Co-op News - MARCH 2020

MARCH 2020
HEALTH AND
HOUSING
How can co-ops
change the future
for sectors in crisis?
Plus … The ICA’s Global
Youth Forum ... Student
Co-op Homes ... how can
co-ops help to grow the
new economy?
ISSN 0009-9821
9 770009 982010
01
£4.20
www.thenews.coop

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Home and health: A co-op future?
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
Rebecca Harvey
rebecca@thenews.coop
INTERNATIONAL EDITOR
Anca Voinea | anca@thenews.coop
DIGITAL EDITOR
Miles Hadfield | miles@thenews.coop
DESIGN
Keir Mucklestone-Barnett
ART & DESIGN PLACEMENT
Owais Qazi
INTERNATIONAL OUTREACH OFFICER
Elaine Dean
DIRECTORS
Barbara Rainford (chair), David Paterson
(vice-chair), Sofygil Crew, Gavin
Ewing, Tim Hartley, Ray Henderson,
Gillian Lonergan and Beverley Perkins.
Secretary: Richard Bickle
Established in 1871, Co-operative
News is published by Co-operative
Press Ltd, a registered society under
the Co-operative 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 reflect
the opinion of Co-operative News.
@coopnews
cooperativenews
Health and wellbeing are at the forefront of society-wide conversations – in the UK and
internationally. How will an ageing population be cared for? What will happen to the
NHS in the UK? How is the way people are living, working and communicating affecting
physical and mental health and wellbeing?
Co-operatives can be found taking part in these conversations around the world, so this
issue we look at how they are engaging in two specific sectors: housing and social care.
From North America, David Thompson looks at how workforce housing co-operatives are
improving the lives of workers in downtown Toronto, while Chad Small speaks with two
design build businesses which converted to worker-owned co-ops for different reasons.
In the UK, Susan Press looks at how sustainable homes are being built in Leeds, where
Leeds Community Homes and the Low Impact Living Affordable Community (Lilac) are
improving the health and wellbeing of residents (p 40-46).
More generally, it is known that co-ops are involved in hands-on care provision.
We meet two co-ops doing this on very different scales – and hear about a series of
policy prototypes on health and social care being funded by the Co-operative Councils
Innovation Network (CCIN).
“Health and social care is a broken system in the UK,” says Cllr Chris Penberthy of
Plymouth City Council, who chairs the CCIN values and principles board. “But care cooperatives
can give people back control of something that is very intimate and important.
The current system doesn’t do that. Recipients can’t choose the care that they get and
the care workers can’t give the care they want to.” (p36-39)
This issue we also speak with Gauthier Guerin, project manager for Student Co-op
Homes (p22-23); Paul Gerrard, Co-op Group campaigns & public affairs director (p34-
35) – and hear how co-ops are celebrating Fairtrade Fortnight (24 Feb-8 Mar; p47).
Anca Voinea reports back from the International Co-operative Alliance Global Youth
Forum which took place in Malaysia (p26-29) and we look at some of the highlights from
the Growing the New Economy event, where Lord Victor Adebowale warned: “We’re at
the right place, doing the right things with the right people – but let’s make no mistake:
we can’t fail, because there isn’t a plan B. The new economy has to work because the
old one doesn’t.” (p30-31)
I also speak with Co-op Press chair, Richard Bickle, about the progress we’ve made
under the New Force banner (p25). “We’re not the only model of economic organisation
out there,” he says, “but there’s an opportunity here for co-operatives; the onus is on
us to offer co-ops as a powerful toolkit for the 21st century, as it was in the 19th and 20th
centuries. Co-operation is a democratic, people-based economic model that is getting
on in the here and now and building a better future.”
REBECCA HARVEY - 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.
MARCH 2020 | 3

Youth Forum ... Student
Co-op Homes ... how can
co-ops help to grow the
new economy?
ISSN 0009-9821
9 770009 982010
01
THIS ISSUE
CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT:
ICA Global Youth Forum (p26-29);
Paul Gerrard interview (p34-35); workforce
housing co-op in Canada (p44-46); Lilac
Housing (p42-43); and the co-operative
response to the health care crisis (p36-39)
news Issue #7317 MARCH 2020
Connecting, championing, challenging
MARCH 2020
HEALTH AND
HOUSING
How can co-ops
change the future
for sectors in crisis?
Plus … The ICA’s Global
COVER: The housing crisis shows no
sign of abating – so is it time for co-ops
to come to the rescue? Examples from
Leeds,Toronto and New England
Read more: p40-46
£4.20
www.thenews.coop
22-23 MEET ... GAUTHIER GUERIN
Project manager at Co-operatives
UK for Student Co-operative Homes
25 NEW FORCE: AN UPDATE
Rebecca Harvey speaks with Co-op Press
secretary, Richard Bickle about the
progress so far
26-29 ICA GLOBAL YOUTH FORUM
Anca Voinea reports from the conference
in Malaysia
30-31 COOPERATIVE FUTURES AND
GROWING THE NEW ECONOMY
UK co-operators meet to discuss the next
20 years of the movement
32-33 SAOS CONFERENCE
Scottish farm co-ops discuss digital
34-35 INTERVIEW: PAUL GERRARD,
CO-OP GROUP
We speak to the retailer’s campaigns
director about the Group’s ethical and
community policies
36-39 HEALTH CARE CRISIS
How co-ops are getting involved in the
future of health and social care
40-46 CO-OPERATIVE HOUSING
40-41 A NEW ECONOMY IN
NEW ENGLAND
Chad Small reports on worker
co-ops in the design and build industry,
which offer a greener way of living
42-43 COMMUNITY LED HOUSING
Susan Press takes a look at two
successful initiatives that are offering
alternative homes in Leeds
44-46 WORKFORCE HOUSING CO-OPS
Key workers in city centres struggle
to find somewhere to live – but David
Thompson says a co-op in Toronto is
offering a way forward
47 FAIRTRADE FORTNIGHT
Round-up of events across the co-op
movement as the campaign for a living
wage continues
REGULARS
5-14 UK updates
15-21 Global updates
24 Letters
48-49 Reviews
4 | MARCH 2020

NEWS
p Leadership candidates Keir Starmer, Lisa Nandy and Rebecca Long-Bailey
POLITICS
Labour leadership candidates discuss co-operation
As the Labour Party prepares to elect a
new leader and deputy leader, candidates
have issued statements setting out why
co-operators should support them.
The statements came ahead of a hustings
hosted by Labour’s sister organisation the
Co-op Party on 16 February.
Rebecca Long-Bailey believes the co-op
movement “has a key role to play within
the more democratic economy Labour is
trying to build,” alongside democratic
public ownership of utilities and public
services, expanded rights and powers for
trade unions and worker ownership.
She sees co-ops as “a powerful tool to
extend democratic decision making” and
the co-operative movement as both central
to the history of the labour movement and
an asset to the UK’s economy, workforce
and wider society. But she acknowledges
that the country “lags behind” most other
advanced economies. “And that means
we’re losing out.”
Lisa Nandy thinks that the co-operative
movement and party “have many of the
answers that Labour needs to help people
shape and humanise the future economy”.
She adds: “We need a renaissance
in co-operative solutions as well as
support to scale up the successes we
already have.”
She says she is standing to be the next
leader of the Labour Party “to address
deep-seated inequalities which are
holding back individuals, communities
and our country … To do this we need to
redistribute power as well as wealth”. She
sees co-operatives as a tool to do this.
Keir Starmer says co-ops are key to a
fairer economy. “I believe that expanding
common ownership, including through
co-ops, must be a key part of that,” he says.
“We know that broadening ownership
creates more productive workforces,
reduces internal wage inequalities and
puts workers or the community in charge
of decisions over investment and strategy.
It is socialism in action.”
Both he and Ms Long-Bailey
mention support for Labour’s
Concern over government’s immigration plans
Government proposals for a points-based
immigration system to close the borders
to “low-skilled workers” have prompted
concern in the co-op movement.
Tim Bailey, CEO of the Scottish
Agricultural Organisation Society, said
he was concerned the plans “will starve
our food and farming sector of the skilled
resource to help them function”.
He added: “A number of our member
co-ops have significant permanent and
seasonal labour requirements that cannot
simply be replaced by automation and/
or in the proposed timescales. These are
often based in rural areas where local
labour is scarce.
“The proposed number of Seasonal
Agricultural Workers Scheme permits is
plans to double the size of the
co-operative sector and the call for a new
Co-operative Development Agency. “I
want to see a fundamental change in
the way our economy works so that it is
more democratic, more equal and based
on the principles of co-operativism and
solidarity,” he says.
Similar messages of solidarity came
from the deputy leadership candidates.
Rosena Allin-Khan and Richard Burgon
spoke of grassroots action, while Dawn
Butler, Ian Murray and Angela Rayner
all spoke of supporting the movement
and gave examples of co-ops making a
difference in their communities. “But
pledges and policy aren’t enough,” said
Ms Rayner. “You need a deputy leader who
gets that a co-operative isn’t just a way of
doing things, it’s core to who we are, and
it runs through everything we do.”
u Voting closes at midday on 2 April.
The result of the leadership election
will be announced on 4 April. For the
candidates’ full statements, visit party.
coop/labourleadership.
u Former Co-op Party chair Gareth
Thomas MP shares his view on p13
completely inadequate to fulfil Scotland’s
needs, never mind the whole UK, and also
excludes sectors such as flower picking.
“We need a system that recognises
different regional requirements. Scotlandwide
work permits would achieve that.”
Meanwhile, modern slavery charities
have warned the plans could backfire
by forcing migrant workers to use
illegal channels, leaving them liable to
exploitation by traffickers.
MARCH 2020 | 5

POLITICS
MP tables bill to help co-ops raise private investment for green projects
A private members bill to help co-ops
unlock sustainable investment, and create
local green jobs and skills, was tabled in
the House of Commons last night.
The Green Share Bill, introduced
by Labour MP for Cardiff North, Anna
McMorrin, would allow co-ops and
community associations to raise private
investment capital for environmentally
sustainable purposes. Ms McMorrin says
this could boost local communities and
economies by developing green jobs
and skills. It is also hoped the change
would lead to cheaper, greener energy;
warmer, more energy-efficient homes;
and cheaper, more sustainable locally
sourced food.
Examples given include the retrofitting
of existing housing association homes
or the construction of zero-carbon newbuild
housing stock; the expansion of
renewable energy co-operatives, and the
community ownership of water utilities.
The bill is also includes safeguards
to protect co-ops from individuals
or businesses which seek to liberate
or asset strip a legacy asset through
demutualisation.
Currently, co-ops and mutuals cannot
raise money by issuing transferable
shares. Instead their capital comes from
retained earnings or reserves built up over
time, and various forms of withdrawable
capital or debt.
As a result, they have less money
to invest, innovate and grow their
businesses. Ms McMorrin hopes the Green
Share would create a level playing field for
co-operatives and mutuals with their
private competitors.
Similar legislation was enshrined in
law in Australia under the Treasury Laws
Amendment (Mutual Reforms) Bill 2019.
Ms McMorrin said: “My Green Share Bill
is an opportunity to use investment for the
common good. To effect real change from
the ground up, not only for the benefit of
our communities, but to help tackle the
single most important issue our planet
faces for our future generations.
“The climate catastrophe is the greatest
challenge of our generation. We’ve seen
this evolve from theory to reality and
now we need to make laws to enable our
communities to rise to the challenge.
This bill does just that as well as bringing
secure green jobs and growth across the
country including to those areas which
have seen huge job losses.
“This really is a win-win for people,
communities and investors, providing
secure, green jobs and skills and
creating a better, more sustainable living
environment for all.”
Joe Fortune, general secretary of the
Co-operative Party, said: “It’s great
that there is an opportunity in this bill
to begin this work. The Co-operative
Party is looking forward to working
with Anna McMorrin over the coming
weeks and months to get this bill on the
statute book.”
The bill has its second reading on Friday
27 March.
p Labour MP for Cardiff North, Anna McMorrin
6 | MARCH 2020

CO-OPERATIVES UK
Ed Mayo to leave Co-operatives UK for charity role
Ed Mayo has announced his decision to
leave sector body Co-operatives UK after
more than 10 years as secretary general.
He has been appointed chief executive
at Pilotlight, a London-based charity
which connects businesses and charities
to make them both more effective.
Mr Mayo took the helm of Co-operatives
UK, the national umbrella organisation
for co-ops and mutuals, when
predecessor Dame Pauline Green stood
down in 2010. During the past decade,
he has led the creation of the sectorwide
National Co-operative Development
Strategy, established the £1.3m co-op
support programme The Hive and hosted
celebrations as part of the International
Year of Co-operatives.
He has also been credited as a steadying
hand when some UK co-ops hit difficulties.
Nick Matthews, chair of Co-operatives
UK, said: “On behalf of the board and
our hundreds of members, I’d like to
express my gratitude to Ed for his hard
work and commitment to the co-operative
movement, both here in the UK and
internationally.
“He is an exceptional co-operator,
steering the organisation through some
turbulent times a few years ago, with a
real focus on innovation, collaboration
and growth of the sector.”
Mr Mayo said: “I have been truly blessed
to work with such a committed group of
people across the UK and feel that I am
leaving the organisation in good hands,
as I take on a new challenge.
“I look forward to the next chapter of
Co-operatives UK’s 150-year-long story
and invite you all to celebrate our
collective achievements at our public
facing Festival of Co-operation and Co-op
of the Year Awards in Rochdale this June.”
On his new appointment, Mr Mayo
added: “No one makes more of a
difference to communities than the
voluntary sector, yet small charities at
the heart of this are under more stress
than ever.
“I look forward to working with the
individual and business members, the
trustees and the staff team of Pilotlight,
who together make up an extraordinary
community of purpose.”
HISTORY
Indexing Co-op News – all the way back to 1871
Co-op resource centre Principle 5 is
developing an online index for Co-op
News to help researchers find articles.
Back copies of the paper, which was first
printed in 1871, are viewable at Principle
5, as well as the National Co-operative
Archive in Manchester and Liverpool John
Moores University. But, in the absence
of an index, researchers face a hard task
looking for specific articles.
Principle 5, based at Aizlewood Mill,
Sheffield, has set out to remedy this. Steve
Thompson, who is leading the indexing
work, said: “Many co-operative students,
researchers and people who are interested
in the co-operative commonwealth have
found what they are looking for in the
pages of Co-op News.
“When it first came into print in 1871
there was an index which came to an
end at the time of the First World War.
Searching for the information which is
contained in the pages of Co-op News is
very difficult and time consuming without
an index.
“A decision was taken by the board of
Principle 5 in 2018 to create an online
searchable index for the editions of
Co-op News which we have in the resource
centre. The editions which we have are
all listed in the Principle 5 catalogue
‘Reference Shelves – Co-op News’.”
Principle 5 is planning to complete the
index by referring to the other editions of
Co-op News in the National Co-operative
Archive.
The index can direct anyone who goes
online to keywords, article titles, page
numbers and editions, and then contact
Principle 5 to request a scan of the pages
they want to read, or visit the centre to see
the paper copy.
“The work of building the index has
only just begun and editions are being
added every day,” added Mr Thompson.
“It will take a long time to completion.”
“The board realised that we would need
someone who could build a searchable
online index. Through the University of
Sheffield we appointed an intern through
their Postgraduate Advantage Scheme.
We were very fortunate to be able to
welcome Yingjia Cao (Jade) who has
created the database and management
system which allows people to interact
with the online index by searching
for information.”
Since the formal internship, she has
joined Principle 5 as its information
systems volunteer.
Jonathan Cook, chair of Principle 5, has
organised the process.
u The index is at coopnews.principle5.
coop/ and you can access the site with the
username ‘coop’ and the password ‘news’
MARCH 2020 | 7

