a partnership
with the Scottish government, seeing more credit
unions working with schools to enable pupils to run
their own branch of the credit union – the Scottish
government included a target in the Programme for
Government this year on how many credit union
school partnerships it would like to be formed in
2018 – this is the first time that has happened.
THE GOVERNMENT HAS ANNOUNCED PLANS TO
BACK CREDIT UNIONS – WHAT DOES THIS MEAN?
We’ve always enjoyed a good relationship with the
Scottish government, and are fortunate enough to
enjoy cross-party support. In the Programme for
Government published a few months ago, it was
announced there would be an awareness-raising
campaign for the sector. If it is done correctly, there
is a potential for it to be really positive for credit
unions – the BBC broadcast a programme called
A Matter of Life and Debt a few weeks ago, which
looked at examples of the impact a credit union
could have on members’ lives. After it was broadcast
many of our credit unions saw a huge increase in
enquiries from new members. Hopefully we can put
something together that has that sort of impact.
WHAT WOULD AN IDEAL ‘AWARENESS RAISING’
CAMPAIGN FROM THE GOVERNMENT LOOK LIKE?
That’s a good question. We’re hosting a meeting
in the Scottish Parliament to discuss this with the
30 | JANUARY 2018

YOUR VIEWS
Scottish government and credit unions, so I wouldn’t
want to pre-empt that. But I think our members
are keen to ensure that the campaign is led by the
sector, and that it gives out a strong message about
credit unions being for everyone, not just those who
are not well served by mainstream banking.
WHAT DOES A TYPICAL DAY LOOK LIKE FOR YOU?
I work from home, so I try to balance keeping up
with emails and planning at my desk, and getting
out and meeting credit unions and stakeholders. At
the moment we are putting together a campaign to
encourage more employers to partner with credit
unions – the ability to access fair lending and make
savings through payroll is something that only
credit unions can offer – so I am spending quite a
lot of time speaking to employers already signed up
to encourage them to speak publicly. I thought this
might be a challenge but it’s actually been really
easy to find people to say nice things about credit
unions. Next week I’m going to film interviews
with someone who works in HR at the NHS, and a
car rental company in Lanarkshire – so you should
see those interviews pop up on our social media
channels early next year.
WHAT ACHIEVEMENT ARE YOU MOST PROUD OF?
I think the Scottish government’s continued support
for whatever we take to them – be it help to set up
school schemes, support in raising awareness of
the sector, or help from the First Minister to target
employers, is something we should be proud of.
WHAT CHALLENGES HAVE YOU FACED?
I think the biggest challenge for all of us involved
in credit unions is how we deal with challenges
from the private sector, particularly in the employer
partnerships. Over the past few years we’ve seen
a number of new companies appear with slick
marketing materials that the credit union sector,
quite honestly, just can’t afford. However, these
companies are not only not co-operatives, but they
usually are not able to offer a savings option to those
who sign up. My message to any employer who is
interested in the financial wellbeing of their staff
would be to get in touch with a credit union – it will
almost certainly be able to offer more to their staff.
WHAT DO YOU SEE THE FUTURE OF CREDIT UNIONS
IN SCOTLAND?
I hope we will see membership continue to grow,
and I increasingly feel that people from all walks of
life are seeing the benefits of joining a credit union.
THANKS TO SUPPORTERS DIRECT FOR GIVING JUSTICE TO JACQUI FORSTER
In 2016 the group Justice4Jac was formed to campaign for Supporters Direct
to rescind their decision to cease paying terminally ill, longest-serving
employee, Jacqui Forster. Many letters were written to various places and
several were printed in Co-op News.
We were delighted to hear that the decision was eventually rescinded and
that, bar a few individuals, the board changed almost completely with a new
chair, Tom Greatrex, and a new chief executive, Ashley Brown.
Justice4Jac was very quick to complain loudly and vociferously about
Jacqui’s treatment but we are equally pleased to state that circumstances
have changed radically.
Jacqui receives ongoing treatment at the Christie Hospital in Manchester
but is now made to feel a continuing employee of SD, with visits from the CEO
and invitations to working events and staff meals out. We applaud this and
thank the new board & CEO for putting right a very great wrong.
Jacqui has also used the money raised from a Just Giving page to launch a
‘Women at the Game’ initiative which is receiving excellent national coverage.
We all hope that SD now pushes further forward to be the best co-operative
body in the world of community club ownership.
We would like to thank all those in the co-operative movement who
supported Jacqui and her supporters through such a difficult time in 2016.
Phil Beardmore (Birmingham City Trust), Mark Boocock (ex-chair, Bradford
City Supporters Trust), John Boyle (Stafford Rangers Trust), Rob Bradley (exvice
chair, SD; ex-chair, Lincoln Trust), Lou Carton Kelly (ex-vice chair, SD;
ex-chair, Dons Trust), Simon Cope (ex-director, SD; ex-chair, Scarborough
Athletic), Elaine Dean (ex-vice chair, SD; vice chair, RamsTrust), Alan Digby
(Foxes Trust), Pete Drew (treasurer, RamsTrust), Doug Harper (chair, Leyton
Orient Trust), Rick Keracher (ex-director, SD; ex-chair, Lincoln City Trust),
Mark Longden (Shareholders Utd and MUST member) Paul Miller (Ilkeston
Town supporter), Tanya Noon (secretary, RamsTrust), Robert Pepper (exvice
chair, SD; ex-chair, Huddersfield Town ST), Linda Smith (Northampton
Town Trust), Kris Stewart (ex-director, SD; founding chair, AFC Wimbledon),
Tony Taylor (ex-vice chair, SD; ex-chair, Darlington Trust), Phil Tooley (exdirector,
SD; acting MD, SD – and the person who appointed Jacqui Forster)
Malcolm Turner (ex-director, SD) and Jim Wheeler (chair, RamsTrust)
WHY US ELECTRIC CO-OPS ARE PROUD TO HELP STORM-HIT PUERTO RICO
The #CoopNation is taking a stand and lending helping hands to communities
in Puerto Rico during this difficult time. We are proud to be in this co-operative
family where helping our members and communities are our priority.
Free State Electric Co-op
via Twitter
Have your say
Add your comments to our stories online at www.thenews.coop, get in
touch via social media, or send us a letter. If sending a letter, please
include your address and contact number. Letters may be edited and
no longer than 350 words.
Co-operative News, Holyoake House, Hanover Street,
Manchester M60 0AS
@coopnews Co-operative News letters@thenews.coop
JANUARY 2018 | 31

HOW TO CHANGE
THE WORLD
By Craig Dearden-Phillips
This article is based on the book ‘How
to Change the World: The essential
guide for social sector leaders’,
published by Craig Dearden-Phillips.
He is the author of three books on
social sector leadership and is a Visiting
Lecturer at London Cass Business
School. To buy the book visit:
s.coop/25xdw
32 | JANUARY 2018

What is the secret sauce to be
a social leader?
Everyone I have met who is a leader in the social
sector starts out believing they can change the
world. But they often find that making a clear,
measurable difference isn’t easy. Few, by midcareer,
are achieving quite as much impact as they
anticipated. Some leaders settle for that and focus
on having a decent career.
Others don’t sit back. Instead, they look to take
their effectiveness as a social sector leader to
another level. But where to go for help? One sees
lots of ‘Secrets of Success’ books by business gurus
and entrepreneurs about being a business success.
Very little exists for the social sector that explores
what makes for greater success. And vanishingly
little brings the wisdom of our top social sector
leaders to the fore.
Social sector leadership is about making
the biggest possible impact on the totality of
the problem you seek to address. This isn’t
necessarily about creating a big organisation.
In truth, few social sector organisations achieve
the breakthrough scale needed to solve an
entire problem.
Changing the world is just as often achieved by
having your ideas and work carried forward by
others, including governments. A big part of social
sector leadership is knowing your ‘end-game’ –
figuring just how your organisation can maximise
its influence on problems you exist to solve.
How is leadership categorised?
The book features 27 personal profiles of leaders,
who often defy easy categorisation. But, for the
ease of navigation, throughout the book, the author
has come up with definitions for ten different types
of leadership.
Transformational Leadership introduces a
group of leaders who have taken large organisations
on a long-term journey of radical change, based
on a new understanding of the world they are
operating in and its needs.
Entrepreneurial Leadership highlights the
role that three entrepreneurial leaders have played
to grow the social mission of their organisations.
Interestingly this includes setting up privately
owned social ventures.
Digital Leadership focuses on the powerful
ways in which a group of forward-thinking social
sector leaders are harnessing the power of digital
technology to take social impact to whole new
levels, often without the need for an equivalent
growth in resources.
Cultural Leadership groups people who have,
in a variety of ways, challenged and changed the
values, beliefs and behaviours of an organisation
they have led, enabling their organisations to raise
their social impact.
Team Leadership looks at the challenges for
social sector leaders of building top quality teams
who are capable of taking impact to the next level.
Turnaround Leadership brings together a group
of leaders who have all led a rapid improvement in
their organisations’ short-term fortunes, keeping
the lights on and enabling them to successfully
plan for the longer term.
Charismatic Leadership looks at the particular
upsides and downsides of this approach to
leadership in social sector organisations.
Funder Leadership gives us insight into the way
progressive social sector leaders in the fields of
grant-making and social finance are responding to
a challenging financial environment.
Future Leadership asks what those who study
key trends in our sector see as the key leadership
challenges of the 2020s.
Your Leadership is a ‘workshop’ chapter
designed to help you to locate where you are now
on your personal leadership journey, the difference
you seek to make going forward and how you’re
doing to do this.
JANUARY 2018 | 33