EDUCATION
Co-operative College launches annual Love to Learn campaign
The Co-operative College is encouraging
people to share why they love to learn.
Now in its third year, the campaign
runs from 14 February to 14 March, with
entrants asked to submit personal blogs of
250-650 words explaining why they love to
learn. The College will publish a selection
of submissions on its website ahead of the
deadline of midnight, 14 March.
The winner, chosen by a cross-College
judging panel on Wednesday 18 March,
will receive a £100 Waterstones voucher.
Last year’s winner wrote about returning
to education and gaining a renewed
zest for life. Another past winning entry
described how learning and a passion
for education transformed the life of a
five-year-old shy girl who was too scared
to put her hand up in class, to someone
who 20 years later would happily stand
up and present to employees, schools and
parents about her job and experience in
apprenticeships and education.
Cilla Ross, principal and chief executive
of the Co-operative College, said: “We’re
delighted to bring back our love to learn
competition for a third year in a row and
I think we all have a favourite learning
memory that we can look back on, such
as a favourite teacher who motivated us to
achieve or the joy of learning a new skill
or hobby by ourselves.
“We can’t wait to receive more
inspiring stories about how education
has transformed lives and opened
up opportunities that many wouldn’t
have thought possible at the start of
their journey.”
u The competition is open to residents of
the United Kingdom aged 18 years or over
only. To enter, visit
co-op.ac.uk/love-to-learn2020
RETAIL
More store revamps at
the Co-op Group
The Co-op Group has reopened its petrol
filling station and food store in Coedpoeth,
Wrexham, following an overhaul.
The site underwent a near £2.5m
investment which saw the installation of
replacement tanks, pumps, forecourt and
canopy, along with a rebuilt and extended
food store.
The expanded store, on High Street,
supports up to 20 local jobs, and offers
increased customer car parking, coffee
and an in-store bakery.
Local supplier Village Bakery was at
the launch to showcase its products. In
addition, to mark St David’s Day, the
Group’s Fresh 3 promotion will see leeks
and potatoes – from award-winning
Pembrokeshire grower Blas-Y-Tir – and
Welsh grown daffodils on offer in-store
until 4 March.
Eddie Jenkinson, national fuels
manager at the Group, said: “We are
delighted to have had the opportunity to
make further significant investment in
North Wales. We are confident that the
re-development and enhanced offer and
facilities will benefit both the community
and visitors to the area.”
Store manager Clywd Davies said: “It is
our aim to establish the store at the heart
of local life and contribute to the local
community, the store has a great newlook
and range and we want to create a
real community hub. It’s all about getting
closer to our members and customers,
providing what they want, need and care
about, conveniently.”
Meanwhile two of the Group’s stores
in Worcestershire are receiving upgrades
worth a combined £1m.
In Dines Green, a pop-up Co-op shop
is continuing to serve the community
while the Gresham Road store embarks is
refurbished. It re-opens on 20 February,
following a £550,000 investment.
The Group’s Ronkswood food store will
re-launch on 12 March.
Both stores will run on 100% renewable
electricity, and will see an improved stock
range similar to the Coedpoeth site. Area
manager Jon Bottomley said: “We are
delighted to have the opportunity to invest
such a significant amount in our stores in
the Worcester area.”
8 | MARCH 2020

ENVIRONMENT
Vehicle sharing
co-op Co Cars launches
£600k funding bid
Exeter-based eco-friendly vehicle sharing
co-operative Co Cars has launched a
£600k funding round.
Co Cars is asking residents and
businesses in and around Exeter to
support the expansion of its fleet from
just under 40 cars to over 55. It also wants
to add at least 50 new electric bicycles
through the funding drive, via the ethical
investment platform Ethex.
Launched in 2005, Co Cars is one of
south west England’s leading low-carbon,
on-demand shared mobility schemes. It
has more than 1,200 active members who
have reported a 30% reduction in car use,
a 15% reduction in travel costs and a 20%
increase in walking and cycling.
In the last five years, Co Cars says it has
removed over 150 private cars from the
road, saving 149 tonnes of CO2 per annum.
A successful funding bid is expected to
remove an additional 150 cars and save a
further 230 tonnes of CO2 per annum.
Funds will be channelled into the
purchase or leasing of electric cars and
bikes, the establishment of city-centre
mobility hubs, product innovation
(such as the development of a dedicated
geolocation app) and the developing
integrated ticketing with local bus
operators to increase ease of use
and connectivity.
Investors will see a targeted 5% return
on their investment per annum, with Co
Cars re-investing any surplus funding
generated above the £600k mark back
into the business.
Mark Hodgson, founder of Co Cars,
said: “The extensive use of private
vehicles is forcing individuals and
households into transport poverty, and
having a destructive effect on the planet,
with vehicular emissions contributing the
largest proportion of greenhouse gases.
“Although we are witnessing explosive
growth in electric vehicles, we at Co Cars
believe more can be done.”
RETAIL
Headless commerce: The digital principle behind
the Co-op Group’s same-day delivery service
The Co-op Group and Finnish tech retail
developer Digital Goodie have announced
the next step in their work on the retailer’s
online shop and home delivery service.
The project was launched last March
and the Group plans to offer same-day
online city-centre deliveries from 650
stores by the end of 2020.
The service will follow the headless
commerce model – which separates the
front end of the operation, experienced by
the shopper, from the back end, which is
the IT. This makes it simpler, quicker and
cheaper to make changes to the frontend
and respond to consumer trends.
Digital Goodie says this combination
will create one of the most powerful,
scalable industry players with a complete
suite of e-commerce applications, and
will enable the Group to achieve its goal of
offering grocery home deliveries in as little
as two hours.
“The Co-op recognises the need to be
equally fast when it comes to the user
experience innovation,” said Digital
Goodie in a press release. “This is where
headless enters the picture.”
Under the headless commerce model,
the Group can take full control of the end
user experience, and can build and design
its user experience without dependency
on Digital Goodie, which runs the IT. The
Group’s digital team has designed and
built its own storefront, which went live
in August.
Digital Goodie says the next steps
include native mobile applications, which
will again be developed by the Group’s
digital team.
Chris Conway, head of food digital at
the Group, said: “Convenience lies at the
heart of our offering and as part of this, we
have major online expansion plans which
will make it easier than ever for customers
to shop with us. Such growth can only be
facilitated with a digital partner that offers
modern and agile technology and we’re
delighted to continue our work with the
Digital Goodie team who are intrinsic in
bringing these plans to life.”
Moris Chemtov, global CEO of Digital
Goodie, said: “We are proud to be the first
platform vendor to truly bring headless
commerce to the grocery industry.”
MARCH 2020 | 9

HOUSING
Heart of England society invests £100k in student housing co-operatives
Student Co-op Homes (SCH) – the
national body set up to grow the student
co-op housing market – received a boost
to its community share offer with a
£100,000 investment from the Heart of
England Co-operative.
The announcement came as SCH
urged more people and organisations to
invest in its share offer before it closed
on the extended deadline of Tuesday 4
February. It was launched last October to
raise capital so that SCH can buy property
to lease to student housing co-ops in
Brighton, Nottingham and Glasgow.
“Today, students in higher education
face increasing pressure, debt and mental
health challenges,” said Student Co-op
Homes director Vivian Woodell. “Student
housing co-ops are a solution that can
break the cycle of high-cost, poor-quality
private rents that drive up debt and
exacerbate poor health.”
Housing co-ops are affordable not-forprofit
homes that students manage and
maintain. SCH points out there are no
landlords and everyone works together for
mutual benefit.
“We’d like to thank Heart of England for
this substantial investment,” added Mr
Woodell. “It’s a huge boost to our share
offer, which has raised over a quarter of
a million pounds so far. It’s a significant
sum that lays a solid foundation for our
ambition to create a thriving student
housing co-op sector.
“With just a few days left of the
share offer, we’d like to see even more
investment so we can buy more property
to give more students access to quality,
affordable homes.
“If you haven’t already, please invest
and help us create sustainable, ethical
housing that supports the younger
generation in gaining co-operative values,
important life skills, better health and a
better start to their working lives.”
A spokesperson for the Heart of
England Co-op said: “We are proud
to be supporting the valuable work
of Student Co-op Homes with our
£100,000 investment in their community
share offer.
“It’s not only an investment in a groundbreaking
co-operative venture – it’s also an
investment in future generations. Student
housing co-ops provide the conditions to
nurture resilient, healthy graduates who
can enter the workforce and shape society
in the spirit of co-operation.”
u Interview with Gauthier Guerin, Student
Co-op Homes project manager, p22-23
p Birmingham Student Housing Co-op,
a founder member of Student Co-op Homes
HEALTH
Channel Islands Co-op
reviews health business
Co-operative Medical Care (CMC), the
health venture launched by Channel
Islands Co-op in 2014, is looking at new
options, saying its business model has
become unsustainable.
The co-op operates three GP practices
in Jersey but has hit problems, including
a lack of GPs.
The society will run the practices
as normal until the summer while a
consultation takes place with the 25
colleagues affected. A decision on whether
the three locations will be taken over, sold
or closed is expected by late spring.
Because Jersey doesn’t come under the
NHS, patients have to pay for visits to the
GP, non-emergency hospital treatment
and other care, treatment and related
costs, including travel costs. Long-term
residents can receive a health card, which
gives discounted GP costs.
CMC is based on a financial model
that allowed the co-op to offer low-cost
healthcare and enable members to receive
a dividend on GP payments.
Unfortunately, the society was not able
to register enough patients to sustain the
model. And it struggled with the islandwide
issue of recruitment.
Mark Cox, acting CEO of the Channel
Islands Co-op, said: “It is no secret that
there are not enough GPs on the island
and, like many other practices, CMC has
struggled to recruit GPs. This key issue has
prevented us from growing the business
in the way we would have anticipated and
unfortunately, as a consequence, CMC has
not achieved its financial targets and we
have taken the difficult decision to end
our provision of GP services.
“We have a responsibility to our
members, the owners of our business, to
make difficult decisions for the long-term
stability of the group.”
He added that the society was
“committed to working with our team to
identify any opportunities for the future
of the medical business” and wanted to
explore as many options as possible while
causing the least amount of disruption.
To continue, CMC would have to double
its number of patients and employ more
GPs. “Our model is very different from
other island surgeries which fall under the
owner/partner model,” said Mr Cox.
The society has committed to continuing
its profitable pharmacy business, which
has four outlets.
Mr Cox added: “We are proud to have
led the way with reduced GP fees in Jersey,
a hugely positive move which saw many
practices follow suit, ensuring islanders
have access to medical care services at
prices that they can afford.”
10 | MARCH 2020

Central England Co-op appoints new commercial director
p Matt Bland (centre) with board members
CREDIT UNIONS
Co-op Credit Union
appoints Matt Bland
as chief executive
The Co-op Credit Union reported positive
annual results at its AGM in Manchester on
14 February, where it welcomed Matt Bland
as its new chief executive.
Members heard how the credit union
had doubled its surplus to £40k,000 in the
year 2018-2019, while rewarding savers with
a 1% dividend.
Mr Bland, who took up the chief executive
post in January, has been involved in the
credit union movement for over 11 years. He
joins from the trade body Abcul, where he
was head of policy and communications.
David Fawell, chair of the Co-op Credit
Union, said: “The credit union has strong
fundamentals with almost double the
required capital reserves, a skilled and
committed staff and board team, and
a loyal membership base.
“Having reflected on the credit union’s
position, the board took the decision to
use these solid foundations as a base for
going for growth with a new chief executive
to drive this agenda forward. Matt brings a
wealth of experience and expertise and an
unrivalled network making him the ideal
person to take on the role.”
Mr Bland said: “We have exciting plans
to streamline and modernise our services,
introduce new technology, invest in our
people and get the word out like never
before. By replicating best practices from
credit unions in the UK and abroad, we
aspire to nothing less than making the
Co-op Credit Union a leader in the sector.”
Based at Angel Square, Manchester, the
credit union provides savings and loans
to employees and members of a range of
co-operative organisations. It has 8,579
members and a loan balance of £2.6m.
NFU Mutual counts the cost of Storm Ciara
Co-op Funeralcare celebrates its 3,000th apprentice
New commercial manager at Midcounties’ travel arm
Co-ops join preparations for Fair Tax Week
Central England Co-operative has
appointed a new commercial director,
Andy Peake, who previously worked at Asda
for nearly 20 years. Mr Peake held a series
of roles at Asda, spanning the commercial
and buying areas of the business. As senior
director for core grocery and petrol at Asda,
he had full accountability for the strategic
direction and commercial delivery of
these categories.
Rural insurer NFU Mutual said it has
received more than 2,800 claims for Storm
Ciara, which hit the UK on 9 February,
and estimates the total pay-outs to its
customers to be in the region of £20m.
Approximately 90% are personal home
insurance claims for significant storm
damage including fallen trees damaging
property, roof damage and water ingress.
Co-op Funeralcare, which for the past seven
years has been one of the UK’s leading
employers of apprentices, has welcomed
its 3,000th recruit. Jennifer Plews, 20,
joined the Co-op Funeralcare at Bridge
Street, Kendal. She had been considering a
career in make-up but had always wanted
to go into a caring profession, having seen
her mother work as a nurse.
The Travel division of Midcounties
Co-operative has announced the
appointment of Harriet Desai as
commercial manager. Her appointment
completes the five-strong commercial
team led by Mark Mitchell, who joined as
head of product and commercial in July
2019. Ms Desai will be based in Walsall.
Fair Tax Week (13-21 June) will celebrate
businesses who pay the right amount
of corporation tax, on time and in the
right place, with activities across the
country. Accredited co-ops include East
of England, Midcounties, Scotmid and
Radstock; Energy4All, Co-operatives UK
and the Co-op Party.
MARCH 2020 | 11

EDUCATION
UKSCS calls for
conference proposal
papers
The UK Society for Co-operative Studies
(UKSCS) has launched a call for papers for
its 2020 Conference, which will be hosted
at Lincoln International Business School
from 2-4 October.
The event will explore issues around
the politics, policies, and practices of
co-operative movements as, even with
agreed values and principles, co-ops
have often wrestled with a wide range of
political agendas, policy environments
and (democratic) management practices.
To create the agenda for this year’s
conference, UKSCS members participated
in a democratic process at its AGM which
developed and voted on key themes
for the 2020 conference. In doing so,
they considered feedback from the 2018
conference recommending fewer parallel
tracks and larger discussion groups.
The call for papers, issued on behalf
of UKSCS by Professor Rory Ridley-Duff
(Sheffield Hallam University) and Dr Jan
Myers (Northumbria University), invites
proposal submissions for presentations,
papers, panels and practical activities.
The proposals can be oriented towards
generating debates and engaging
members, facilitating experiential
learning activities or reporting the
findings of research studies.
The call particularly welcomes
contributions by practitioners who wish
to share developments within their cooperative
enterprise and/or network on
the emergence of new thinking; how new
thinking has been applied to accounting,
management, marketing or governance
in co-operatives; and how new practices
have impacted on producer, worker
and consumer members (and other
stakeholders).
“We invite contributions that explore the
character and identity of co-operatives,
and their links to social, economic and
political thinking,” said UKSCS. “How do
these linkages manifest today and shape
members’ participation in management?”
The deadline for proposals
(abstracts) is 30 May 2020, with
successful applicants notified by 1
July. Registration for the conference
opens on 1 July. For more information:
easychair.org/cfp/2020ukscsconference
DEVELOPMENT
Wales Co-operative Centre appoints two new
directors to grow its commercial arm
The Wales Co-operative Centre has
announced the appointment of Rhian
Edwards as commercial director and
Joanne Jones as director of finances and
resources.
Their roles are to provide leadership and
strategic direction for the organisation’s
business development and commercial
activities.
Ms Edwards continues her rise through
the organisation’s ranks, having spent the
last 12 months developing the centre’s
first dedicated commercial consultancy
service, Social Business Connect. Prior
to this, she spent nine years delivering
public sector facing consultancy for the
Centre, working with high profile clients
such as NHS Shared Services, Public
Health Wales, Development Bank of Wales
and Transport for Wales.
She has also managed a range of social
enterprise business support programmes
p Rhian Edwards and Joanne Jones (Photo: Patrick Olner at Tall and Short Photography)
for the Centre in that time, including
the £11m funded Social Business Wales
project and the Business Succession &
Consortia project.
Meanwhile, Joanne Jones is a new
face at the centre, after a career covering
audit, accounting and risk. A chartered
accountant, her career started in an
accountancy practice, where clients were
predominantly not for profit organisations
but also included manufacturing, retail
and service companies. For the past
four years she has worked at a private
commercial healthcare company where
she led on finance, HR and IT.
Derek Walker, chief executive of the
Wales Co-operative Centre, said: “We have
been in business since the early 1980s. Our
sustainability has been the result of strong
governance, a reputation of delivery but
also our ability to identify and nurture
talent within our ranks. Rhian is a perfect
example of this. From the first day she
joined us, she has always showed vision
and ambition to diversify our income base
and find new ways to achieve our goals
and strengthen our business.
“With Joanne alongside her we now
have a strong leadership team in place to
grow our commercial arm of the business
and secure more contracts with the public
and private sectors.”
12 | MARCH 2020

POLITICS
Gareth Thomas MP: Labour should drop
water and energy nationalisation
The Labour/Co-op MP for Harrow
West, and former chair of the Co-op
Party, shares his thoughts on the future
direction of the Labour Party.
The next Labour leader should confirm
they will not support nationalising
the water and energy industries. That
commitment helped us lose the General
Election and condemn consumers to
another five years of rising bills and
unaccountable bosses.
Labour’s critique of water and energy
privatisation remains powerful and the
demand for change completely justified,
but the solution we proposed was wrong.
The price tag of nationalising both
industries at a combined total of anything
from £50 to £200bn, depending on who
you believed, helped to make our plans
for government seem hugely costly, with
the regular doorstep refrain of “Where’s
the money going to come from?” allowing
the fear of big tax rises for people on
low to middle incomes to be exploited by
our opponents.
The huge cost of water and energy
nationalisation also made it harder to
sell bringing Royal Mail and the railways
back into public ownership – both far less
costly and more sensible.
These plans would have seen a huge
increase in power for Whitehall at a
time when the appetite for devolution to
England’s regions is growing and the need
to give local people more direct power and
agency has never been more obvious.
Ownership matters: poor regulation
has led to higher prices, insufficient
investment and excessive profit taking.
But giving power to the state isn’t going
to suddenly make water and energy more
democratic; if anything, decision makers
will become even more remote.
Both energy and water would benefit
from genuinely having to answer to the
public they serve. Real public ownership
with companies, owned by a mix of the
very customers who depend on them
and the very staff who provide the actual
services, would help to lock out profiteering
and create authentic responsibility to
those stakeholders without the huge costs
of nationalisation.
True, it would take longer, with tougher
regulation required over a sustained
period. All companies would be required
to put a number of consumers and staff on
their boards and secure the approval of
consumers for any increases in bills. Over
time, working with the existing owners,
we should convert water companies into
mutuals, still in the private sector but
owned by the public and employees.
A new Energy Security Board should
be established which prioritises its
responsibility to energy consumers,
employees and other stakeholders
alongside securing the nation’s energy
supply. We should champion the
expansion of energy co-ops to spread
ownership, accelerate the transition to
renewables and put customers in charge.
Why shouldn’t our neighbours, our
friends, those we work with have a say
on the big choices these crucial services
face on how to tackle climate threats and
what to do to help the most vulnerable in
our country? Why should those who work
in London; in Westminster have more
control than those in Grimsby, Redcar or
Ipswich over how the energy and water
they need are managed?
There are those on both left and right
who have a vested interest in keeping the
debate about the future of energy and
water services limited to a binary choice
of privatisation or nationalisation.
The opposition to co-ops and mutuals
from senior advisors to Labour’s current
leadership was a real disappointment. It
is true there was a headline commitment
to increase the size of the co-op sector but
on big choices, our 2019 manifesto opted
for civil service control or the status quo.
There is another way. It’s called public
ownership; it puts the people of this
country in the driving seat. It’s what has
made businesses like Waitrose and the
Co-op Group in the UK or Credit Agricole,
Rabobank and Navy Federal in Europe
and the United States so successful.
At the risk of understatement, after our
worst defeat since 1935 a little imagination
will be required to improve our chances.
Given the cost of our energy and water
plans they are a good place to start. Instead
of nationalisation let’s opt for the cheaper,
but more radical option of putting the
public and employees in charge.
MARCH 2020 | 13

MEDIA
More Than a Shop: a radical new co-operative podcast
Co-operatives have great stories to tell.
They rescue pubs and football clubs,
provide a path out of precarious work
and zero hours contracts, and spark
conversations about new ways of thinking,
living and working.
Co-op News has been telling these
stories for nearly 150 years – and now
we are doing it in another way. We
have teamed up with colleagues at
Co-operatives UK, the Co-op, the
Co-operative College and Co-operative
Heritage Trust on a series of eight podcasts
that look at how co-ops are making a
difference in communities around the UK.
The series is called More Than a Shop
because, in the UK, a shop is what most
people think of when you say the word
‘co-op’. Made with Sparklab Productions,
each episode lasts around 40 minutes and
is hosted by broadcaster and journalist
Elizabeth Alker (BBC Radio 3) – who is
from Rochdale and mindful of the co-op
movement’s place in the town’s history.
“Podcasting is huge,” says Leila
O’Sullivan from Co-operatives UK, who
helped coordinate the project. “The
challenge was to create engaging and
entertaining podcasts that stand out,
when co-ops are already a challenging
area to talk about.”
Together the five organisations
developed the themes and drew up a list
of contributors. The eight topics for the
first series are big, relevant, and societywide:
education; music; climate change;
food; end of life; mental health; the future
of the high street; and worker ownership.
“We wanted to celebrate the great work
that co-ops are doing, but bring in some
‘non-co-op’ guests to get their ideas and
thoughts on these topics too. The premise
of the podcast is for guests to bring a
challenge they identify or face, relating to
the episode topic, and then put forward
their idea – large or small – that addresses
this challenge.”
The podcasts are already contributing to
this good work, providing a space for these
people to meet and learn what others are
doing. Highlights from the series include
Chris Hawkins (BBC 6 Music) talking
about musicians needing a better deal,
while sitting in the studio opposite Terry
Tyldesley, who offers just this through the
Resonate music streaming co-operative.
Or Louise Marix Evans speaking about
co-operative community energy
generation, while Samantha Moyo
(speaker and activist) tells how climate
change campaigns are not inclusive
enough for people of colour.
“The entire project has been one of
collaboration,” says Leila. “We are five
national co-operative organisations, all
working to the same agenda of raising
awareness and championing co-op
businesses and the co-op option. We want
to normalise co-operation.
“But we also wanted to do something
different and actively create something
that isn’t just about co-ops. We wanted
to reach beyond the movement, beyond
our usual audiences, through a range of
relevant topics and guests. We have ended
up with something that we are all proud
of and look forward to building on in
future series.”
She adds: “As a production process,
it was eye-opening. Geoff Bird, who
produced the series on behalf of Sparklab
Productions, really listened to us, and
has produced a podcast of real quality.
I think we have got what we wanted –
I’m really excited to hear what
people think!”
The first episode, Education for all? A
new school of thought will be released on
Wednesday 11 March, with the following
seven episodes released fortnightly.
People can subscribe to More Than a
Shop on morethanashop.coop from 29
February. We are already looking ahead
to series two. If there are any topics you
would like us to explore, please email
communications@uk.coop.
14 | MARCH 2020

GLOBAL UPDATES
GLOBAL
Countdown to 33rd World Co-operative Congress begins
On 11-17 December 2020, around 2,000
co-operators will gather in Seoul, the
Republic of Korea, for the 33rd World
Cooperative Congress.
Preparations were launched in the city
last month with representatives from all
International Cooperative Alliance (ICA)
member co-ops in South Korea, and from
government and civil society bodies.
The key theme of the event, hosted at
the city’s COEX complex, is ‘Deepening
our Co-operative Identity’. The ICA says
it will be “an opportunity to celebrate the
movement’s history while launching a
debate to generate a more multi-faceted
understanding of the role of co-operative
identity in co-operatives”.
The congresses are convened only on
special occasions, such as the approval of
the Statement on the Co-operative Identity
(31st congress, 1995, Manchester) or the
UN International Year of Co-operatives
(32nd congress, 2012, Manchester). This is
only the second congress outside Europe,
after the 30th in Tokyo in 1992.
This year’s event is designed to help
co-ops position themselves at a national
and international level, and to better
use the co-operative identity. A number
of papers and studies will be presented,
while prior to the Congress, Seoul will
host an International Co-operative
Research Conference (10-12 December)
and International Co-operative Law
Forum (12-13 December).
This year marks the 125th anniversary
of the ICA, and the 25th anniversary of the
ICA Statement on the Cooperative Identity.
The statement sets out the definition
of a co-operative as a special form of
organisation; the values of co-operatives;
and the co-op principles that direct them.
Martin Lowery, the ICA director who
chairs the Congress Task Force and
presides over the ICA Board Committee on
Cooperative Identity, spoke at the launch
about the importance of co-operative
values and how they form the “essence of
the co-operative difference”.
Mr Lowery shared the three main
thematic pillars of the Congress:
Deepening our Cooperative Identity;
Innovation and Entrepreneurship; and
Cooperatives’ Global Responsibility in the
context of the Sustainable Development
Goals (SDGs). During the launch, he led
meetings with the organisers, ICA member
organisations and the Seoul metropolitan
government.
Also in attendance was Balu Iyer,
regional director for the International
Cooperative Alliance Asia-Pacific (ICAAP),
and ICA director general, Bruno Roelants.
Co-ops in South Korea
ICAAP says co-ops play a vital role in
driving community-based initiatives to
strengthen the country’s economy. South
Korea has 5,100 active co-ops with 313,000
p Martin Lowery, chair of the #WorldCoopCongress taskforce and the ICA Board Committee on
Cooperative Identity, at the launch of the event (Picture: property of EROUN.NET)
members and 22,000 employees. Nearly
24% of these operate in wholesale and
retail, 14% in education, 10% in agriculture
in forestry, 9% in manufacturing, 9% in
arts and sports, 5% in health and social
welfare, and the remainder in other
sectors. The average turnover is just under
US$250,000 (£193,000).
The country has two different legal
frameworks for co-ops: the Special Law
Regime (eight laws closely related to
specific economic sectors and enterprise
types) and the Framework Act on
Co-operatives (a general co-op law
formulated in 2012 to provide legal
recognition to self-help organisations
excluded from the jurisdiction of the
Special Law Regime).
The government and established co-ops
both actively promote the model around
the world by showcasing successful
co-operatives and by supporting
sustainable co-op development, taking
into account the Sustainable Development
Goals (SDGs).
Two sectors seeing recent growth are
school co-operatives, where students set
up their own enterprises within a school;
and freelance co-operatives, established
by lecturers, coaches, consultants, IT
developers, scientists, researchers, civic
landscapers, artists, craftsmen, theatre
freelancers, reporters, storytellers, photo
reporters, movie staff, and writers.
The country has a long-standing
relationship with the ICA; Korean co-ops
hosted the ICAAP Regional Assembly
in 1998 and the ICA Global Assembly in
2001. South Korea is the secretariat of the
International Co-operative Agricultural
Organization (ICAO) and the International
Cooperative Fisheries Organization
(ICFO) – and Mr Lee Jong-Koo, the
former president of the Korean National
Federation of Fisheries Cooperatives, was
the Rochdale Pioneers Award winner in
2011. The ICA has seven members from
South Korea; the first to affiliate was
the National Agricultural Cooperative
Federation (NACF), in 1963.
u For more information on co-ops in South
Korea, see the ICAAP factsheet at
bit.ly/2uXTALn
MARCH 2020 | 15

GLOBAL
The latest picture of world co-operation: $2tn turnover
and a push for the UN’s sustainable development agenda
The latest edition of the World Cooperative
Monitor shows that the world’s 300
largest co-op had a combined turnover of
US$2.03tn in 2017, up from $2.01tn in 2016.
The Monitor is produced by the
International Co-operative Alliance
with support from the European
Research Institute on Cooperative and
Social Enterprises (Euricse). Now in its
eighth year, it collected data for 4,575
co-operatives and mutuals (1,152 from
Europe, 3,218 from the Americas, 197
from Asia-Pacific, and eight from Africa)
operating in 10 sectors.
The data is from the year 2017 with
sources including existing databases,
data collected by national associations,
research institutes and a questionnaire.
Co-ops in the Top 300 come from various
sectors with 39% active in insurance,
31.7% in agriculture, 17.7% in wholesale
and retail trade 17.7%, 7% in banking and
financial services, 1% in industry and
utilities 1%, and 1% in health, education
and social care.
The largest co-operatives based
on turnover are co-operative banks
Groupe Crédit Agricole (US$96.25bn)
and Groupe BPCE (US$59.03bn), both
from France. They are followed by
retailer REWE Group (US$55.85bn) and
co-operative banking apex BVR
(US$55.29bn) from Germany.
This year’s report includes an analysis
of how the Top 300 are contributing to
the eighth UN Sustainable Development
Goal (inclusive and sustainable economic
growth, full and productive employment
and decent work for all).
This includes a look at how co-ops
ensure full, productive employment
and decent work. For 12 of the 22 co-op
which included the data in their reports,
the percentage of employees hired on a
permanent basis was over 90%. For eight,
this was between 80% and 90%, and in
just two cases, it was less than 80% but
still above 50%.
Bruno Roelants, director general of
the ICA, said: “As highlighted by the
UN, co-operatives make a substantial
contribution to achieving the 2030 UN
Agenda on Sustainable Development.
p Co-ops featured in the Top 300 come from various sectors
In this year’s report, we see concrete
examples of specific action undertaken
by some of the largest from around
the world.”
Gianluca Salvatori, Euricse secretary
general, said: “The more organisations
participate in reporting initiatives that
enable the collection of reliable and
internationally comparable data, the
more research and analysis can be done
to demonstrate the social and economic
impact of co-operatives.”
Agriculture:
Top 10 come from seven countries:
Japan, Republic of Korea, USA,
Germany, Netherlands, New Zealand
and Denmark. The largest is Zen-noh in
Japan (turnover US$41.37bn).From this
sector, there are 97 co-ops in the top 300
based on turnover.
Industry and utilities
Top 10 come from three countries: US,
Italy and Spain. The largest is Corporación
Mondragón from Spain (US$13.49bn).
From this sector, there are eight co-ops in
the top 300 based on turnover.
Wholesale and retail trade
Top 10 come from six countries: Germany,
France, Switzerland, Italy, UK and the
USA. The largest is German retailer REWE
Group with a turnover of US$55.85bn.
From this sector, there are 53 co-ops in the
top 300 based on turnover.
Insurance
The top 10 come from five countries:
Japan, USA, Germany, Netherlands and
France. The largest is Zenkyoren from
Japan with a turnover of US$51.69bn.
From this sector, there are 117 co-ops in
the top 300 based on turnover.
Financial services
The top 10 come from eight countries:
France, Germany, Netherlands, Canada,
Austria, USA, Japan and Switzerland. The
largest is Groupe Crédit Agricole from
France (US$51.38bn). From this sector,
there are 21 co-ops in the top 300 based
on turnover.
Education, health and social work
To five come from four countries:
USA, Spain, Brazil and Colombia. The
largest is Health Partners Inc. from USA
(US$6.65bn).From this sector, there are
three co-ops in the top 300 based on
turnover.
Other services
The top five come from three countries:
Norway, Sweden and Italy. The largest is
OBOS BBL from Norway (US$1.40bn).
From this sector, there is one co-op in
the top 300 based on turnover.
u View the monitor at bit.ly/39OL1Bq
16 | MARCH 2020

AUSTRALIA
From bushfires
to the care crisis,
the co-op movement
sets out its stall
The chief executive of Australia’s national
co-op organisation has set out her goals
for the year, focusing on issues such as
the care sector and reconstruction after
the bushfires disaster.
Melina Morrison, from the Business
Council of Co-operatives and Mutuals, said
the movement is gathering momentum
and proved its worth when the bushfires
broke out.
“Co-ops and mutuals sprang into
action,” she wrote in a piece for non-profit
and charity news site Pro Bono Australia.
“Despite facing their own challenges
dealing with a perishable product,
fishing co-ops distributed free ice to stop
community members’ food from spoiling
and offered emergency shelter to local
residents on their moored fishing vessels.
“Rural co-op stores, left without power,
took orders and supplied goods to local
farmers, businesses and community
members on hand-written tabs. Credit
unions and mutual banks unveiled
financial packages to their members as
soon as the fires began … Health mutuals
provided wellbeing checks and home care
for their members in regions affected by
the fires, distributing care packages to
displaced residents.”
She warned that the effects of the
disaster will last for years, adding that
as communities rebuild, “co-ops will
be there … The co-op model has a lot to
offer to impacted communities that have
come together to weather the emergency
and now need to rebuild their physical
assets and economies in a manner that
strengthens the social fabric.”
The bushfires have added to pressure
on farmers, added Ms Morrison, with
challenges over retailer competition,
drought and farmgate prices, but co-ops
have bipartisan support in parliament and
the government is working with BCCM to
ensure more farmers have the tools and
information they need to co-operate.
She said there were other issues facing
Australia which would benefit from cooperative
action, including the shortage
p Melina Morrison: ‘Co-ops are stewards of the community spirit in business’
of carers in the country. Critics of the
National Disability Insurance Scheme
say its payments aren’t enough to sustain
viable care businesses, but co-ops have
still managed to succeed, through a focus
on service and member ownership.
“Having been in operation for a few
years,” wrote Ms Morrison, “these
member-owned models reported that staff
members and patients were satisfied with
the care and the work they were doing and
their workforces are growing.
“Aged care workers within the
employee-owned co-operative model
are able to take ownership of service
quality and still draw a fair wage. This
will be essential in attracting and keeping
workers in this key sector going forward.”
Meanwhile, this year sees the launch
of a framework for measuring the value
created by co-ops and mutuals.
“BCCM was behind ground-breaking
research by accounting academics
from Monash University titled Mutual
Value Measurement that resulted in an
industry inspired mutual accounting
system designed especially for co-ops and
mutuals,” said Ms Morrison.
“Coming at the right time when
customers and consumers are clamouring
for reliable information about the
social impact of corporations on their
communities, co-ops and mutuals have
a unique opportunity to show how
much positive value they create beyond
the usual measurements of financial
performance and profitability.”
She added: “There is still much more
work to do and we will continue to raise
the profile of and advocate for our sector
among policymakers and the community.
“Co-operative businesses have
demonstrated that they are the stewards
of community spirit in business. They
help to make economies stronger and
communities more resilient.”
MARCH 2020 | 17