Top ten tips
So, what are the ‘Top Ten Tips’ from my book for
social sector leaders seeking a bigger impact?
1. Lead from behind.
The most successful social sector leaders lead
from behind as much as from the front. They lead
organisations that people join by choice as much as
financial necessity, be they staff or volunteers. So,
outside of turnaround situations, leadership is more
about engagement – convenor of the organisation
rather than its commander.
Key behaviours: Talk to more people, in more
depth. Listen more than you talk.
authentic, stand for particular values and that you
uphold them, come what may.
Key behaviours: Make clear what you believe.
Prove this through your behaviour.
4. Be ambitious.
Leaders who are really changing the world are
those with a vast ambition around the mission
and how it can be grown. They create a sense
of possibility beyond what is currently being
achieved. Their skill is doing this without
demeaning past achievement. And framing the
future in a way that pays back to staff, volunteers
and others, the organisation’s sense of its true
purpose.
Key behaviours: Think big, encourage others
to do the same. Frame ambition squarely in the
language of mission.
5. Think impact.
First-order social sector leaders are making their
organisations think hard about how to capture
and communicate the difference they make (or
not!). For many organisations - habituated to
reporting activity not results - this is difficult.
But, if the world is to be changed, those leading
it have to be clear on progress. The first step
is tactfully making the challenge about the
difference the organisation is making, in a way
that people can cope with.
Key behaviours: Cold honesty, openness,
comfort with laying down a challenge.
2. Build coalitions.
If they want to make things happen, leaders in
the social sector have to build coalitions both
inside and beyond the organisation. The authority
invested in leadership in this sector is probably less
than in the private sector, where the CEO is given
more latitude. To get people on board, CEOs leading
big transformation need to develop strong political
skills.
Key behaviours: Plan who you need to deliver
change. Think about what aspects will get each
group on board.
3. Be authentic.
The most successful leaders are genuine people
who stay human. It sounds simple, but we all know
that the pressures in organisations often mean that
leaders sometimes fail in this regard. Authenticity
in social sector leadership isn’t the same thing as
being liked. It’s about people knowing that you are
6. Create your culture.
Top social sector leaders understand that, for an
organisation to make an impact, it has to have
the right culture. When coming in new, social
leaders often find a culture that’s getting in the
way of progress. ‘Show me the Leader, Show me
the Culture’ is a cliché, but one with some truth.
While aspects of culture can remain immune to a
leader’s influence, the best leaders waste no time
setting out the attitudes and behaviour that they
most value.
Key behaviours: Make people aware of your
values and expectations of everyone. Repeat it
often and model it yourself.
7. Get your team right.
Successful social sector leaders put great store
by a top team which is capable, even when this
means tough choices. They understand that this
unit is the key to success or failure, the A Team.
And that a B Team won’t change the world.
Therefore, finding a top team where people trust
34 | JANUARY 2018

and challenge each other, sharing in success or
failure together, is essential to success.
Key behaviours: Set a high bar on senior
colleagues. Look for alignment or core values, but
also a diverse range of perspectives.
8. Coach, don’t manage.
The very best social sector leaders tend to act
like coaches rather than bosses. In relation to the
people around them, they see their primary task
as drawing out the best. They know that micromanaging
is a waste of time. They understand that
needing to manage someone closely is a sure sign
of a bigger problem. They also use their coaching
skills to help people see when it’s time to go or take
on a new role.
Key behaviours: Think of yourself as an enabler,
not a manager. Allow people to manage their own
detail.
9. Be visible.
The best social sector leaders are rarely found in
their office. They understand that their key role is
to be engaging with people both inside and beyond
the organisation. Visibility is the hallmark of the
successful, effective social sector CEO. This isn’t
about ‘turning up’ to set-piece events, like a visiting
dignitary. It’s about making yourself available to
people to talk to, be questioned by. Or, if needs be,
take criticism from.
Key behaviours: Get out of your ‘bubble’. Move
around the organisation, putting yourself ‘on the
line’, even if uncomfortable.
10. Look after yourself.
The most successful social sector leaders work
hard, but they understand this is a long game. So,
they tend to look after themselves. On a simple
level, this is about time-out, the right diet, sleep
and exercise. But, it’s also about professional
development: creating a good network of peers,
working with a coach, subjecting yourself to new
learning. Such is the demand on the personality of
a social sector leader, that good self-care is critical.
Key behaviours: Better ‘work-hygiene’,
developing support beyond the organisation.
JANUARY 2018 | 35

WHO’S AFRAID
OF LEADERSHIP?
LEADERSHIP
BY KATE WHITTLE,
Kate provides training
and consultancy services
through Cooperantics
www.cooperantics.coop
There is no one-size-fits-all approach to
co-ope leadership, because there are so
many varieties of co-operative, depending
on organisational structure, sector of the
economy, numbers of members and the age of
the co-operative.
In a consumer retail co-operative for example,
the hierarchical structure pretty much dictates
who holds what power and while of course there
are opportunities for career development and
promotion, there is less flexibility and those at
the top of the tree can control the way authority is
delegated to those below them.
This reminds me of a story from a housing co-op
event, held to promote the co-op and recruit new
members. All the members – eight or nine of us –
turned up at the community centre to arrange the
room and get ready for our audience.
There were chairs stacked against the wall, and
we all started lugging them to the centre of the
room – but it was soon apparent – not just to us,
but to the early arrivals who began to sit down,
that we had no idea how to arrange the seating, no
idea how many people would turn up, no previous
agreement whether we would make rows of chairs
or a big circle – it was chaos.
So much so that some of us began to laugh to try
to make a joke of it, while others got more and more
frustrated and anxious. We finally got it sorted,
but it was obvious we’d made a pretty negative
impression on our audience who – no matter
how impressive and persuasive our subsequent
presentation – had had a clear demonstration
of our inability to work as a team and our lack of
leadership skills.
I have often remembered that moment and
wondered why it happened like that. We were not
totally lacking in team skills – in fact one of the
impressive things about this group was the way in
which they were able to pull together to organise
things – but I think there was a fear of showing
leadership. An idea that perhaps in a co-operative,
showing leadership is wrong. I believe this is due to
a misunderstanding about the nature of leadership,
and an assumption that a ‘command and control’
style of leadership is the only way.
36 | JANUARY 2018

How should co-ops lead?
I would recommend that the CEO and chair
of the board are very clear where their authority
begins and ends. The role of the chair of the
Board is to represent the co-operative to external
bodies and to chair board meetings. The role of
the CEO is to manage the day to day operations
of the co-operative, and to support and
supervise management.
An overlap of roles – or a vacuum between
them - can be the cause of conflict.
In the flatter structures found in worker
co-operatives leadership can be distributed, where
authority is delegated to sub-groups, working
parties or individuals. Sub-groups etc have
autonomy and perform tasks however they see fit,
as long as they understand how and when they
will be held accountable to the wider membership.
In her excellent article ‘How to grow distributed
leadership’ Alanna Krause states that leadership
begins with leading yourself – acting as an
individual, collaborating with a group or as a
follower. She rightly says we need to talk about
power, which people acquire for a wide range of
reasons, such as charisma, knowledge, or skills
and expertise.
This is why the famous ‘Tyranny of
Structurelessness’ is so prescient. It describes how
feminists in the 1970s thought they had done away
with power structures, but soon found out they are
always there, but without any visible organisational
structure there was no means of removing people
from power.
In flat, democratically managed co-operatives
members use good facilitation skills, well-designed
systems and clear processes to co-ordinate work
without establishing a hierarchy. Leadership skills
are grown by the more experienced consciously
creating opportunities for others to lead, and
knowing when to step back and allow others
to practice.
Leadership theories
It’s interesting to review the many theories of
leadership but for our purposes here, let’s look at
commonly-held assumptions about what leadership
means and what leaders do. In ‘traditional’
hierarchically structured organisations, power is
located at the top, and leaders lead from the front.
Leaders have authority, take control and attract
followers. Line managers tell people what to do,
who then have others that they manage in turn.
In such a structure it’s hard for individuals to be
innovative and creative. Someone at the top who
doesn’t understand the day to day realities of work
at the ‘coal face’ takes decisions which workers may
not agree with but must comply with if they want
to keep their jobs. Of course employees can and
should join a trade union which will support them
and lobby and campaign to change things, but in
some circumstances, confrontational approaches
can be counter-productive.
So perhaps we need to get rid of the structure
and the leaders and all decide everything together?
Apart from the impracticability of such a step
(you’d never get any work done) Jo Freeman,
in ‘The Tyranny of Structurelessness’ explains
how misguided it is to assume that without a
structure, there will be no leaders. Leaders will
always emerge, attracting followers by dint of
their charisma, power, or resources, but without a
structure or a system of accountability, you’ll have
no way of getting rid of them.
JANUARY 2018 | 37

Leadership in worker co-operatives
So we need a structure. And of course, cooperatives
have such a structure, where people can
be elected to a management committee, or board
of directors, but will have a specific term of office,
and will only be re-elected if members feel they are
doing a good job. However, like every democracy,
it only works if people have information accessible
to them about how the co-op is doing and how
successful it is in achieving business, social and
environmental goals. The MC then is accountable
to the members, but they will also need terms of
reference so they understand their roles and their
delegated powers.
So how do you show leadership in a
worker co-operative?
In contrast to a typical hierarchy, leadership
in a worker co-operative is collective. It’s not just
the MC who need to be leaders – anyone can show
leadership at any time. But what does this mean
and how can it work?
The Tao of Leadership, by John Heider, provides
simple and clear advice on how to be an effective
leader: be unbiased, trust the process, pay
attention, and inspire others to become their
own leaders.
For example:
LEAD IN A NOURISHING
MANNER
• Give away control
• Look for opportunities to give others control
• Try to ensure that decisions are taken by the
people most likely to be affected (subsidiarity)
LEAD WITHOUT
BEING POSSESSIVE
• Lead by example rather than by telling
people what to do
• Avoid egocentricity
• ‘Be’ rather than ‘Do‘
• Be aware of what is happening in the
group and act accordingly
“ Specific actions are less important than the
leader’s clarity or consciousness. This is why
there are no exercises or formulas to ensure
successful leadership”
LEAD WITHOUT COERCION
BE HELPFUL WITHOUT TAKING
THE CREDIT
• Be modest, allow others to take the credit
• Promote collaboration
• Provide tools for collective working
• Clarify roles, authority and accountability
• Delegate
• Create an environment for thinking
“ Run the group delicately, as if you were cooking
small fish. Too much force will backfire; the
leader who tries to control he group through
force does not understand group process. The
wise leader stays centred and grounded and
uses the least force to act effectively”.
38 | JANUARY 2018

The result will be thinking, passionately proactive
and creative people who communicate effectively,
who understand how to work as a team, how to
respond positively to conflict and how to help new
members feel at home and hit the ground running.
So in our housing co-op example, should we
have been dreaming about the best seating layout
for our meeting? Well perhaps not, of course
there are circumstances where simply delegating
a few tasks will avoid such a muddle. If someone
had shown leadership by asking everyone what
would be the best layout, then suggesting we
divide up the tasks between us: someone to
stick up notices so people know where to come,
a couple of people organising chairs, a couple
of people making tea, someone putting the
recruitment leaflet on every chair – etc. Simple
stuff, but someone does need to take that
initial lead.
Kate Whittle has been working in the social
economy for over 20 years and provides training
and consultancy services through Co-operantics
(www.cooperantics.coop), including governance,
strategic planning and conflict co-operation.
She has worked with co-operatives of all kinds,
social enterprises, voluntary organisations and
co-operative development agencies.
JANUARY 2018 | 39