CANADA
Quebec government to help set up HR co-operatives
Quebec’s provincial government is
boosting funding for the co-operative
sector in an attempt to support small and
medium enterprises.
On 22 January the minister of labor,
employment and social solidarity,
Jean Boulet announced the provincial
government would allocate CA$606,881
(£351,453) to the Quebec Council
of Co-operatives and Mutuals (CQCM).
The funding will help set up 10 co-ops
active in human resources, to support
other co-ops with challenges related to
training and recruitment.
Each of these co-ops will need to include
between five and 10 member enterprises.
These will pool resources together and
share costs to hire HR advisers or create a
joint department for mutual benefit.
Mr Boulet said: “We are promoting the
collective involvement of employers to
meet common needs in terms of workforce
or human resources management.
In addition, the project will enable
businesses to be more autonomous and
implement sustainable solutions in the
context of a scarcity of labour.”
The programme is particularly aimed at
SMEs with five to 50 employees.
“The project announced today
represents the most appropriate solution to
help businesses that have few resources,”
said Marie-Eve Proulx, minister for
regional economic development and
the Chaudière-Appalaches, Bas-Saint-
Laurent and Gaspésie-Îles-de-la-
Madeleine regions. “SMEs in all regions
of Quebec are experiencing the same
difficulties in recruiting workers. By
leveraging co-operative strength, they will
be able to provide services and continue
their growth.”
Gaston Bédard, president and CEO
of the Quebec Council for Cooperation
and Mutual Insurance, added: “At the
end of the pilot project, we hope to have
created more than a dozen employers’
co-operatives that will reflect the needs of
each of the business communities.
“The employers’ co-operative is an
innovative and integrated approach to
support the economic base of Quebec
represented by SMEs. The CQCM will
be able to count on the expertise of the
Coopérative de développement régional
du Québec (CDRQ), which already
supports entrepreneurs in the creation of
co-operatives to lead this project.”
Desjardins report
highlights work on
climate change
Financial co-op giant Desjardins Group
has published a report detailing its
progress on adapting to climate change.
Since 2017, it has remained carbon
neutral by purchasing carbon credits to
offset greenhouse gas emissions, and last
year it became the first Canadian financial
institution to sign the Principles for
Responsible Banking (PRB).
In 2019 it also supported carbon capture
and emission reduction initiatives to
offset its emissions for 2018. These include
the Great Bear Forest Carbon Project in
British Colombia, a collaborative initiative
for the conservation and improved
management of the world’s largest intact
temperate rainforest. It also backed
Les serres coopératives de Guyenne,
a Quebec greenhouse project that has
converted an oil heating system to 100%
renewable energy.
“Desjardins and its nearly 50,000
employees and millions of members and
clients can make a real difference in how
we fight and adapt to climate change,”
said Guy Cormier, president and chief
executive of Desjardins. “We need to
change our habits and encourage others
to follow suit. Our commitment to fasttrack
the inclusion of ESG criteria can be
seen in everything we do and it’s going to
grow moving forward.”
Last year, Desjardins set a new goal
to bring its greenhouse emissions down
20% from 2018 by the year 2024. It will
do so by prioritising programmes to
optimise business travel, reduce paper
consumption and improve energy
efficiency in its buildings.
In terms of investing in renewables,
Desjardins is a leader in Canada. As
of 30 September 2019, it has invested
CA$1.23bn (£0.72bn), or almost 46% of
its total infrastructure investments, in
the sector.
The group has also set a target to cut
the carbon footprint of its own assets
invested in publicly traded securities.
This must be 25% lower than the average
greenhouse emissions of the companies
that make up the stock and bond market
indices by 2020. By 30 September
2019, Desjardins had already reduced
that footprint by 15% compared to the
benchmark indices.
p Desjardins is home to one of the world’s
largest living walls
“We’re going to continue to be an
engaged shareholder,” added Mr Cormier.
“This approach is instrumental in
encouraging the companies we invest in
to integrate climate risk and improve their
ESG practices.”
Desjardins is also on track to install 200
electric charging stations across Quebec
and eastern Ontario by 2021, an initiative
with Hydro-Québec and AddÉnergie. To
date the group has installed 184 charging
stations, with the rest due to be installed
in 2020.
18 | MARCH 2020

NEW ZEALAND
Fonterra
sustainability report
shows slow progress
towards targets
The latest sustainability report from dairy
giant Fonterra has set out its progress
in areas ranging from injury rates to
greenhouse emissions, but says there is
still much work to be done.
The co-op created a Sustainability
Advisory Panel in 2018 to provide
feedback to the board on the strategy and
targets relating to economic, social and
environmental sustainability.
This is its third annual sustainability
report, but the first to feature three
overarching goals: healthy people, healthy
environment and healthy business.
Despite a difficult year, which hit the
farmer-owned business with a NZ$605m
(£303m) net loss after tax, it racked up a
number of sustainability. These include
health star ratings on 92% of applicable
products in New Zealand, reducing its
injury rate to a ‘world class level’, ensuring
that 23% of its farms in New Zealand have
a Farm Environment Plan and launching
a site in Brightwater which burns wood
biomass to reduce emissions. The co-op
aims to have farm emission profiles for
every farm by October 2020.
Fonterra widened its gender pay ratio in
2019 by 1%, although this has remained
above the national average.
CEO Miles Hurrell said there was still
a lot of work ahead. “Given the tough
year we had, it would’ve been easy to
push sustainability to one side, whereas
we have in fact continued to make
progress,” he said. “We’ve underlined our
commitment to sustainability and firmed
up plans to do more on climate change,
coal, waste and sustainable packaging.
“The report is a discussion with New
Zealanders around the kind of world we
want to leave for future generations and
how we’re measuring ourselves against
that ambition.”
Global sustainability director Carolyn
Mortland added: “Establishing our
inaugural Sustainability Advisory Panel is
a critical move to helping guide us as we
continue to strive to be a world leader in
sustainably-produced dairy nutrition.
“But there’s still a lot more work to do,
such as supporting our farmers in their
response to climate change and doing
more to bring greater gender and ethnic
diversity into our business.
“We don’t shy away from the fact that
we need to do more against some of our
ambitious targets. What is clear is that
we made some good progress in a tough
year and have set ourselves up for the
years ahead.”
GREECE
National revival plans include a return for the agri co-op sector
Ministers in Greece have announced plans
to rebuild co-operatives in its agricultural
industry.
Foteini Arampatzi, vice minister
for rural development, said he was
drawing up legislation to revive the
farm co-op sector, which has suffered
in the past from mismanagement and
business failure.
Challenges facing Greek farmers include
a need to diversify, low market prices,
rising costs and the aftermath of the
financial crisis, which had a devastating
effect on the national economy.
Ms Arampatzi said in an interview
that the centre-right New Democracy
government, which won power last year
under prime minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis,
would be bringing forward plans to create
“healthy” co-ops.
Proposals include a tax cut for the
sector, from 13% to 11%.
News website Euractiv reported her
saying: “Through these groupings,
our producers will be able to achieve
economies of scale, higher product prices
and reduced input prices. They will be
able to obtain better consultancy services
and seal advantageous contracts with
suppliers.”
She warned that co-ops were essential
for the country’s goal of exporting its
agricultural produce.
MARCH 2020 | 19

SWEDEN
Robot concierge
to greet co-op shoppers
Scandinavian retailer Coop Sweden
has teamed up with EBI.AI, a UK-based
artificial intelligence (AI) lab, to build the
“world’s most advanced grocery retail AI
assistant” for its customers via apps, web
or Google assistant.
Coop, one of Sweden’s largest grocery
chains, says that by combining the
digital and in-store journeys, customer
experience will be enhanced and life
made easier for shoppers.
Launching in the spring, the assistant,
Cooper, will provide users with a concierge
for Coop Sweden’s customers’ daily needs.
“Coop wants to build a level of customer
experience that is unparalleled in the
Swedish retail marketplace,” said Amer
Mohammed, Coop Sweden’s chief digital
officer. “The work that EBI.AI is doing
for us gives us a tool to build strong
relationships with our customers and
support them with an important part of
their daily life.”
Cooper will understand each
customer’s dietary requirements, suggest
recipes, provide nutritional and loyalty
scheme information, but in the future,
it will handle all aspects of customer
engagement. “I look forward to driving
this development that will change both
how we shop and how we eat,” added Mr
Mohammed.
EBI.AI is using its data engineering
expertise, Lobster AI communications
platform and Adobe Experience Cloud to
provide the solution.
Coop Sweden has had an online shop
since 2008, that now reaches over 60% of
Swedish households with home deliveries.
In addition, it offers meal plans that can
be picked up in all of its stores.
The business is ranked as Sweden’s
most sustainable grocery chain and has
the highest percentage of organic sales in
the country’s grocery retail industry.
DENMARK
Coop Denmark backs chemical crackdown
Danish retailer Coop has joined a business
campaign to end the use of harmful PFAS
chemicals in products and supply chains.
PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl
substances) is a group of 5,000 industrial
chemicals which provide properties such
as non-stick, water repellence and antigrease
to products including cosmetics,
frying pans and firefighting foam.
The campaign is being led by ChemSec,
an international non-profit which works
to substitute dangerous chemicals. It says
the industrial use of PFAS is so widespread
that 99% of the world’s population,
and unborn foetuses, have measurable
levels in their bloodstreams. Studies
have found links to health disorders,
including cancers, lower birth weights
and weakened immune systems.
“These are very persistent manmade
chemicals linked to many serious
environmental and human health
problems,” said Coop Denmark’s quality
manager, Malene Teller Blume. “We
are calling for the phase-out of all nonessential
uses of all PFAS.”
Coop phased out PFASs from cosmetics
in September last year and has banned
their use in food packaging and textiles.
ChemSec’s campaign, also backed by
fashion giant H&M, calls on policymakers
to regulate PFASs more effectively, so that
manufacturers cannot swap one PFAS for
another unregulated one. It also wants the
chemical industry to invest in innovation
and develop safer alternatives; a
recognition that PFASs are a major health
and environmental problem; a serious
commitment to end all non-essential uses
in products and supply chains; and for
other brands to join this commitment and
work towards a phase-out of PFAS.
Chemsec’s executive director, Anne-
Sofie Bäckar, said it is “obvious that
business as usual is not an option”,
but warns that change will need
“uncomfortable decisions”.
She added: “As there are almost
unbelievable amounts of money in PFAS
production, parts of the industry will fight
for the old ways, tooth and nail. But as
we can show today with this corporate
commitment, there are companies that
welcome legislation and say a definitive
no to PFAS.”
The commitment from the two
retailers came on the same day that
actor Mark Ruffalo and director Todd
Haynes addressed the EU Parliament to
speak about the true story that inspired
their new film Dark Waters, in which an
environmental attorney takes on chemical
giant DuPont and exposes decades of
PFAS pollution.
20 | MARCH 2020

GLOBAL
Woccu puts out
call on young credit
union scholarship
The World Council of Credit Unions
(Woccu) is accepting nominations for the
2020 Young Credit Union Professionals’
(WYCUP) Scholarship.
The programme is now available to
emerging credit union leaders between
the ages of 18 and 40, after Woccu decided
to raise the age limit for eligibility from 35.
To qualify, nominees must also
demonstrate leadership, personal
commitment and the potential to
significantly influence credit unions
or financial co-operatives in or outside
their country. Additionally, they must
be actively involved as an employee or
volunteer with a credit union or a financial
co-operative and be endorsed by a credit
union of organisation that is a member of
Woccu. The scholarship is only available
to those who have not been a previous
WYCUP scholarship recipient and will
actively participate in the 2020 Joint
Credit Union Conference in Los Angeles,
with the support of a sponsoring credit
union or credit union organisation.
“Raising the age limit by five years is
a direct result of seeking to align this
educational and networking programme
with the age limits of affiliate young
professional network programs throughout
the global credit union community,”
said Paul Treinen, Woccu executive
vice president.
“We want to expand the reach and
impact of WYCUP, and we believe opening
the process up to more applicants in 2020
will allow that to happen.”
Those interested in finding out more
about the scholarship programme can
visit the new webpage www.wycup.org
New vice president for co-op relations at NCBA-Clusa
USA’s National Co-operative Business
Association (NCBA-Clusa) has appointed
Tamela Blalock as its new vice president
of co-operative relations. With a career
spanning more than 20 years, Ms Blalock
was most recently executive director of
the Academy of Pelvic Health Physical
Therapy, part of the American Physical
Therapy Association.
ILO COOP prepares for centenary anniversary
The Cooperatives Unit of the International
Labour Organization, ILO COOP, marks
its 100th anniversary in 2020. To unit
will host an event on 23 March at the ILO
library in Geneva, featuring speakers from
the government, workers’ and employers’
organisations, co-operative institutions
and academia. The unit is also conducting
a series of interviews with past and
present ILO colleagues and key partners.
Irish credit unions embark on digital transformation
Three credit unions in Ireland are
working with banking software company
Temenos to digitise their services. The
collaboration will see Capital Credit
Union, Credit Union Plus and Tullamore
Credit Union move away from legacy,
on-premise systems to Temenos’ frontto-back
Software to transform their
business and prepare for growth.
Arla Foods reports positive results for 2019
Farmer-owned Arla Foods increased its
group revenue to €10.5bn in 2019, from
€10.4bn in 2018. Arla’s global brand
portfolio achieved a year-on-year branded
sales volume increase of 5.1% compared
to 3.1% in 2018, a performance mainly
driven by the Arla brand. Arla is owned by
farmers across seven different countries.
Mauritius government to promote co-operatives
Co-ops and small and medium enterprises
(SMEs) are expected to play a crucial
role in driving modernisation and
sustainability in Mauritius, said the
government. Across Mauritius there are
over 700 active co-operative societies were
engaged in 40 different types of socioeconomic
activities.
MARCH 2020 | 21

MEET...
Meet … Gauthier Guerin
Project manager, Student
Co-operative Homes
Gauthier Guerin works on housing co-operative development and is
a researcher on sustainable economics. He is a project manager at
Co-operatives UK for Student Co-operative Homes, a director of Catalyst
Collective Workers Co-op, Rootstock Ltd and an associate consultant at
Leeds Community Homes.
HOW DID YOU GET INVOLVED IN THE CO-OP
MOVEMENT, AND IN THE HOUSING SECTOR?
I didn’t really start in the co-op movement through
housing – I was interested in looking at different
ways of organising, and organising social need
away from profit making, towards maximising
social outcomes. I got involved in Green Action
Food Coop in Leeds as a student. Through that I
understood how the consumer-controlled model
structurally locks out the profit-making incentive
and focuses on maximising the benefit to end
users. That was very new to me and revolutionary.
It meant there was a positive action, not necessarily
just due to individuals being community minded,
but one that was structurally embedded.
I was invited to a Radical Routes gathering,
where I learned how those principles and ideas
could be linked to housing and ethical investment.
Then I moved into a housing co-op in Leeds and
learned about legal structure, governance,
financial models – for housing and for other types
of co-ops, became a co-op advisor.
There is a need for new, federated
models and we’re trying to
address that with Student Co-op
Homes. Federations will allow
us to mutualise the knowledge
on how to do things
HOW WAS THE RESPONSE TO THE STUDENT
CO-OP HOMES SHARE OFFER, AND WHAT IS THE
NEXT STEP?
Student Co-op Homes is an innovative model and
we got a really good response, from the co-op
movement and from other ethical investors. The
final figure is £320,000, three times our minimum
target. There is a lot of support, definitely from the
co-op sector, but I think it has also reached out
beyond the movement; people who are sensitive
to issues around student housing and higher
education have engaged with it. We intend to
do analysis of the support to help us raise more
through this mechanism.
The next step is spending the money – we’re
going to assess and revise our financial plan,
purchase some properties – there is one lined up
in Glasgow – continue our internal development,
and get ready for another funding enterprise.
WHAT ARE THE CHALLENGES FACING THE
HOUSING CO-OP SECTOR?
There are some regulatory changes we would
like to see; for instance, in Scotland we still don’t
benefit from the exemption from HMO licensing
that we have in England. It makes it hard to
evaluate a project in Scotland. And we are quite
badly hit by higher rates of stamp duty, in a similar
way to landlords; and there’s a higher rate for any
property about £500,000. Because we’re looking
for bigger properties to provide accommodation,
that affects us.
Another challenge to the housing sector is
a lack of resources in terms of knowledge. It’s
22 | MARCH 2020

een a case, with every project, of struggling
to find information, and reinventing the wheel
all the time. There are resources here and there
but they are not comprehensive. With the recent
development of the community-led housing sector
more resources are being created but that brings us
to the other challenge – the financing of the sector.
It’s very capital intensive – getting your hands
on a property is very difficult because it’s hard to
raise the money on the scale that is needed.
To bring long-term sustainability, there is a lack
of support organisations; that is a symptom of the
sector having been fragmented and incoherent.
Housing co-ops developed independently of
one another without coordination to scale it up.
There is a need for new, federated models and
we’re trying to address that with Student Co-op
Homes. Federations will allow us to mutualise the
knowledge on how to do things.
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ARE THERE USEFUL LESSONS FROM OTHER
COUNTRIES AND SECTORS FOR UK HOUSING
CO-OPS?
In countries where there are more housing co-ops,
such as Switzerland, there are more secondary
development bodies in the sector. Today, in the UK,
we have many housing co-ops sitting on millions
of pounds worth of assets that could be used for
the sector to grow but there isn’t the mechanism
for that to happen. In other countries they’ve done
that better.
HOW CAN THE MOVEMENT BEST SUPPORT
HOUSING CO-OPS?
We need to recognise the role a housing co-op
can play in today’s key social challenge – which
is that more and more people are struggling with
housing needs; there is a need for capital. But I
think you can reverse the question: what benefits
can housing co-ops bring to the wider movement,
and to society as a whole? In the long term, once
you invest in properties, the movement would
acquire a lot of assets that could subsidise other
co-op sectors. And it would bring back the co-op
movement to its roots, to its initial success, to the
nature of what co-ops are about – to bring social
transformation by providing solutions to people’s
day-to-day challenges. Housing is becoming more
and more of a problem. The poorest get hit by this
crisis really badly. That’s where the co-op model
brings a viable solution – it removes property from
private ownership into co-operative ownership;
it becomes stable, and not something to
speculate against.
news Issue #7316 FEBRUARY 2020
Connecting, championing, challenging
FEBRUARY 2020
CO-OPERATIVE
RETAIL
Ethical challenges in
the modern world
Plus … Credit Unions in
a digital world ... 150 years of
Co-operatives UK ... Interview:
Erskine Holmes ... Co-operative
Commission results
ISSN 0009-9821
9 770009 982010
01
£4.20
www.thenews.coop
FEBRUARY 2020 | 23