LEADER Q&A
Simon Parkinson,
Chief Executive and Principal,
Co-op College
If co-operatives are different in form and function
from both charitable organisations and private
organisations then the leadership and management
of them should look and feel different. We can take
the best from other sectors and bring it together in
something I refer to as a values-based, adaptive
leadership approach.
Co-ops at their best can be positive disruptors
and the multiple ways in which they organise lends
itself less to a top-down command-and-control
style of leadership (rowing boat – one person
barking orders and everyone else conforming)
and much more to a servant leadership approach
(steering from the back helping people drive the
organisation in a generally agreed direction and
watching out for rocks).
This takes real authenticity from leaders (and
leaders may be colleagues or members) and
requires a strong value base and resilience. While
many organisations spend a lot of time and money
working out what their organisational values
should be, the co-op movement already has an
internationally agreed set of values. This should
be part of what unites us as a movement and could
be a benchmark or at least a starting point for
developing co-operative leadership approaches.
If co-ops and co-op leaders were truly living the
values we would measure success differently and
this would add to our uniqueness as a movement.
The College wants to play its role in educating
leaders of co-operatives and has a varied and
blended approach to this which recognises the
benefits of both formal and informal, accredited
and unaccredited learning. So not just MBAs or
even MCAs for middle and senior colleagues in
co-operatives but a range of learning experiences
where members and colleagues can come together
and learn from each other and explore what makes
co-ops different.
The Co-op College runs a number of courses,
such as Executive Education bit.ly/ExecEdCoop)
and Persuasive Speaking (bit.ly/SpeakColl)
40 | JANUARY 2018

Ben Reid,
Group Chief Executive Officer
at the Midcounties Co-operative
Being a leader in a co-operative environment
brings with it a range of responsibilities that are
unique. Expectations around how a co-op leader
will act are high and based on the underlying
values of the organisation. At the core of this is
our commitment to openness in all that we do.
This ranges from our interfaces with customers
and members through to how we deal with
our colleagues.
A co-operative leader should be ready to explain
decisions to a wider audience and that in itself
imposes an additional test on all key decisions.
This provides a defence against decisions being
made in the dark or for personal gain.
Of course, there are examples where these checks
and balances have failed but I would suggest far less
frequently than our competitor business models.
Another key difference in our model is that
co-op leaders/managers report to a board elected
from the membership. This brings with it the
challenge of ensuring that complex business issues
are understood by a group of directors from a
wide range of backgrounds.
Again at the heart of this relationship is
developing an open relationship, where all relevant
information is shared, to allow directors to play a
key role in the decision making process.
There is therefore a common theme that runs
through all aspects of a co-operative business. An
acceptance that, in a membership organisation,
there must be full transparency and leaders are
liable to be held to account for all their actions.
A higher standard than other leaders are
measured against, but it is the aspect that makes us
unique, and which has ensured that we have been
able to thrive for over 150 years.
JANUARY 2018 | 41

CO-OPERATIVE
LEADERSHIP
– IN PRACTICE
LEADERSHIP
BOB CANNELL,
Co-operative Business
Consultants
People have been devising theories of
co-operative leadership for at least two centuries;
often reflecting the dominant culture of their
times. Recently Co-op News reported the Global
Women’s Leadership Network decrying a lack
of women coming through ‘the pipeline’ into
‘c-suite’ positions (How to cultivate more women in
leadership roles in credit unions, 7 December 2017).
Whatever this means, they seem to know what they
want. Or do they?
A lifetime of practical experience in worker
co-operatives, both as a ‘manager’ (the reason
for the quotes will become apparent) and as a
Co-ooperative development advisor, has given
me very different ideas about leadership as it is
practiced IRL (In Real Life) in co-op businesses
struggling to maintain order and survive.
Here are some examples.
No names of course
I was called in to a bakery co-op with multiple
business problems. They had four members and
one permanent employee. I pointed out that to
conform to the First Co-op Principle, they should
offer membership to her as she was clearly helping
to manage the business as well as being a baker,
and wanted to be in the members’ meetings.
‘Oh ‘A’ won’t like that,” I was told. ‘A’ being the
oldest member. The next time I went, she was
a member. But the others, at ‘A’s behest, had
appointed themselves directors and now met as a
board without her. ‘A’ apparently didn’t like any
of my other suggestions either, like putting their
prices up so they could pay themselves a living
wage. The other members simply obeyed.
42 | JANUARY 2018

Another big and old worker co-op I discovered to
be run by an elite group of members, the annointed
successors of the founders. It was all quite unofficial
and quite in keeping with their rules. They had
member meetings and a board which achieved
little, so this informal ‘executive’ just ran the show.
As a new member you could spend decades on
the periphery with no say in how the business is
operated or developed.
Members of my old co-op, Suma, always
displayed a strong dislike of ‘managers’ in the
sense of executives with status authority. The
word was hardly used and team coordinators
getting too ‘managerial’ found co-operation and
goodwill being withdrawn by their team members
until they became unable to do their job. New
LEADING IS A FUNCTION,
NOT A STATUS’. SO ANYONE
AND EVERYONE CAN AND
SHOULD BE DOING IT
JANUARY 2018 | 43

members are still told that ‘management is a
function, not a status’ at Suma. The sort of charisma
authority used above by ‘A’ is rare although some
individuals can block changes until they are
over ruled with difficulty by elected or delegated
authority. Suma has both but neither are as strong
as a ‘normal’ business.
Suma has just the same conflicted position
with corporate leadership. People yearn for ‘good’
leaders and ‘direction’ and some have a go, often
with self-destructive and ineffective results. It’s
a lot more complex ‘leading’ even a medium
size business than it first appears. In fact I don’t
think it’s possible unless you simplify the task by
wielding management authority, as happens in
most orthodox organisations. At least at Suma,
you get told quickly if your changes are making
things worse.
These are all people in old-style businesses trying
in their ways to make sense of guiding colleagues
through collective business life. There is a flurry
of new ideas and re-invented old ways to make
leadership more collective and more distributed.
Should it even be called ‘leadership’ any more?
Unless you take a leaf from Suma and say “leading
is a function, not a status”. So anyone and everyone
can and should be doing it, like the Suma ideal,
(if not always the reality, to be honest). I still say the
44 | JANUARY 2018

co-operative leader is the member who says “Listen
everyone, we have a problem. What are WE going to
do about it?” Everything else is management.
Leaders need a position to lead from. A control
room (or c-suite?), or at least a central position upon
which the rest of the organisation is dependents
so they can change the behaviour of other
participants, by using charisma or status authority.
But many new organisations have no centre. They
are networks of self organising individuals and
in the case of CoTech, the UK network of tech
co-ops, RedGrafica, graphics co-ops in Argentina
and the thousands of social co-operatives in Italy.
As the networks of autonomous individual
collectives. The idea that these should have
an apex leadership is nonsensical. They may
have a coordinating hub but it is subordinate
to the members.
Many of the growing number of so called
solidarity organisations in Greece and Spain,
collectively organised responses to neo-liberal
austerity, are deliberatley centreless and
leaderless to protect themselves from state
repression and to operate outside the mainstream
economy which they believe is similarly
oppressive. Solidarity economy networks are
growing in many countries.
Even in prosperous Germany, many young
people are creating informal Kollectiven, networks
of unregistered worker co-operatives, to work
and earn an income outside the formal state but
free from the bureaucratic administrative burdens
of the official co-operative movement.
Clearly these are all putting into practice the
anarchic, collective ideals shared by the founders
of Suma and other 1970s worker co-ops. Ideals
which spoke to basic human desires for personal
autonomy but also, at the same time, supportive
co-operative solidarity. They proved difficult to
marry with the needs of 20th century business
administration. Is 21st century technology
finally permitting those ultra-democratic, flat
hierarchy networks to deliver these ideals
in a growing and increasingly borderless
alternative economy?
However these ideas of Co-operative Solidarity
need to be further discussed to avoid these
new co-operatives falling prey to the old
pitfalls that have bedevilled co-operative ventures
since the 19th century, commercial failure or
predation by private investors. If we can now
communicate so much better, we no longer
need to learn slowly, painfully and wastefully,
by trial and error. The Ways Forward 6 “Cooperative
Solidarity” conference on 16 February in
Manchester will explore the leadership issue and
how we can refine the concept to meet our business
development needs.
JANUARY 2018 | 45

CO-OPS AND THE RISE OF
BIG DATA
DATA
BY MILES HADFIELD
As the rise of big data continues to transform
the business landscape, it presents the co-op
movement, with an untapped resource in the shape
of a mountain of member information – but also a
series of ethical issues.
These boil down to the question of who should
actually own the data, which becomes even
more pressing in the case of member-owned
organisations like co-ops. And the subject came
under discussion during a session at the Global
Conference of the International Co-operative
Alliance in Kuala Lumpur last month.
One example of how the co-op movement is
rising to the opportunities and challenges of online
information is Swiss co-op MIDATA, which offers
members a platform to store their data. Its current
focus is on health – an area of particular ethical
concern when it comes to privacy.
Vice president Doris Albisser told the conference
session that MIDATA is “citizen-owned and
controlled, not for profit, open source, transparent,
secure; only account holders have access to the
platform and can see who has accessed their data.”
The data is used for science projects, she said,
with participants’ consent. “We don’t allow data
used for research to be sold,” she said. “The longterm
goal is to use data to personalise medicine.
The patient controls the data.”
Equally sensitive is financial data. Jimmy Lin,
manager of software engineering data services at
Schools First Credit Union in the USA, discussed
the balance of responsibility and opportunity that
consumer banking data brings.
“We’re working to understand the data trail to
make members’ lives better,” he said. “We were
able to use it to work out which members had been
worst affected by the recent natural disasters in the
USA – forest fires, the storms and floods – and reach
out to them. But we are also working out firewalls
and permissions to prevent breaches.”
He added: “We’re not allowed to share data with
a third party. The question is what do we use it
for? We want to understand who our members are
better so their financial situation is better.
“We like to say we treat the members’ data like
we treat the members themselves.”
New tech comes to agriculture
Big data is by now an established force in health
and finance but it is now beginning to make itself
felt in agriculture.
Andrew Crane, who recently stepped down as
chief executive of Australian grain storage and
marketing co-op CBH, said: “Agriculture is one of
last industries to get teched. It’s a physical product
– how do we digitise that? But there is scope with
use of data to help farmers make a return.”
Dr Crane said co-ops have a role to play in
championing the rights of members when it comes
to their data. For instance, this date can ensure
transparency on input pricing, helping smaller
farmers find out if their price is competitive or not.
“Who owns the data?” he asked. “Modern farm
equipment captures a huge yield of data as it
harvests crops. Who owns that?
“Machine makers in the US say the data the
machine gather belongs to them, not the farmers.
We say it’s the farmers.”
He said the task now is to work out how to obtain
that data for farmers, perhaps by getting a tool to
extract the data to buy on a statewide basis, or
creating a farmer business network to “share data
that farmers have already paid for”.
He added: “Storage systems have data of what
grain is available, what is high and low in supply.
We’re under pressure to release this but it belongs
to our members. Online quality data means that
farmers can extract value, rather than traders.”
Dr Crane said the data on the shipping and
blending of grain can connect big grain buyers in
China with his farmer members.
He added: “The new middle class want to know
the origin of their food – food counterfeiting is an
46 | JANUARY 2018