YOUR VIEWS
CO-OP POLITICS
Regarding Lord Richard Balfe’s letter
(Co-op News, February 2020): We are
proud of the way the Co-operative
Party has developed and that we
campaign for, with and on behalf of the
co-operative movement at all levels of
representation. Across the country we
campaign on and bring influence to
issues which are relevant and current
to co-operators.
In recent months, this work has included
campaigns on ending violence against
retail workers, ending modern slavery,
introducing a right to food and supporting
community assets.
In addition to the 15 Co-op peers, the
26 Co-op MPs (which aside from very
recent years would represent a historic
high for our Party) will continue to be
powerful champions for co-operation
in Westminster. They will also continue
to work cross-party in the interests
of our movement.
Examples of this work can be seen in
the cross-party debates Co-op MPs have
recently secured on the co-operative
economic contribution and ending
violence against retail workers. This
work, in both chambers, is supplemented
by dialogue with ministers. Indeed, by
the time this letter is published, Co-op
Parliamentarians will have just met with
Treasury ministers discussing the need
for co-operative growth. This cross-party
work isn’t limited to Westminster, as can
be evidenced by the non-Labour councils
who have joined our work on modern
slavery and food justice.
We will continue to harness the vast
reach and enthusiasm of the nearly 1000
Co-op councillors, 14 police and crime
commissioner candidates, mayors, AMs,
MSPs and the thousands of individual
members and activists. We will also
continue to work with all supporters of
the co-operative movement whatever
their point of view. It is important that
co-operation is championed at all
levels and in all communities across the
country, as our movement has many of
the answers needed to the challenges
we face.
Georgia O’Brien
Communications Officer,
Co-operative Party
The Co-op Group support centre at
1 Angel Square, Manchester
Have your say
Add your comments to our stories
online at 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
letters@thenews.coop
@coopnews
Co-operative News
WHAT IS A CO-OPERATIVE?
Marlene Corbey is right to question
what’s in a name where the co-operative
movement is concerned (Co-op News,
January 2020).
However, this is no more than the
right to question the Co-operative Group
signing itself ‘Co-op’ on its food stores,
when in my opinion, structural changes
made following the near-collapse of
the Group (following the Britannia
merger, which also took down the Co-op
Bank), mean it is more of a mutual, not
a co-operative.
The Co-op Bank was never co-operative;
it just bore the name of its then-owner,
the Co-operative Wholesale Society. Just
because it says ‘co-operative’ on the tin
does not mean that it is a co-op inside.
The placing of not directly elected nonexecutive
directors within a co-operative,
again, in my opinion, tends to undermine
and devalue the structure and ethos
of them. We need to remember what
a co-operative is through the power of
education and as valued by the Rochdale
Society of Equitable Pioneers. Not looking
backward, as some may assume, but
forward in highlighting the benefits of
local democracy.
George Conchie
Via email
24 | MARCH 2020

New Force: an update
A note from Co-op News executive editor, Rebecca Harvey
I heard a story recently about someone in a
co-operative who, fed up with a situation, turned
around and proclaimed: “I can co-operate perfectly
well by myself, thank you very much!”
Of course, co-operation – real, messy, good
co-operation – doesn’t work like that. Co-ops exist
to meet the needs of members, whether these
members are customers, colleagues, neighbours
or different stakeholders. But problems arise
when members and organisations start to overlap.
Previously very different organisations end up
duplicating work as they try to diversify income
streams, and end up in competition for scant
resources, suffering miscommunications, and
facing a loss of focus on what they are doing, why
they are doing it, and who they are doing it for.
That has certainly been the recent case with
Co-op News, Co-operatives UK, the Co-operative
College and the Co-operative Heritage Trust. Yes,
we share a building, values and principles. But we
haven’t been co-operating. That’s the bad news.
The good news is that we are doing something
about it. I appreciate it may feel like I wrote
something very similar this time last year. And
collectively we know it may appear that not a huge
amount has changed since these conversations
(nicknamed New Force) began 16 months ago –
but the change here is palpable. A group of us (the
operational leads from the four organisations, two
board representatives, plus representatives from
other potential collaborators as appropriate) have
been meeting monthly to figure out how we can
provide good value to our members. One of the
Co-op Press representatives has been our secretary,
Richard Bickle.
“The whole process has been a mixed
experience,” he says. “There have been some
positive experiences around improving relations
and communications between the movement’s
key national bodies, but it’s fair to say there
is frustration around the pace of progress. If
we’re being frank, some of that boiled down to
personalities around the table. Some of it was that
we haven’t necessarily been clear enough about
what the task in hand is.
“I’m feeling a lot more positive now than I was
three months ago. We have reached a level of
clarity around the purpose and process, and the
change of key personnel in some of the partner
organisations presents opportunities to look to the
future. I’m also encouraged by practical examples
of collaboration that are already delivering benefits
for our members.” He is particularly encouraged
about the radical co-op podcast (see page 14),
shared back office services centre, and work on
a joint education and training offer.
A strong culture of collaboration is important
because these organisations share many key
members, customers and funders, says Mr Bickle.
“We need to be aware that we are stewards of their
money and need to deliver value and not duplicate
effort. We need to think extremely carefully about
what we do together and separately to deliver the
best outcomes for everybody. As relatively small
organisations, who share a physical space, sharing
resources to maximise impact is a no-brainer.”
He believes co-ops have a very exciting part to
play in building a new economy which is based
on fairness, justice and sustainability. “The
challenges we face as human beings in the UK and
the world are pretty huge at the moment; I think
it’s very interesting to see debates coming out
following the UK general election around the fact
that social change is at least as likely to happen in
local communities building local economies, as it is
coming from Westminster or Brussels.
“We’re not the only model of economic
organisation out there, but there’s an opportunity
here for co-operatives; the onus is on us to offer
co-ops as a powerful toolkit for the 21st century, as
it was in the 19th and 20th centuries. Co-operation
is a democratic, people-based economic model
that is getting on in the here and now and building
a better future.”
The task now is to look at what central resources,
services and support the movement needs now
and in the future – and how best to deliver that
in practical and organisational terms, in a more
efficient and effective manner. The next step is to
consult with different stakeholders, then use this
data to inform an ongoing – measurable – change
in joint cultures and strategies.
“We are at a middle point of the process where it
is absolutely right to test our work with our largest
and longest standing members,” adds Mr Bickle.
“We are engaging in conversations rather than just
broadcasting, to ensure we are meeting real needs,
not just the ones we assume.”
Richard Bickle, Co-op
Press secretary
MARCH 2020 | 25

Malaysia welcomes young co-operators
to the ICA Global Youth Forum
Young entrepreneurs and professionals from
co-operatives across the world have met in
Kuching, Malaysia, for the first edition of the Global
Youth Forum.
Around 130 participants and 40 trainers
attended the four-day event, where they had to
choose between a series or plenaries and training
sessions to improve their skills and knowledge
about the co-operative business model.
The opening ceremony saw Dato’ Abdul Fattah
Abdullah, president of apex body Angkasa,
welcome participants to Sarawak. He said the
co-operative sector could be a platform for young
people wishing to drive change and address
global challenges.
This is the second time Angkasa is hosting an
International Co-operative Alliance event. The
Malaysian movement also hosted the 2017 ICA
Global Conference in Kuala Lumpur.
“Use the forum as an opportunity to develop
as a person with big dreams,” Mr Abdullah
told participants.
ICA president Ariel Guarco talked about the role
of co-ops in driving social and financial inclusion as
well as acting as innovators in terms of sustainable
production and consumption.
“Around the world young people are part of
social movements that demand social rights,
looking after the planet, the end of violence, the
right to education and decent work,” he said.
He highlighted that over 22% of world’s youth
do not work or study, while in many countries the
youth unemployment rate is twice the average.
Mr Guarco called on young entrepreneurs to join
the global co-operative movement, which, he said,
was the largest business network in the world.
“I really hope that many of you after these
training days, become more convinced about
the advantages of our business model. I am also
hopeful that innovative ideas will emerge from
here, that will allow our movement to collaborate
more effectively on solving the conflicts we are
facing as a generation. Again, you are invited to be
part of the largest business network in the world,
to be part of the challenge of building economy
in democracy and from the interest of our local
communities.
“You are invited to give your critical and
demanding view, because there is no time for
delays.”
In a written statement, Abang Abdul Rahman
Johari Abang Openg, chief minister of Saravak,
provided an overview of the local co-operative
movement, which is almost a century old.
Malaysia is home to over 14,470 co-ops with
six million members.
He said it was important to promote co-ops and
encourage youth to be part of co-op enterprises,
which are resilient at times of crises.
The forum is organised by the International
Co-operative Alliance (ICA) and supported by the
European Union, within the framework of the ICA-
EU partnership.
ICA Global Youth Forum
More info:
gyf20.coop
Dates:
3-7 February 2020
26 | MARCH 2020

ICA youth network announces plans to
support co-op start-ups
At a time when youth unemployment stands
at 21.2%, co-ops can empower youth to set up
enterprises with a social mission.
During the Global Youth Forum in Kuching,
participants explored youth-led solutions to some
of the world’s greatest challenges, from climate
change to growing inequality and the changing
world of work.
“We are celebrating 125 years of ICA, but
awareness of co-ops is lacking especially around
youth,” said Balu Iyer, regional director for
Asia Pacific at the International Cooperative
Alliance. Internal challenges relate to governance,
transparency and professionalism, he added.
Mr Iyer explained that governments across the
Asia-Pacific region are looking at entrepreneurship
models that empower young people – while
youth themselves are keen to work for enterprises
providing them with a voice, a sense of belonging
and where they feel equal. However, the movement
needs to continue raising awareness about the
co-operative model and push for changes such as
including co-ops in school curricula.
Sébastien Chaillou, president of the ICA Youth
Network, explained how the network existed to
address issues faced not only by the youth, but also
by co-operatives in general. He added that young
people should not be perceived as a target group
co-ops needed to recruit.
“If more youth knew about co-ops, we would
have more co-ops in general,” added Ana Aguirre,
the vice president of the network.
The forum was designed to enable young people
to gain new practical skills through a series of
interactive sessions with trainers from across the
world.
Marc Noel, international development director at
the ICA also pointed out that co-ops need to work
Images: International
Co-operative Alliance
MARCH 2020 | 27

with other civil society organisations and form new
partnerships to achieve systemic change and be
able to provide solutions to global issues.
Such work is already being conducted at the ICA
through the Young Co-operative Entrepreneurs
programme, which brings together entrepreneurs
interested in the co-operative model with youth
organisations. Similarly, added Mr Noel, the ICA is
working with Fairtrade organisations to promote
sustainable consumption and trade unions to
support decent work.
Addressing the Forum during a final session, Mr
Chaillou said the event, coupled with the network’s
advocacy agenda and new scheme to help young
people start co-ops, or replicate successful ones,
should help to drive youth engagement in coops.
Eight projects will be selected as part of
this programme, which is being funded by the
International Summit of Cooperatives. Each
project will receive a maximum of €10,000. The
programme will be launched in March and a midterm
evaluation of the project will take place at the
ICA Congress in Seoul in December.
Calling on Forum participants to join the Youth
Network, he added: “This is the beginning of
something, a new co-operative world.”
The Forum adopted a resolution in which they
highlighted the key areas of work going forward.
These included
“You can’t change the system by convincing it.
You can’t change it either by ignoring it, but by
doing things good your own way. With what we
learnt here, the connections we made, we are ready
to act more than ever,” added Mr Chaillou.
Images: International
Co-operative Alliance

Growing a new economy for
a co-operative future
Two events in February posed the question of
where, exactly, do co-ops sit within the emerging
new economy – and how can they make a
meaningful contribution?
Speaking at the Growing the New Economy
conference in Oldham, Neil McInroy reminded
delegates that people should be at the centre of any
conversation about economy. “Economics isn’t a
natural science, it’s a social science,” he said. “We
can construct it any way we wish. We shouldn’t be
fitting social into the economy - the whole economy
should be social. It’s relational, not transactional.”
Mr McInroy, who is chief executive of thinktank
the Centre for Local Economic Strategies (CLES)
believes current failures are because of how society
is set up as an “extractive fossil economy”.
“Wealth is being extracted,” he said. “This is
creating a huge pressure on social services, all
areas are suffering under the yoke of this economy.”
He wants to see a new economy growing around
people, peace and environment: “a new economic
democracy where people have a genuine stake –
not just as workers, but as owners too.”
Growing the New Economy, organised by E3M
(an initiative that supports a group of leaders from
UK social enterprises that trade in public service
markets), brought together 250 key decision makers
from local authorities, health and other local public
institutions, leaders of co-operatives and social
enterprises, funders and investors. Plenaries and
workshops explored how the social economy can
play a much more central role in the economic and
community wellbeing of places across the country.
Participants heard what has worked (and what
hasn’t) in different places. The aim was to help
shape a future vision for place-based, co-operative
and social enterprise innovation, supporting clear,
viable alternatives to the traditional economic
models and policies that have failed to serve people
and communities in so many parts of the UK.
But there were clear challenges too. “We should
start co-creation at neighbourhood level, use
open-ended questions and listen to people who
have been excluded,” said Karin Woodley, chief
executive of Cambridge House, a Southwark-based
centre fighting poverty and social injustice. “We’ve
been here before. We need to stop tweaking with
the edge of historical stuff and be open to new ideas
and approaches.”
Listening was also one Lord Victor Adebowale’s
rules of engagement. “We have to create a future
economy that works not just for us, but for our
children,” he said, speaking as chair of Social
Enterprise UK. “But we can't do it on our own, and
we shouldn’t try to do it on our own. We have to do
it with the people in our industry and communities,
we have to engage them.”
In his experience, there are four rules to
engagement. “The first thing we have to do is listen,
but listening is really hard. If I tell you I’m listening,
it’s meaningless unless you’ve got evidence that
you’ve been heard. Secondly, there has to be a
transfer of power from those that have it to those
that don’t, such that they’re able to do something
after the engagement that they couldn’t do before.”
Lord Victor, who is also a director of the Coop
Group, said the third rule is that whatever is
produced must be produced with people, not for
them. “This is just common sense,” he said. “We
have to create services, jobs, businesses, with
people, not just for them. And finally the design
of this new economy has to be recognisable for
people outside this room. Otherwise, it’s not going
to work.”
Disinterest, disengagement, disillusion and
cynicism with the current business model is rife,
he added, but there are green shoots that need to
be nurtured. “We’re at the right place, doing the
right things with the right people. But let’s make no
mistake: we can’t fail, because there isn’t there isn't
a plan B. The new economy has to work, because
the old one doesn’t.”
Over the past 20 years in particular, the world
– and the co-operative movement – has seen
some huge changes. Bearing this in mind, what
can we in the co-op movement do to make 2040
something that is truly co-operative? This was the
challenge set by the Future Co-operatives: Twenty/
Twenty Vision Conference. Hosted in Birmingham
by Co-operative Futures, a business development
consultancy specialising in co-operative, mutual
and community led businesses, it set the challenge
of looking at innovative co-operative responses to
challenges in certain sectors, including housing,
Growing the
New Economy
More info:
e3m.org.uk
Dates:
12 February 2020
Future Co-operatives:
Twenty/Twenty Vision
More info:
futures.coop
Dates:
7-8 February 2020
30 | MARCH 2020

energy, care, food, community spaces, technology
and transport.
On care, for example, the challenges are an
ageing population, the pension age going up,
families not being able to afford to stop working
to provide care, a lack of government funding
and the recruitment and retention of staff.
Co-ops are already providing some solutions to
this (see p36-39), but there are bigger questions
to be answered around partnership working,
co-housing, re-weaving communities and meeting
the wider costs of care.
The integration of community groups is
vital for sustainable community spaces, too.
Delegates heard how many community groups run
co-operatively without knowing they are in those
structures; which points to a need for education
about co-ops.
On homelessness and housing security, co-ops
can challenge the negative perceptions of shared
accommodation, and address issues of purchasing
land and raising capital. Delegates agreed that there
needed to be a central place where information
on setting up, joining and maintaining housing
co-operatives can be accessed and suggested
mechanisms for individuals to invest.
With the gig economy and remote working
on the rise, there are also growing challenges
around isolation and skills gaps. Delegates agreed
that co-ops can provide fairer wages and a sense
of community through worker unions – while
employee buyouts can increase the number of
worker-owned co-operatives. But the question
remains how co-ops can educate for a future when
we don’t know what the future will be.
“We need to be thinking about how we adapt and
how we evolve forwards, with the circumstances
that we are presented with,” said Dr Peter Lee from
the Centre for Urban and Regional studies at the
University of Birmingham. But when planning a
future, like Lord Victor, he cautioned about getting
engagement right.
“The future can be quite a bourgeois structure,
because it’s often being designed by people who
have certainty about the future,” he said. This
certainty could be a retirement plan or housing
assumption. “That embeds into it a certain kind of
a view of the world. There are people in this city, for
whom ‘future’ is just the end of the day, just getting
food on the table.”
Above: Karin Woodley,
chief executive of
Cambridge House,
with Neil McInroy,
chief executive of CLES
(Image: Jamie Veitch)
Below: Discussing
the next 20 years of
co-operation at Future
Co-operatives
MARCH 2020 | 31

Why data is the fertile soil
for an agri co-op future
Farm data is becoming more important in the face of
growing commercial and environmental pressures –
and this data is most effective when shared under
a co-operative model, an industry conference
was told.
The Scottish Agricultural Organisation Society
(SAOS), which represents the country’s agrico-ops,
focused on the issue at its annual
conference in Dunblane last month, with a series of
expert presentations.
Chief executive Tim Bailey warned delegates
that agriculture faced serious “headwinds” with
the need for skilled labour, consumer demand for
cheap food, and the climate emergency. But there is
also a huge global market and Scottish farmers have
the advantage of a reputation for quality produce,
he said.
“We can’t just sit back and see what happens,”
he said. “We must overcome barriers to working
together, to co-operation. There’s still a perception
that the power of one is power when this isn’t power
at all ... collectivism is real power.”
This applies to data as much as to anything
else, he said; to illustrate the point, he presented
the first speaker, Billy Tiller from the Growers
Information Services Co-op (GiSC). Based
in Texas, with operations across the USA,
it is the world’s first aggregated data co-op.
“One man’s data isn’t worth a lot,” said Mr Tiller,
a cotton farmer. “But when you put it together it
means you can aggregate and benchmark.”
He said farmers could use data to gain more
power in the supply chain and value chain, because
currently, what consumers spend on food trickles
down to producers “as pennies”.
“How do you get a bigger piece of that supply
chain money? We own the keys to the castle ... we
need to be the disruptors, to change the game, to
be proactive.”
He advised farmers to keep things simple. “Pick
a task and stick to it. And if you can’t make money
off a tool, don’t take it. The only goal is finding
solutions.”
To help them do this, GiSC has created a cloudbased
data repository, which means members have
connectivity and can access that data on their phones
while out on the farm; it has drop-down menus for
the inputting of data to keep things standardised
and simple.
“We had to convince farmers cloud was safe from
hackers,” he added. “Transparency is important.
Farmers need to trust you. “
To do this, Mr Tiller set up a company with
reassurances over information use and protocols
around data breaches.
GiSC also helps farmers collect data – vitally
important in states like Nebraska, where the state
owns the water table and can stop farmers taking
ground water if it affects river flow. Corn farmers
in the state use 3,000 electrical wells irrigate their
crop – which needs a lot of water to grow. To help
farmers demonstrate compliance, GiSC is using
smart meters and other data monitors to measure
water use.
George Noble, project manager at SAOS, also
stressed the need to aggregate data – but also to
make good use of it. “We are drowning in data,” he
said. “The trick is being able to organise ourselves
as an industry to work that data. It requires deep
levels of collaboration.”
Ideally, data capture should be automated to save
farmers from having to enter reams of information,
and should be portable and shareable – which is
not always the case if it is locked into a specific
platform like Amazon or Google.
There are also problems of poor mobile and
broadband access in remote parts of Scotland, and
skills challenges. SAOS is working on solutions to
this, said Mr Noble, and set out a series of principles
for data.
• Collaboration and co-operation are essential
for good data use.
• Farmers should own their data
• A farmer-first approach should be taking on
collecting data and system design
• Real time data insights are important
• Partnerships with industry, government and
stakeholders are important
It is also important to build trust with the farmer
base. Put into practice, this can help with livestock
traceability – improving efficiency, helping to
eradicate disease, and demonstrate provenance.
Using a multi-agency approach, SAOS has worked
with the National Farmers Union, the government
SAOS Conference
More info:
saos.coop
Dates:
30 January 2020
Top: Paul Lindop of
SmartRural, Tim Bailey
of SAOS and Anna
Woodley of Agrimetrics
Bottom: Billy Tiller
from GiSC, Andy
MacLachlan of Food 2
Market and Bob Yuill
of SAOS
32 | MARCH 2020

and with abattoirs and has almost completely
eradicated the disease BVD from Scottish cattle.
Similarly, it is working with the Forestry
Commission to use data on soil, woodland, livestock
and energy use to quantify the contribution of
farmers to mitigating climate change.
Paul Lindop, director of SmartRural, a co-op
which provides digital services to rural areas, said
the organisation is working to give Scottish farmers
“appropriate and actionable data”.
Now a member of SAOS, SmartRural will launch
as a user-owned co-op this year and aims to put a
national network in place to enable data to flow
and deliver value.
This will include off-grid services for remote
areas – a programme backed by the social media
campaign #nowherestoorural
Key areas of data include soil moisture and
temperature, weather stations, the distribution of
temperature and humidity in grain stores, sileage
effluent traps, irrigation and water trough levels,
and fuel use and travel time for vehicles.
Anna Woodley, head of sales at Agrimetrics,
which offers agri data services, said she wanted
to make data accessible and easier to implement
throughout the supply chain.
She said one problem is that farmers are
producing more data than ever but while some
of this is valuable, some is not, and it is hard to
tell what is good and bad when information is
located in different silos – with some farms storing
information on five separate systems.
But with businesses enjoying up to 25% better
gross margins if they use data properly, the
incentive to improve is clear, she told delegates.
MARCH 2020 | 33

PAUL GERRARD shares
insights into the Co-op’s
upcoming campaigns
BY ANCA VOINEA
Over the past few years, the Co-op Group has led
campaigns to tackle some of the most pressing
social issues, from modern slavery and loneliness to
reducing crime and preserving community spaces.
Campaigns and public affairs director, Paul
Gerrard, who is responsible for the Group’s relations
and engagement with government, thinks the
retailer has a role to play in British society. He joined
the Group in 2016, after 20 years at the civil service,
“PARTNERSHIP
IS AN ASSET
THAT MAKES
YOU MORE
EFFECTIVE”
including stints at the Home Office and HMRC.
He says he loved his time there – but working at
a leading co-operative is better, because he can
help influence policy and raise awareness of social
concerns. “Values align between co-ops and what I
believe,” he says. This is deeply ingrained: growing
up in Adlington, Lancashire, meant he became
aware of co-ops at an early age.
He has recently returned from a trip to Brussels,
where he attended a roundtable on ethical supply
chains organised by Euro Coop, the European
community of consumer co-operatives. There he
talked about the Group’s Bright Future programme,
designed to support victims of modern slavery.
Retailer Coop Italia also shared its quest for radical
transparency in its supply chain.
“It was clear that co-operatives go much further,
much faster than non co-op counterparts,” says
Mr Gerrard.
In 2018 the Group supported the Assaults on
Retail Workers Bill, which aimed to give certain
offences a more serious, aggravated status when
perpetrated against such workers in the course of
their employment.
Like most private member’s bills, it was withdrawn
after its first reading, but the Group continued to
raise awareness about the issue and last year funded
a report on impact and motivations of violence in the
retail sector. Mr Gerrard says these efforts played
an important role in the government issuing a
call for evidence on violence and abuse toward
shop staff.
Similarly, over the past five years, the Group has
been an active campaigner against loneliness. In
2015, members voted for it to tackle loneliness with
the support of the British Red Cross.
The same year, the Group published a research
paper, which indicated that millions of people find
it difficult to admit they felt lonely, even though
loneliness can have a detrimental impact on a health
and wellbeing.
“When we started campaigning against loneliness,
it wasn’t a widely recognised issue,” says Mr Gerrard,
adding that loneliness wasn’t spoken about, but
rather perceived in simplistic terms which focused
predominantly on older people.
“Now the government has published a strategy
and appointed a minister.”
In 2019, a fund to tackle loneliness was set up
by the government, the Big Lottery Fund and
the Group’s charity the Co-op Foundation; so far,
it has awarded £11.5m to 126 organisations across
34 | MARCH 2020

England. Benefits to communities have included
new transport links to support those most at risk of
isolation; innovative digital solutions that enable
elderly people and young care leavers to connect
with their peers; and one-to-one support for LGBTQ+
people suffering from loneliness.
Mr Gerrard believes that forming partnerships
with organisations that can bring different assets to
the table has been crucial to the Group’s approach to
campaigning.
And, as someone who spent years in government
hearing from charities, interest groups and
businesses coming to lobby, he knows a collective
voice can be compelling.
“The Co-op has a profile in the UK that means
when we partner with others, we can speak with a
voice that punches well above our weight,” he says.
Last October, for example, the Group launched
a partnership with charities Mind, the Scottish
Association for Mental Health (SAMH) and Inspire to
help people develop the skills needed to effectively
support their own and others’ mental health in their
communities.
“They bring unbelievable expertise on mental
health issues and connections,” says Mr Gerrard.
“We bring the footprint and reach of 2,600 stores in
the UK and 70,000 colleagues.”
On tackling modern slavery, the retailer has
been working with every major charity that supports
slavery survivors, and is offering the opportunity
of a paid work placement and a job in its food
business to those who have been victims of
modern slavery.
“Initially it was just us and City Hearts,” he says.
“Now Bright Future includes 49 organisations,
businesses and charities working together to tackle
modern slavery ... Partnership is an asset that makes
you more effective.”
Last June the Co-op and Locality launched their
Endangered Spaces campaign to protect, support
and improve 2,000 at-risk community spaces by
2022. Findings show that over 4,000 community
and public spaces are being sold off each year for
private use.
Going forward, the retailer will be publishing a
series of research pieces on the impact of losing
community spaces, exploring community ownership
models as a means to retain community spaces.
In addition to these campaigns, the retailer will
aim to achieve recyclability for packaging across all
own-brand products.
With radical new legislation expected in areas
such as agriculture and the environment, Mr Gerrard
says the Co-op Group will continue to work with
the civil service and the government to influence
their decisions.
MARCH 2020 | 35

FINDING CO-OPERATIVE
SOLUTIONS TO THE HEALTH
& SOCIAL CARE CRISIS
Healthcare, as a global sector, is one that always
appears on the edge of crisis. From the coronavirus
to stories of American hospital workers unable to
afford their own healthcare, it is rarely in the good
news columns.
In the UK, government policies have the potential
to create more bad news. Under recently revealed
post-Brexit immigration plans, low-skilled workers
would not get visas. One area that would have a huge
impact is adult social care. There are 840,000 care
workers providing daily help to older and disabled
adults in care homes and the community; of these,
6% are from outside the UK – and currently one in
11 posts are unfilled. Most roles are not classed as
skilled jobs, the pay is usually under £20,000 and
it is not classed as a shortage occupation. It is hard
to see how applicants could meet the government’s
proposed new points criteria in a sector that is
already low-paid and precarious – and set to get
more so with an ageing population.
and the CoLab, we met with Northwest Cooperative
Development Center (NCDC) to look at the feasibility
of starting homecare co-op here in Port Townsend.
Just 14 months later we opened our doors.”
The Cooperative Development Foundation’s
MSC Fund provided a $9,000 grant to NCDC to
support technical assistance and marketing,
legal and licensing expenses associated with the
development of PHC. But the biggest challenge was
engaging the new worker-members, evolving from
individuals to a co-operative and from caregivers to
business owners.
“I didn't know how I was going to inspire
the caregivers to the ownership of their
co-operative,” said Ms Waters. “As an administrator,
that troubled me.” She attended the 2016 worker
co-operative conference in Austin, Texas, sponsored
by the Federation of Worker Cooperatives and
Peninsula Homecare Cooperative
In the United States, homecare co-operatives are
being set up to meet some of these challenges.
As elsewhere, care providers are some of the
lowest paid workers in the US – but co-operative
model is recognised as empowering workers and
enhancing their working conditions. In 2016,
Peninsula Homecare Cooperative (PHC) became
the seventh worker-owned home care agency in the
country, opening in Port Townsend, Washington
(population 9,551) with 13 caregivers and a waiting
list of clients.
“The organisation was founded by a group of
caregivers devoted to keeping our community
elders safe and happy in the comfort of their own
homes,” said Kippi Waters, administrator for the
co-op. “The US Department for Agriculture had
earmarked funds to start homecare co-ops in rural
communities. With the help of Rachel Williams
Port Townsend, Washington - population 9,551 - became
home to the United States’ seventh homecare co-op in 2016
36 | MARCH 2020

Democracy at Work Institute, was inspired, and
brought back lessons of member participation and
active engagement. Another turning point was the
instigation of an annual national conference for
worker-owned homecare co-operatives, sponsored
by the Cooperative Development Foundation.
“The goal of the conference was to help existing
and nascent co-operatives think in terms of systems
and collaborations that can improve wages and job
satisfaction as well as client care,” said CDF, which
surveyed potential delegates ahead of the event to
determine its content and format. Through a USDA
Rural Cooperative Development grant and support
from the MSC Fund and other organisations, CDF
covered expenses related to travel, lodging and
lost wages for home care providers to participate in
the conference.
It discussed issues such as economies of scale
through collaboration, joint services, the economics
of the home care industry, increasing revenue
through new services and how to communicate the
benefits of co-operative membership.
“There was great information on marketing,
governance, finance, client retention and member
development,” says Ms Waters. “I brought all that
inspiration back and at our next month we talked
about how we really are a co-op for our members, ie
our caregivers. Because here, empowered members
make the very best caregivers.”
Be Caring
There are examples in the UK, too. Equal Care
Co-op in West Yorkshire’s Calder Valley is an
emerging care and support platform co-operative
with four membership types on a multistakeholder
model: supported members, advocate members,
investor members and worker members.
Also in the north of England is Be Caring
(formerly CASA), which in November was highly
commended for employee ownership culture at the
Employee Ownership Association awards. It’s the
UK’s largest employee-owned provider of social
care services in the home, with 850 employees
operating across Newcastle and Tyneside, Leeds,
Manchester and Liverpool.
“Our clients’ needs always come first,” says the
organisation. “So, our range of services covers
everything from traditional domiciliary care to
more complex needs like dementia, learning
disabilities, palliative care and reablement.
“Our colleagues are all co-owners of the business,
and so share in its success. Like being part of a
family, we support and encourage each other to be
the best we can be. We put people first, not profits.
This goes for our colleagues as well as those who
we support.”
In particular, it offers career opportunities,
development and support to help colleagues
develop skills and achieve their goals. It can help
people qualify as a nurse, occupational therapist
or social worker, and partners with Sunderland
College to offer accredited awards.
“Our colleagues have told us that training and the
chance to learn new skills is important to them,”
says Darren Scholes, head of recruitment and
training at Be Caring. “It’s one of their key reasons
for choosing Be Caring as a preferred employer.
MARCH 2020 | 37

[We] can link the choices our colleagues make with
their learning to real career opportunities.”
But Be Caring CEO, Sharon Lowrie, acknowledges
that colleagues in the care industry “are undervalued
because the sector isn’t viewed on a par
with the NHS”. She adds: “We’re starting with
the basics to create a strong foundation based on
our core values. We have highly skilled colleagues
who have the ability to support and transform
the health and social care system. Through better
commissioning, and working in partnership with
our health colleagues, we can make a difference.”
Last year, Be Caring participated in the All-
Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Social
Care, holding up Allendale Court in West Denton,
Newcastle, as an example of such forward-thinking
commissioning.
model for the rest of the country. Quality support
is dependent on the quality of the workforce. The
values of Be Caring Ltd are absolutely lived by
their people.”
Co-op council collaborations
The Co-operative Councils Innovation Network
(CCIN) is a collaboration between local authorities
in the UK who are committed to finding better ways
of working with, and for, people. As part of its
programme of work, it awards funding for projects
on a local and national scale: policy prototypes that
are delivered locally on behalf of the Network; and
policy labs, which are bigger collaborative pieces
of work that CCIN members worked on together.
Previous topics have covered asset transfers,
Professor Martin Green OBE, Chief Executive of Care England, pictured third from left,
meets the collaborators for the commissioning of Allendale Court
Allendale Court is a purpose-built supported
housing service for young people with learning
disabilities. LIFE by Be Caring delivers the service
at Allendale to support adults from across the
Newcastle city region enabling them to live as
independently as possible. It was developed as a
collaboration between Newcastle Local Authority,
Your Homes Newcastle and Be Caring.
Following a visit, Professor Martin Green, chief
executive of Care England, said: “The commitment
of their staff supports people to have a life and not
just a service. I believe the partnership approach
shown [here is] truly groundbreaking and a
housing, food and more. But in 2020 it was decided
to narrow the focus to one area: policy prototypes
in health and social care.
CCIN received 13 bid submissions from eight
councils; a joint meeting of the CCIN’s Executive
Oversight Committee and the Values & Principles
Board was held in Stevenage in January 2020,
where members reviewed all of the bids and graded
them according to set criteria. It was agreed to fund
all 13 Policy Prototypes.
“Health and social care is a broken system in the
UK,” says Cllr Chris Penberthy of Plymouth City
Council, who chairs the CCIN Values & Principles
38 | MARCH 2020