issue. How do we demonstrate the clean, green
origin, of safe food? We need to control data and
bring power back to our members.”
But there are other difficulties, he warned. “The
interests of members might diverge from those
of the co-op. For instance, we buy grain from
members and make a profit. We return that profit to
the members as a discount to handling fees.
“But we are now handing that data over to
members so they can deal with the buyers directly.
This is good for members but not necessarily good
for our co-op.”
Bob Yuill, deputy chief executive of the Scottish
Agricultural Organisation Society, said: “In the last
two or three years we’ve been building up a picture
ourselves of the ownership of data... Ownership of
date is what gives you a competitive edge.”
He said “huge processes” were required to ensure
access to data, the visibility of data to people who
use it, and the accuracy of systems that maintain
it. It is also important to “understand how you do
that in co-op context,” he added. “Our values are
key to this.”
Mr Yuill added: “Membership loyalty in a co-op is
demonstrated in ownership and understanding the
strategy of that co-op. Accurate data from members
allows us to drive strategy. Ownership of strategy
matters – at the moment we are giving data away to
large corporates.”
He said there was an important learning process
for co-ops when it comes to data.
“We need education to make sure we don’t pass
on data that takes value from members. It’s a
question at board level of how we deal with these
issues when things are changing so fast.”
join our journey
be a member
New ways of building trust
Looking ahead, big data is part of an information
revolution that is creating new ways of working.
Taynaah Reis, chief executive of Moeda, a Brazilian
co-operative crypto-bank, told the session her
organisation was creating “an internet of trust”.
“We are working on a circular economy, testing
technology and bringing it to India and Africa.
We are empowering people to access finance via
blockchain technology.”
Again, the relationship between co-op and
member is crucial. Ms Reis said: “It’s important
we work with person providing data to know their
needs, follow them, help them to grow.
“There’s a lot of unemployment in Brazil, but
we’re bringing people together in co-op system
where they feel safe to share information and
receive guidance, and learn to make profit with
a purpose. Brazil seen as a risk, but we show
transparency. Investors are happier to invest; they
trust us because we are sharing that information.”
news
We’ve relaunched our membership,
offering member-owners more opportunity to
help us plot the future of our independent coverage
of the co-operative movement.
Find out more at:
thenews.coop/join
JANUARY 2018 | 47

REVIEWS
Co-operation meets the civil rights movement in vision of a city’s future
Jackson Rising:
The struggle
for economic
democracy
and black selfdetermination
in Jackson,
Mississippi
Kali Akuno and
Ajamu Nangwaya
(Daraja Press)
The use of co-operative models to rebuild struggling
local economies is beginning to take root, with
examples such as Cleveland in the USA and Preston
in the UK. But in Jackson, Mississippi, activists are
aiming for an even more radical and transformative
model, which draws on the civil rights struggle and
the Black Power movement.
In 2013 a group of activists founded the
Cooperation Jackson workers co-op which,
beginning with a farm, some plots of land and
community centre, aims to build a new economy for
the city’s majority black population.
It aims to “to develop a co-operative network
based in Jackson, Mississippi that will consist of four
interconnected and interdependent institutions: an
emerging federation of local worker co-operatives,
a developing co-operative incubator, a co-operative
education and training center (the Lumumba Center
for Economic Democracy and Development), and a
co-operative bank or financial institution”.
Cooperation Jackson’s aim is to organise and
empower “the structurally under and unemployed
sectors of the working class, particularly from Black
and Latino communities, to build worker organised
and owned co-operatives will be a catalyst
for the democratization of our economy and
society overall.”
And it’s now the subject of this collection of essays
documenting “the history and intersectionality of
the co-operative movement and the Mississippi
Freedom Movement”.
Jackson Rising describes moves by the city’s
council to engage residents in participatory
democracy – for instance by giving them a say over
the spending of the city budget and championing
a human rights charter and comission to confront
“the abuse of state power, police brutality, and
inhumane policies that lead to the discrimination,
inequality and gross inequities experienced by
Blacks, Latinos, indigenous peoples, immigrants,
workers, Muslims and other religious minorities, the
homeless and members of the LGBTQI community”.
Rooted in the Jackson-Kush plan, devised by Black
activists between 2004 and 2010 to encourage
a “democratic transition to eco-socialism”,
Cooperation Jackson says its ultimate aims are to
place the ownership and control over the primary
means of production in the hands of the city’s black
working class; to advance “ecologically regenerative
forces of production”; to democratically transform
the political economy of the city, and the wider state
and south-eastern USA; and to advance moves
to attain self-determination for people of African
descent and the democratic transformation of the
state of Mississippi.
Ultimately, the co-op leaders say they want to
transition the economy away from capitalism to a
more sustainable, carbon-free model.
p
Co-operators in Jackson want to use the movement’s values to transform their community
48 | JANUARY 2018