Board. “But if you look elsewhere – northern Italy,
for example – there are lots of co-operatives doing
health and social care quite successfully.”
He thinks one issue is around how people feel
and are treated – whether they are recipients,
guardians or givers of care – and believes
co-operative values and principles speak to
this issue. “Care co-operatives give people back
control of something that is very intimate and
important,” he says. “The current system doesn't
do that. Recipients can’t choose the care that they
get and the care workers can't give the care they
want to.”
He was encouraged by the diversity of the 13
bids, which varied greatly in terms of approaches
and themes and cover different parts of the health
and social care agenda.
“It was also good to see bids submitted from lots
of different types of councils, and nice that we had
enough budget to fund all of them,” he said. “Every
single idea was one that people wanted to fund.
It’s not vast sums of money but it’s enough to start
some important conversations.
“As we being to pool this learning, we hope that
we are able, as a network, to bring a distinct voice
on health and social care to a debate that is going
to have to happen nationally at some point. If we
can bring co-operatives into that conversation with
a strong evidence base, we can help move that
agenda forward.”
Applications varied in scope from events and
printed materials to evidencing and evaluations.
Rochdale Borough Council, for example, wants
to expand its Co-operative Engagement Toolkit
Tests, which will enable Rochdale Council and
partners to test, refine and shape its Co-operative
Engagement policy and toolkit. “Toolkit Tests will
ensure that engagement in Rochdale moves beyond
traditional engagement methods which focus on
consultation, to one underpinned by co-production
principles and provide an evidence base for this
approach to be embedded within health and social
care arenas,” said the council. “With a wholesystem
approach, this project will be reflective of
Rochdale’s co-operative history and transform
our boroughs approach to working with people
and communities.”
Community transport was the focus of Stevenage
Borough Council’s (SBC) bid, which looks to
pioneer an approach to improve wellbeing and
reduce isolation among older people using the
Stevenage Community Transport Service. The
council has run a community transport scheme
for over 30 years throughout which it has seen
numerous examples of older people’s wellbeing
improving as a consequence of the relationships
and connections to services that are made. “We
would like to formalise this, to train and develop
the role of Community Transport Drivers to become
Community Connectors [recognising] the role of
relationships in improving wellbeing for older
people,” said SBC.
Plymouth Council submitted three bids, to
support the work of Diabeaters and the Plymouth
Health and Wellbeing Hubs, and to fund a workforce
development programme for the Plymouth Complex
Needs Alliance (PCNA). Diabeaters was set up at
the request of local GPs for people on the cusp
of, or who have just developed, Type 2 Diabetes.
A volunteer-led project, it uses the Grow Share Cook
model, to reconnect people and food, and will use
the funding to assist three additional households in
dealing with their diabetes and produce a toolkit for
others to follow. The Wellbeing Hubs aim to enable
and help people in the local community to live
independently, while the PCNA offers a flexible and
creative, person centred approach to addressing
a wide range of needs such as homelessness,
substance misuse, offending and mental health.
Tameside Council is looking at developing its
Living Well at Home (LWAH) initiative, a model –
co-produced with clients, their families and carers
– that prioritises a client’s needs and outcomes
over process. “We’re moving from care as a
backstop or safety-net, into an enabler of lives and
re-invigorator of individuals,” said the council.
In Southampton, the Neighbourhood
Conversations project is looking at a co-operative
approach to strengthening community resilience
at a locality level, to consider opportunities
presented by the recent development of GP-led
social prescribing and primary care networks
in strengthening communities. The council also
submitted a bid to deliver a one-day co-operative
care summit to “strengthen the capacity of the
community, social enterprise and co-operative
sector to deliver effective preventative social
care solutions”.
CCIN believes there is a need to define a new model
for local government built on civic leadership, with
councils working in equal partnership with local
people to shape and strengthen communities.
It sees health and social care is a critical element
of this.
“This means a new role for local authorities that
replaces traditional models of top-down governance
and service delivery with local leadership, genuine
co-operation, and a new approach,” says Sharon
Taylor, CCIN chair. “This approach needs to be
built on the founding traditions of the co-operative
movement: collective action, co-operation,
empowerment and enterprise.”
MARCH 2020 | 39

HOUSING
By CHAD SMALL
A NEW ECONOMY
IN NEW ENGLAND
At the end of 2019, the US Federation of Worker
Cooperatives (USFWC) and the Democracy at Work
Institute recorded 465 active worker co-operatives
in America – up from 450 in 2017. But co-ops still
comprise a tiny fraction of all American businesses.
Growing interest in democratic workplaces was
the intended result of the Main Street Employee
Ownership Act of 2018, but most co-ops are still in
service and retail. As Americans continue pushing
for a more democratic economy, the limited
diversity in co-operative businesses is stifling for
those from professional backgrounds. Fortunately,
New England has been quietly developing its own
professional co-op ecosystem, uniquely supported
by an expanding number of design build co-ops.
Design build co-ops offer services including
architectural consulting and design, engineering,
carpentry, landscaping and solar energy. Two
examples in New England are South Mountain
Company and New Frameworks. Like most
workerowned companies in America, they were
both converted from conventional businesses.
South Mountain, headquartered in Martha’s
Vineyard, Massachusetts, was founded by John
Abrams in 1975, and focuses on integrated
architecture, engineering and construction that
balances art, science and craft.
It converted to worker-ownership in 1987. Mr
Abrams says long-term staff wanted to stay with the
company while having more active role. “Employees
who had been there from the beginning came to me
and said, ‘We don’t want to go out and start our own
business; we want to stay here for our careers’,” he
explains. “I could have made them partial partners,
[but] thought, why not develop a structure that
invites people in and is truly democratic?”
New Frameworks, based in Burlington, Vermont,
was founded by Ben Graham, Ace McArleton, and
Jacob Deva Racusin in 2006, converting to a worker
co-op ten years later. New Frameworks commits
to “a kinder sort of building” that combines
ecologically minded practices and comprehensive,
full-service systems design. As a much newer
business – in a less secure job market – it had
different, more ideological, reasons to change.
“As we started to need staff, we knew we wanted
to do it co-operatively,” says Mr McArleton. “But no
matter how participatory or benevolent or inclusive
an owner is, you just can’t replace the empowerment
and [that] kind of direct responsibility.”
Often, the sale of a company from owner to
employees requires additional funding from
individual workers to collectively purchase the
company’s assets. Further financing can also be
Above: Gibbons
-Ross House by
New Frameworks
(Image: New
Frameworks)
40 | MARCH 2020

necessary to hire the legal expertise to draft the
co-op’s operating agreement. New Frameworks
received a grant from the USFWC for legal support
during the conversion. South Mountain used ICA
Group, a Boston-based consultant specialising in
employee-ownership conversions.
Because co-ops practice some form of profit
sharing, they’re often recession resistant; Mr
McArleton believes this comes from a fusion of
worker solidarity and economic creativity – a
combination that helps to avoid layoffs.
“We just say, ‘OK, how do we figure this out?’”
he says. “Do we branch out to a different type of
work that we weren’t doing before, or do we all drop
down to three-fourths [working] time?”
With generational changes ushering in a more
punitive economy – particularly for millennials –
democratic workplaces can also preserve legacy
businesses that would otherwise close as owners
retire. “There are approximately 30 million small
businesses in the US, and many of those were
founded by ageing-out baby boomers, like me,”
says Mr Abrams. “Some of those are going to get
passed down within families but most are going to
[close] with the retirement of the founder.
“Many owners who put much of their life, heart,
and soul into these enterprises want to see them
endure ... conversion to a worker co-op is becoming
a more likely entity of choice.”
Employee-ownership is not just about survival:
it also allows businesses to focus on more than
just profit. South Mountain and New Frameworks,
like many design build co-ops, follow the triplebottomline
philosophy that considers people,
planet, then profit – leading to green design models.
The triple bottom line creates a clear distinction
between design build co-ops and conventional
design build businesses, that often focus solely
on profit. Another difference is the working
environment for employees. In non-democratic
workplaces, engineers and architects often work
more than 50 hours a week. At New Frameworks the
average week is 40 hours, and at South Mountain it
ranges from 32 to 42 hours.
The wage structure is also unusual. Typical
American workplaces see pay increase – often
exponentially – with experience. The difference in
hourly wage between the highest and lowest wage
earner at New Frameworks is $11. South Mountain
maintains its maximum pay ratio at five-to-one.
This shallow pay gap is surprisingly
antihierarchical in an industry that often correlates
qualifications and experience with better service
delivery. Mr McArleton says the differences in
experience are reflected in client-facing work, but
minimised internally.
“There’s some good reasons for a chosen
consensual hierarchy based around skill and
experience in some trades because it’s a safety
issue,” he says. “You can’t have somebody who’s
an apprentice at the same level as someone who’s
been a carpenter for 30 years.”
This creates a dynamic that Mr McArleton
describes as “vertical in the field and horizontal
in the boardroom”. At New Frameworks, worker
owners are compensated equally for board
(logistical co-op management) work. This, coupled
with profit sharing, further flattens the hierarchy.
The vibrancy of the New England co-op space
is unique in a way that may be legally prohibitive
elsewhere, but Mr McArleton thinks tradition is
also a key factor. “In Vermont, we have a tradition
of town meetings,” he says. “I think there’s some
weight to people understanding and seeing
traditions of direct democracy in practice and
being able to say, ‘oh we can do work like this’.”
Tradition might be the source of workplace
democracy in New England, but the trend toward
worker-ownership is just the first experiment in
a new American economy. Fundamentally, Mr
McArleton, and others, see co-operatives as “little
laboratories and workshops for democracy”.
Left: North Road
Hilltop designed
by South Mountain
Company.
Right: The team
(Image: Jocelyn Filley)
Chad Small is based
in New York City. He
primarily works as
the environmental
reporter for Blavity:
Politics. He is also
a New Economies
Reporting Project‘s
Finance Solutions
Fellows with the New
Economy Coalition.
His reporting
principally covers the
economic, social, and
public health effects
of environmental
racism in the US,
and throughout the
African diaspora.
MARCH 2020 | 41

HOUSING
By SUSAN PRESS
BUILDING SUSTAINABLE
HOMES IN LEEDS
Leeds Community Homes (LCH), set up five years
ago as a community land trust, is working with
around 30 groups across Yorkshire, from Leeds city
centre to smaller communities like Holmfirth and
Castleford. And it has ambitious plans to help build
1,000 sustainable homes by 2028.
CEO Steve Hoey has spent the last 20 years in a
variety of roles in community and co-op housing,
and says there is huge need across the country.
“We need more new affordable housing, and
there is the challenge of low-carbon retrofit in older
homes. There are lots of communities ready and
willing to get involved in building their own housing
and I hope we can make a significant contribution,
from building to facilitating or enabling others.”
The organisation’s first major project raised
£360,000 via a community share offer to build 16
affordable apartments in the Climate Innovation
District in Leeds city centre. It is hoped they will
be ready by the autumn, with seven for sale at a
discounted price (around two-thirds of market
value) and nine for social rent.
Key tasks for LCH include identifying land
for affordable, sustainable housing; creating
opportunities to partner with developers;
supporting new co-housing projects; and working
with other community-led housing organisations
to develop programmes for purchasing and
renovating long-term empty homes.
Its latest plan is to build 34 new homes in Armley,
where the formal planning process and community
consultation is about to start. Some will be available
to people on the council housing list, some could
be rented directly through LCH and others could be
bought through a part-ownership scheme. Priority
will be for people already living in the area.
Community-led housing is still just a tiny part of
the market – o.5% – and leading players, including
LCH, want an extension for the Community
Housing Fund – £163m in government money
which has helped to create a pipeline of over 16,600
homes. Administrative delays meant the Homes
England part of the fund was only open to bids for
18 months, instead of the planned five years. LCH
is at the forefront of a National Community Land
Trust Network campaign to extend it for five years.
The organisation is also keen to improve
diversity within the sector and engage more with
BAME groups, disabled people and LGBTQ+ groups
to ensure housing developments meet their needs.
New to the team is Claude Hendrikson, a passionate
advocate for BAME housing and founder of the
Frontline community scheme in Leeds, which saw
12 unemployed African Caribbean men and their
families build new homes for themselves.
Mr Hoey says: “We are working with one group
of five African Caribbean people on an estate in
West Leeds who want to renovate empty homes for
young offenders, and an LGBTQ+ group that wants
Consultations lead
by Leeds Community
Housing
42 | MARCH 2020

to create extra care housing across the generations
for their own community. These projects are great,
and we want to see more BAME and LGBTQ+ groups
being supported in Leeds and the wider region, and
becoming our members.”
Another Leeds organisation is Lilac – Low Impact
Living Affordable Community – a registered co-op
which started life 14 years ago when a small group
of residents wanted to build their own homes.
Construction on the mix of 20 eco-build houses
and flats started in 2012 and the first residents
arrived in May 2013; it is now home to 64 adults
and 13 children. There is a central Common House
(with shared postroom, kitchen, dining room,
office, workshop and laundry), a pond, allotments,
communal gardens and a play area.
“We were always committed to being a co-op and
building a strong community,” says co-founder Paul
Chatterton, a professor of urban futures at Leeds
University. “We looked at how we work within and
beyond the current planning system, at affordable
models, and issues like shared ownership.”
The homes were built with a company which
developed a low-carbon method of construction
using panel timber walls insulated with strawbale,
which significantly reduced CO2 emissions from
construction. Insulation and design combine to
store solar heat in winter and reject it in summer,
reducing the need for heating. The houses also
have solar thermal for heat and water.
As a mutual, everyone in the community owns
equity in their home. “You buy equity by paying
35% of your net income every month to the society,”
says Prof Chatterton. “This goes into a central pot
which pays one mortgage that we have with the
bank. There are no individual mortgages. You buy
equity which you can sell when you leave. The
value is linked to wages and not local house prices
so it might be difficult to get back into the housing
market, but we see what we’re doing as making a
stand against rampant speculation. It’s got to start
somewhere and we’re part of that.”
The organisation also runs the Lilac Equity
Fund, and the High Earners Policy, which topslices
money from moderately high earners whose
incomes are above that needed for the debt on their
house. “This is to deal with short-term balance
of payment and difficulties among households,”
says Prof Chatterton. “If one household got into
difficulties, it could be used for that. The security
of tenure in housing co-ops, especially this MHOS
model, is really good. They’re prepared to pay 35%
of their net income to give them that extra surety.”
He adds: “I suppose what people make a
decision on is everything else they’re getting. The
shared common house, shared spaces, allotments.
When you factor in is the whole life cycle and whole
house living costs, it becomes very affordable.”
But there is a long way to go for co-op housing,
he says. “What we lack is a community-owned
development sector. In Sweden, in Germany,
in Denmark, you’ve got developers that are
community-owned. Now imagine we had that in
the UK. This could not only understand community
needs, but start to recycle profits, working on bulk
discounts and sales to really start to meet demand.
“We’ve got vast amounts of housing stock and
need to look at how we use terraces in the cities and
semis in the suburbs. We need to retrofit low-carbon
infrastructure, build in community infrastructure
and shared ownership, start knocking down back
gardens, take the middle home and make it into a
common house where there’s shared facilities ...
You could do this across every neighbourhood and
street across the UK.”
Left: LILAC Housing
encourages
community living.
(Image: LILAC)
MARCH 2020 | 43

HOUSING
By DAVID THOMPSON
WORKFORCE HOUSING
CO-OPERATIVES
Daily newspaper headlines beg for solutions to
America's affordable housing crisis. There are lots
of valuable ideas, but few implementations that
appear scalable. For example, there is a lot of talk
about the concept of workforce housing, but very
few concrete examples. Numerous definitions of
workforce housing exist, with the most prevalent
being that it serves working people earning 80-
120% of median income, who pay no more than
30% of their income for rent.
Many major cities in North America are seeing
a rise in homelessness and a vast shortage of
affordable housing for extremely low, very low
and low-income households (30-80% of median
income). While just a drop in the bucket, federal
and state programmes and subsidies are at least
addressing some of the problems of supply. There
is a similar and growing crisis in the supply
of affordable housing for households earning
between 80-120%. This segment of the population,
however, is not eligible for subsidies or affordable
housing and most often is paying far more than the
30% of income that the US Department of Housing
and Urban Development (HUD) regards as normal.
People in this 80-120% segment are mostly
destined to be renters-for-life – stuck overpaying
for rents with a minuscule ability to save, they will
never have the downpayment to own a home or pay
a mortgage. Nor, most likely, will they be able to
afford to live near their job. Affordable housing for
this segment of our major cities is fast disappearing.
Workforce housing targets this segment with words
and policies, but, regretfully, with few real projects.
However, one group did do something about it.
This is the story of 75 Housing Co-op – a workforce
housing co-operative operating in the heart of one
of the biggest cities in North America.
A MEETING OF MINDS IN TORONTO
Like other cities, Toronto, Canada, desperately
needed targeted affordable housing to attract
employees who are the moderate-income backbone
of its urban economy.
44 | MARCH 2020

At the start of our story, the City of Toronto had
a vacant site at 60 E. Richmond Street; Toronto
Community Housing (TCH) was fast losing social
housing units downtown; the Cooperative Housing
Federation of Toronto (CHFT) had seen no new coop
in 20 years; and Local 75 UNITE (the union of
greater Toronto hospitality workers) had members
traveling a long way to their downtown jobs.
The ingredients were there but there was not yet
a cook. So how did a sensible, affordable home for
the lowest-paid employees of Toronto’s downtown
hotels and restaurants get built in the city’s
business centre?
It was largely thanks to Toronto City Councillor
Pam McConnell. McConnell had lived in co-op
housing for 40 years (Spruce Court Co-op), had
been at times a manager of housing co-ops and rose
to become president of the Cooperative Housing
Federation of Toronto. In 2017, the year she died
prematurely, she was deputy mayor of Toronto.
Cllr McConnell saw a unique alliance that would
fulfil her co-operative vision to house low-income
workers in downtown Toronto.
The alliance spent a few years looking for an
outcome that was acceptable to all four groups
above, and agreed the following actions: The City
of Toronto leased the vacant E. Richmond Street
site to TCH for 50 years; TCH, CHFT and UNITE
signed a Memorandum of Understanding on who
would be eligible to live there and what income
groups would qualify. TCH then subleased the
property to Local 75 Housing Cooperative, Inc. The
final agreement reserved 47 units for displaced
low-income households who once lived in the
gentrifying Regent Park neighbourhood and 38
units for UNITE members or non-union workers in
the hospitality industry.
Image: Scott
Norswothy
75 HOUSING CO-OPERATIVE
75 Housing Co-op – an 11-storey building designed
by Teeple Architects – has won numerous awards
for its architecture and sustainable construction.
“60 Richmond East is a boldly contemporary
high-rise with sculpted lines and splashes of
colour, as well as a compelling blend of social,
environmental, and urban aspirations,” wrote
Canadian Architect magazine.
It gives first preference to low-income workers
with jobs in downtown hotels and restaurants,
giving them easy commutes. The 85 co-op
apartments (33 one-bedroom units), 24 two-beds),
24 three-beds), and four four-beds) are a mix of
subsidised and slightly below market-rate units.
Four units were developed as accessible. Because
of the central location, only 10 on-site parking
spaces were provided. One space is reserved
for Enterprise CarShare and one space reserved for
disabled parking.
To support the project and to bolster the coop’s
operating budget, UNITE filled another gap
by renting most of the ground-floor commercial
space for two purposes. One was for their Toronto
offices and the other, more importantly, was for a
MARCH 2020 | 45

HOUSING ↘
training restaurant, Hawthorne Food and Drink,
which is open to all UNITE members and to any
member of the public who wants to work in the
hospitality industry. For example, United Way of
Toronto and other government work programmes
provide scholarships to homeless and low-income
people who want a job in the field. The restaurant
is operated by the Hospitality Workers Training
Center (HWTC), a nonprofit sponsored by Local
75 UNITE, Downtown Hotels and government and
nonprofit employment organisations. In less than
seven years of operation, Hawthorne has trained
hundreds of hospitality workers.
A MODEL TO BE REPLICATED?
Of course, this model isn’t just for hospitality:
cities desperately need affordable housing to
attract teachers, public employees, service
workers, and nonprofit employees. Religious
organisations, teachers’ associations, unions,
employer and employee groups, nonprofit housing
and community organisations are all examples of
groups that could step forward to sponsor such
initiatives for their members.
An older example is the United Housing
Foundation (UHF), formed by a group of trade
unions in New York City in the 1960s. Through their
joint sponsorship, UHF spurred the creation of over
20 housing co-ops. Those unions created about
33,000 units of co-operative housing in New York
City for their members. Some were developed by
unions to house their particular members (garment
workers, printing trades, butchers, electrical
workers, etc).
UHF functioned to provide affordable housing
to the city’s core workforce. Without a doubt, and
without knowing what it would be called later, the
UHF co-ops in NYC were the first mass provision of
workforce housing in the USA.
Only a coalition of that scale – sponsoring limited
equity co-operative housing and utilising state and
federal funding – can meet the long-term affordable
housing shortage facing today’s moderate-income
urban working families.
The moderate income housing challenge is
growing at crisis proportions. The overpayment of
rent by moderate income families is destroying the
asset-building opportunities of this core segment of
our population. Without employing a co-operative
housing solution that has access to targeted
government funding, America’s societal structure
and values are at risk.
Images: Shai Gill
David J Thompson is author of ‘Weavers of Dreams:
Founders of the Modern Cooperative Movement’,
‘Coopportunity: The Rise of a Community Owned
Market’ and other books. He is co-partner in
Neighborhood Partners, LLC, developer of over 1,400
units of nonprofit housing and as director, western
region of the National Cooperative Bank he funded
2,300 units of cooperative housing. www.community.
coop dthompcoop@aol.com
46 | MARCH 2020

Fairtrade Fortnight
focuses on a living
wage for producers
Fairtrade Fortnight runs from 24 February to 8
March, and continues the movement’s campaign to
give cocoa farmers a living wage.
Fairtrade Foundation’s campaign will feature
stories from women working in the cocoa producing
sector, explaining ways Fairtrade has helped them.
And – after the market has become increasingly
crowded with rival ethical certifications – the
campaign will stress how only Fairtrade has
standards which cover a minimum price for
farmers; a premium which farmers and workers
can choose to spend; women’s empowerment, in
terms of representation and independent income;
and the environment, including climate resilience.
The latest figures from Fairtrade International
say that sales of Fairtrade certified cocoa from Côte
d’Ivoire in the fourth quarter of 2019 increased
farmers’ earnings by approximately US$15.1m USD
compared to non-Fairtrade cocoa.
In addition to the Fairtrade Minimum Price,
certified co-ops also receive the non-negotiable
Fairtrade Premium of US $240 (£185) per tonne.
Co-op retailers are once again backing the
Fortnight, with the Co-op Group’s head of food
policy joining Rosine Bekoin, a Fairtrade cocoa
farmer from Côte d’Ivoire, and others for an event
hosted by the Fairtrade Foundation at the Old
Bank, Manchester, at 5.30pm on 25 February.
Channel Islands Co-op is running website, blog
and social media campaigns and has organised
tasting and awareness events in all four of its large
stores, showcasing products and handing out
stickers and recipe cards.
Midcounties Co-op is highlighting Fairtrade
through its 1change campaign – which calls on
members, customers and colleagues to make a
positive change in their activities. Those making
a pledge on Fairtrade have the chance to win
£25 vouchers to spend on Fairtrade products
in its stores. It has called out to 500 of its local
community partners asking them to join the
campaign, and is working with the Fairtrade
Foundation on visit by cocoa farmer from Côte
d’Ivoire on 6 March.
East of England Co-op will sponsor the Suffolk
Fairtrade Towns website for the next three years
and is supporting a reception by Ipswich Fairtrade
Town Group on 27 February, where Michael Gidney,
chief executive of the Fairtrade Foundation, will be
guest speaker. The society is working with Fairtrade
town groups on competitions and giveaways,
including funds to supply Fairtrade footballs to
schools in Felixstowe.
Divine Chocolate – the only Fairtrade chocolate
company co-owned by cocoa farmers – continues
its 20-year support for Fairtrade Fortnight by
offering sampling packs, including posters, a
quiz and chocolate, and is running a social media
campaign under the hashtag #DivineFortnight.
Revolver Cooperative is marking the Fortnight
with the launch of a new range of biodegradable
English Breakfast, Green Tea and Mixed Berry
Ceylon tea bags, working with suppliers in
Sri Lanka. Revolver will also share Fairtrade
stories throughout the Fortnight on its website,
revolverworld.com, and rounds the campaign
off with a quiz night at the Warehouse Cafe,
Birmingham on 8 March.
Lucia belongs to
a Fairtrade cocoa
co-operative called
Ngoleagorbu in
Sierra Leone. (Credit
Dominique Fofanah)
Sri Lankan farmers
with Revolver’s new
Fairtrade tea
MARCH 2020 | 47

REVIEWS
Building partnerships with the social economy
Providing
public goods
and commons.
Towards
coproduction
and new forms
of governance for
a revival of public
action
Edited by Philippe
Bance, Ciriec
studies series
FREE
tinyurl.com/rrr8993
A collection of academic research papers, Providing
public goods and commo,ns explores the various
forms of partnership between the public sector
and social and solidarity (SSE) organisations. The
book comes from a working group in the public and
social economy set up under CIRIEC’s International
Scientific Council. It forms part of a series of open
access publications which are available on Ciriec’s
website as the CIRIEC Studies Series.
It includes analyses of academics and researchers
as well as social and solidarity economy and
public policy experts from seven countries on
three continents.
One chapter explores the co-operatives of
collective interest in France, which bring together
various shareholders producing or supplying goods
or services in the interest of the community. With the
passing of the Law of Social and Solidarity Economy
in 2014, co-ops in France have benefited from a more
favourable environment. But, the chapter argues,
the SCIC model has in-built obstacles linked to
governance and financing through the possession
of a social capital with no possibility for the investor
to have a decisive influence in the strategy or
operation choices of the structure. As an antidote,
the book looks at new hybrid forms of innovation
like Living Labs, where different partners develop
solutions and create common value.
Another chapter describes how co-ops are key
actors in promoting resilience, reducing vulnerability
and fostering equitable and sustainable wellbeing
of communities. It also examines the role of
co-ops as intermediaries between the formal
(market-oriented and governmental) and informal
(non-profit and household production) economy.
Authors argue that local inter-institutional
co-operation among the SSE, the private and the
public sector should become the norm rather than
the exception, in order to achieve at the same
time a higher level of equitable and sustainable
development and wellbeing.
They focus the benefits offered by the public
and SSE sectors for the co-construction of public
or collective action. The book also underlines the
scope of transformations and innovations that may
emerge from the co-operation of public and SSE
sectors, in terms – among other things – of local and
regional initiatives.
48 | MARCH 2020

Private life vs shared space: Communal living
and the housing co-operative
A History of
Collective Living:
Forms of shared
housing
Edited Susanne
Schmid, Dietmar
Eberle and Margrit
Hugentobler
(Birkhauser Basel,
2019, £36.50)
Housing remains a critical issue in the UK,
complicated by emotional ties and competing
economic interests. Homeowners whose futures are
tied up in bricks and mortar have one eye trained
on house prices, hoping they will keep rising; while
younger workers stuck in the private rental market
wonder if they can ever afford a place of their own.
Complicating the issue is the castle-and-keep ethos
that keeps Britons wedded to home ownership.
This individualistic culture presents a barrier to
alternative residential models – from social housing
but also co-ops – where shared and communal living
is at odds with a desire for personal space.
Despite successful examples – this month, we
look at two cases in Leeds (p38-39) – co-op and
community housing represents just 0.5% of the
UK market. Discussion of ways to grow the sector
tends to revolve around financial and organisational
support. But perhaps the sector also needs a wider
cultural change to instil a taste for collective activity.
This is a sensitive issue because housing involves
personal space – and this excellent book offers
useful case studies and historical lessons as to
how things might pan out. It surveys a variety of
developments in communal living in central Europe,
where “collective living spaces are being designed
and used in new and versatile ways”, over the past
150 years, and does so in rich, scholarly detail.
Along the way it takes us through key cultural shifts
– such as the industrialisation and urbanisation
of the 19th century which saw wage labour moved
outside workers’ living quarters, and excluded nonrelatives,
or distant relations, from the household.
This gave people “space for intimacy or autonomy
from society”: a new form of domesticity which
created a tension between public and private
spaces. This tension, the book argues, has been
a factor in modern life ever since – and has made
collective living a complex affair.
Over that 150 years, collective living in central
Europe took on many forms, often driven by utopian
socialist reformers. These range from the large
housing complexes developed for the new urban
workforce of the mid 19th century to the central
kitchen house, a model developed in Germany
in the late 19th century as part of the burgeoning
women’s movement. This was an attempt to reshape
society itself, pooling domestic work to make the
household “a large scale enterprise”.
The book follows these developments to their
culmination in the collective housing experiments of
Russia in the early years of the revolution – which,
the book argues, “can be seen as a rational fantasy of
order, seeking to mathematically shape life through
a precisely timed and predetermined regime”. It
ultimately saw attempts to dissolve the nuclear
Communal living has moved on from the utopian ideas
of Le Corbusier (Photo: Fred Romero)
family. Such ideas have perhaps created lingering
public suspicion towards collective living, as has
the divisive nature of the brutalist apartment blocks
they inspired from architects like Le Corbusier.
And so, although shared living experiments
continued in the 20th century, notably with the
Garden City movement, it was not until the 1970s
that housing co-ops resumed experiments with
shared spaces. This, the authors argue, was eased
by the social changes of the 1960s, which brought
“a questioning of traditional hierarchies and role
models” that changed attitudes to private space.
This co-op housing movement was a definitive
break from previous efforts in that it was not driven
by centralised, top-down reformers but involved
residents throughout the process. “With political
change and the women’s liberation movement, a
new understanding of living as a shared, neighbourly
way of life was born”. But there were still radical
ideas, with “the nuclear family … not fundamentally
questioned per se, but rather regarded as socially
bankrupt” and the movement “marked the definitive
end of paternalistically organised collective living”.
And the participatory nature of the design of the
housing co-ops brought in new voices, including
sociologists and female planners.
Thereafter, the emphasis in shared housing shifts
away from families to participatory social models,
offering multi-generational living or homes for young
people who have moved out for the first time. The
authors note a growing interest in creating a sense
of community as a response to decades of dissolving
social ties. This takes us through to the Co-Living
movement, which they frame as a response to the
economic disruption that followed the 2008 crash.
The authors note a reaction to neo-liberalism
and rising inequality among Generation Z – which
echoes some of the ideas expressed in the UK’s
fledgling student housing co-op movement, with its
#NoMoreLandlords hashtag.
“The motivation behind sharing living space is
rooted in a sense of togetherness and belonging
to a community”, the book concludes. It will be
interesting to see where these experiments go next.
MARCH 2020 | 49

DIARY
CLOCKWISE FROM TOP:
Abcul Annual Conference (13-14 Mar);
CCH Annual Conference (17-19 Apr);
OPEN 2020 (11-12 Jun); Festival of
Cooperation outside Rochdale Town
Hall (19-20 June); and the Worker Co-op
Weekend (15-17 May)
9-15 Mar: YP Exchange and Global Youth
Summit 2020
Some of the brightest minds in the
next generation of credit union leaders
will come together during the World
Council of Credit Union’s (Woccu) Young
Professional Exchange and Global Youth
Summit 2020, co-hosted by Abcul.
WHERE: London & Manchester
INFO: tbelekevich@woccu.org
13-14 Mar: Abcul Annual Conference
The Abcul Annual Conference and AGM
let credit union directors, staff and
volunteers hear from a wide range of
speakers, discuss the issues that are
important to them and network with
others from the movement.
WHERE: The Midland Hotel, Manchester
INFO: abculannualconference2020.com
17-19 Apr: CCH Annual Conference 2020
Confederation of Co-op Housing gathers
to consider key issues facing the sector.
WHERE: Mercure Haydock, Liverpool
INFO: cch.coop/event
15-17 May: Worker Co-op Weekend
Hosted by Co-operatives UK, the
WCW is aimed at worker co-ops to
help them learn, share and be inspired.
The programme is made up of practical
sessions designed and run by
worker co-operatives.
WHERE: Thornbridge Outdoors, Peak District
INFO: uk.coop
11-12 June: OPEN 2020
The 2020 event will look at practical
solutions to co-create a collaborative,
regenerative economy that puts people
and planet before profit, focussing on
the nature of money, mutual credit, and
the core challenges of a new economy.
WHERE: Conway Hall, London
INFO: 2020.open.coop
19-20 June: Festival of Cooperation
Marking 175 years since the Rochdale
Pioneers founded their co-operative
store and 150 years of Co-operatives
UK, the festival will celebrate Rochdale
as the home of co-operation and see
the launch of a new Co-op Champions
programme. The Co-op of the Year Awards
will be presented the evening before.
WHERE: Rochdale (outside the town hall)
INFO: uk.coop
LOOKING AHEAD
3-5 July: Worker Democracy Weekend,
Hebden Bridge
14-16 July Stir to Action Festival
2-4 September UKSCS Conference
7-10 October: IMPACT Conference
7-8 October CCIN Conference
16-18 October Co-op Party Conference
11-17 Dec: World Cooperative Congress
2020 (Seoul)
50 | MARCH 2020

22 june – 5 july 2020
help us
grow co op
membership
Co-op Fortnight celebrates co-ops.
This year we are calling for everyone to #JoinACoop
There’s lots of ways to get involved:
plan share order
member recruitment
and engagement campaigns
your members’ stories
posters & stickers
#JoinACoop
Get involved at www.uk.coop/fortnight
Featured co-ops: Hulme Community Garden Centre, Birmingham Bike Foundry, Norwich Mustard