p
Members of Cooperation Jackson take a stand
The co-op also takes on board technological
advances. The book looks at the launch of a
Community Production Initiative, which hopes
to use digital technology automated production,
3D printing and quantum computing for a
manufacturing process that is collectively owned
and democratically operated by members of the
community.
Cooperation Jackson is also working to develop
co-operatives in housing, construction, childcare
and solar energy, alongside green worker co-ops,
which will have their own supply and value chains.
The project draws on a long history – as well as
taking lessons from examples overseas such as
Mondragon in Spain, the book looks back at the
history of black co-operatives in the USA, stretching
back to the Colored Farmers’ National Alliance and
Cooperative Union, formed in Texas in 1886. And it
pays tribute to the work of Chokwe Lumumba, who
served as mayor of Jackson from 2013 until his death
in 2014 and sowed the seeds of the co-op plan.
It is early days for Cooperation Jackson, and the
book describes moves by the white-led Mississippi
state legislature to limit the city’s autonomy. But this
books is a useful look at one of the many directions
the co-operative movement might take, under the
influence of new technologies and combined with
new political movements. In this case, in the words
of Mayor Lumumba, means “the building of the
new society”.
Bringing crucial values back home to the business world
Over the past century, a crucial set of values have
been lost in the business world.
Common sense business is a moral framework
for-profit and non-profit firms around prudence,
patience, principles and practicality, according to
the author.
Prudence is one of the leading traits in the book.
The virtue and practice of prudence “is still a
highly esteemed virtue in some realms of society”,
but argues the author, “has largely left both the
business vocabulary and the parlance of everyday
thinking in economics”.
To restore prudence would see humans flourishing
at the centre of the enterprise, rather than being on
the outskirts.
What does common sense business mean? In
economics, it is a way to save money, but today
prudence/common sense is hardly the supreme
virtue it once was. The idea of a noble purpose
guiding our actions has been abandoned, according
to the author.
One of the causes is education. Studies show
that MBA students leave business school with even
less regard for ethical standards than they had upon
arrival. They are taught that “dog-eat-dog” survival
means there is not really much room for ethics
in business.
The book looks at the shining lights in the
business world, such as the strength of Canada’s
well-regulated banking system, which protected it
from the recession, or Germany’s family/peopleoriented
small businesses, which are champions of
engagement with communities.
In Japan, the author visited Ippodo – a company
that sources its tea from the Nagata tea co-operative.
As part of its ethical culture, it rejects chemical
spraying, animal manures, chemical fertilisers,
herbicides, or any pesticides. They keep to nature
and stress the importance of building and keeping
the soil vitality.
The authors met with the managers of Ippodo –
a company that stretches back over three centuries
– who said their common sense plan included a
150-year strategic plan. Within this document were
some principles, such as how it is sensitive to its
ecological environment and the communities in
which they participate.
Managers come from within the company,
and employees feel like generations of a family,
according to the authors.
Common-Sense
Business:
Principles
for Profitable
Leadership
Theodore Roosevelt
Malloch and Whitney
MacMillan (Skyhorse
Publishing)
JANUARY 2018 | 49

DIARY
CLOCKWISE FROM FAR LEFT: Prof Jan
Godsell speaks at the SAOS Conference in
Dunblane on 25 January; Arjen van Nuland
is among speakers at the Co-operative
Retail Conference in Warwick on 9 March;
Unicorn Grocery will be providing food
at the Worker Co-op Weekend in Great
Hucklow on 11-13 May; Community Energy
Fortnight runs from 23 June - 8 July
19 January: Restorative Approaches to
Housing Conference
Wales Restorative Approaches
Partnership event, with host Julia
Houlston Clark. The conference will look
at how to take a whole organisational
approach to restorative approaches.
WHERE: Cardiff
INFO: jessicao@restorativewales.org.uk
25 January: SAOS Conference 2018
The Scottish Agricultural Organisation
looks at supply chains and how to
create value through collaboration. With
speakers Prof Daniel Côté, University of
Montreal, and Prof Jan Godsell, University
of Warwick.
WHERE: Dunblane Hydro Hotel
INFO: saos@saos.coop
9 March: Co-operative Retail Conference
With keynote presentations from industry
specialists, best practice from retailers
and sessions for delegates to discuss
the co-operative retail environment, the
conference offers networking and learning
opportunities during a challenging and
fast-changing time for the co-operative
retail movement. Speakers include Arjen
van Nuland, managing director of the
Dutch National Council for Cooperatives
and Jill Livesy, managing director of
consumer research experts HIM.
WHERE: Chesford Grange,
Kenilworth, Warwick
INFO: www.uk.coop
9 March: Regional Co-operative Councils
networking session and presentation
Networking session at the Co-operative
Retail Conference, offering a chance and
learn more about what is happening
in the different regional co-operative
councils. Organised by Co-operatives
East, Co-operatives East Midlands
and Co-operatives West Midlands,
with presentation from Jim Cook at the
Co-operative Foundation on helping
disadvantaged communities overcome
challenges by putting co-operative
values and principles into practice.
WHERE: Chesford Grange,
Kenilworth Warwick
INFO: s.coop/25x8s
18 April: Co-ops East Midlands – Visit to
The Rochdale Pioneers Museum
Coaches from Lincoln, Derby and
Nottingham. To register interest and
receive further details, please respond to
Jenny de Villiers, jdevilliers@btinternet.
com. A fun day out for store colleagues,
members, families and all interested in
the history of the Co-op
WHERE: Rochdale Pioneers Museum
INFO: s.coop/25x8t
11-13 May: Worker Co-op Weekend
The Worker Co-op Weekend, hosted by
Co-operatives UK, has practical sessions
covering a range of topics. Designed
and run by worker co-ops for worker
co-ops, with food sourced from co-ops
like Essential and Suma, with bread from
Infinity, beer from Bartlebys Brewery and
veg from Unicorn Grocery. Vegan-friendly
catering, camping and campfires.
WHERE: Foundry Adventure Centre,
Great Hucklow, Derbyshire
INFO: www.uk.coop/wcw18
LOOKING AHEAD
18 May: Co-operatives UK annual general
meeting (Manchester)
23 June – 8 July: Community
Energy Fortnight
23 June: Co-operative Congress (London)
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