Co-op News September 2021

SEPTEMBER 2021
CO-OPERATING
FOR A SHARED
FUTURE
Plus … Co-ops respond
to the IPCC climate report
... The co-op beginnings
of a US Olympian ... Meet:
Nepal’s Om Devi Malla ...
Celebrating 150 years of
your Co-op News
ISSN 0009-9821
770009 982010
01
£4.20
www.thenews.coop

Telling co-operative stories for 150 years
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SEPTEMBER 2021 | 3
150 years of your
Co-operative News
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
Andy Bellis | andy@thenews.coop
DIRECTORS
Elaine Dean (chair); David Paterson
(vice-chair); Sofygil Crew; Victoria
Green; Tim Hartley; Phil Hartwell;
Gillian Lonergan; Beverley Perkins;
Shaz Rahman; Lesley Reznicek
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
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Road, Buxton, Derbyshire SK17 6AE.
Membership of Co-operative Press is
open to individual readers as well as
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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-ops,
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
On 2 September 1871, the first issue of The Co-operative News was published,
as “A Record of Industrial, Political, Humanitarian, and Educational Progress”.
“What is Co-operation?” (p46-47)
150 years later we are still asking – and answering – that question. Co-operatives
are hugely diverse. They are a tool. And as with any tool, the way they are used
is largely up to the people who wield them. But all co-operatives are grounded in
the set of values and principles that guide us within a framework of democracy,
membership and shared wealth. This issue we are looking at principle 6 – cooperation
among co-operative – increasingly important as the magnitude of
crises facing the world make it clear they cannot be faced alone.
This was made abundantly clear in the IPPC’s climate report, which highlighted
how climate change is threatening every aspect of our lives. To address this, “cooperation
and collaboration will be key,” says Southern Co-op’s Gemma Lacey.
“By sharing our plans, progress and solutions we can use our collective voice
and actions to help drive the wide-scale change needed” (p26-29). In Croatia,
co-ops are helping with the country’s coal phase-out (p30-31) and in the UK,
independent retail co-ops have signed up to the soft plastic collection scheme,
launched by the Co-op Group in July (p7).
Co-operatives know they should work with each other; but what about working
with other ‘for-purpose’ organisations? Lord Victor Adebowale – Co-op Group
director and chair of Social Enterprise UK – firmly believes the co-op movement
needs “to spend less time naval-gazing and more time holding hands” with
other types of organisational models (p36-37).
This issue we also look at how co-operatives offer supportive environments in
different sectors (such as housing, p32-33, and community pubs, p34-45) and for
individual people (such as American 400m hurdler Dalilah Muhammad, p44-45).
But we also look at how mutuality can go wrong: in August, staff at an influential
left-wing Current Affairs magazine in the US claim they were fired for trying to
organise into a workers co-operative (p42-43); and in Canada, Economical
Mutual Insurance has demutualised after 145 years – a move for which ICMIF’s
Shaun Tarbuck says there “was no business case” (p40-41).
The Covid-19 pandemic has meant that any in-person celebrations for our 150th
anniversary are on hold, but we are proud to continue sharing co-operative
stories from around the world with our members, readers and the wider public.
Thank you for coming on this journey with us. We are looking forward to seeing
where we go next.
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.

ISSN 0009-9821
9 770009 982010
4 | SEPTEMBER 2021
01
THIS ISSUE
CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT:
The UK’s independent retail co-ops have
signed up to the Group’s soft plastic
collection scheme (p7); Plans under way
for a People’s Pub Partnership (p34-35);
Promoting Principle 6 in the USA
(p38-39); Dalilah Muhammad (p44-45);
Om Devi Malla (p22-23)
SEPTEMBER 2021
CO-OPERATING
FOR A SHARED
FUTURE
Plus … Co-ops respond
to the IPCC climate report
... The co-op beginnings
of a US Olympian ... Meet:
Nepal’s Om Devi Malla ...
Celebrating 150 years of
your Co-op News
£4.20
www.thenews.coop
COVER: Lord Victor Adebowale
shares his thoughts on Principle
6 from a co-operative and social
enterprise perspective
Read more: p36-37
22-23 MEET … OM DEVI MALLA
Vice chair of Nepal’s co-op federation and
ICA global board member
26-29 IPCC CLIMATE REPORT
What does the report mean for
co-operatives in different sectors?
30-39 PRINCIPLE 6
The importance of co-operation among
co-ops – and with other organisations
30-31 CROATIA’S COAL PHASE-OUT
The community co-ops encouraging
citizens to get involved in clean
energy
32-33 STUDENT HOUSING
SEASALT Housing Co-op has drawn on
the support of the wider movement
34-35 PEOPLE’S PUB PARTNERSHIP
Plans under way for a national,
community-owned pub organisation
36-37 LORD VICTOR ADEBOWALE
The chair of Social Enterprise UK and
director of the Co-op Group on why coops
and social enterprises should work
better together
38-39 PRINCIPLE 6 IN THE USA
NCBA CLUSA explores ways to drive
Principle 6 in the United States
40-41 END OF THE ROAD FOR
ECONOMICAL MUTUAL INSURANCE
Lessons from the demutualisation of the
145 year old mutual
42-43 A CLASH OF VALUES
Staff claim they were fired for trying to
organise into a workers’ co-operative
44-45 DALILAH MUHAMMAD
The Olympian brought up in the Rochdale
Village Co-op in Queens, NYC
46-47 150 YEARS OF CO-OP NEWS
A look back at the past century and a half
of your Co-op News
REGULARS
5-13 UK updates
14-21 Global updates
24 Letters and obituary
48 Reviews
50 Events

SEPTEMBER 2021 | 5
NEWS
RETAIL
Co-op Group chief warns
grocery shortages are
the worst he’s seen
Co-op Group CEO Steve Murrells has
warned that supply disruptions from
Brexit and Covid-19 are causing the worst
food shortages he has seen.
He told the Times that some ranges were
being reduced because the industry is
struggling to get supplies to shops, thanks
to driver and other labour shortages from
Brexit migration rules and Covid-19.
Mr Murrells made his comments after
widespread reports of stores and fast food
restaurants running short of supplies,
as labour shortages hit fruit picking and
meat processing capacity, as well as HGV
drivers to transport goods.
McDonald’s hit the headlines after it
removed milkshakes from its menu at
1,250 outlets across Britain, while Nando’s
was forced to temporarily close 50
restaurants because of poultry shortages.
Murrells said the crisis was the result of
“Brexit and issues caused by Covid”.
The Group is retraining staff as lorry
drivers to make up for the shortfall – with
the haulage industry losing an estimated
100,000 overall, including 8,000 EU
nationals who have left the UK.
Mr Murrells’ comments echo those
of other industry figures, with Iceland
managing director Richard Walker
warning that the current situation could
affect this year’s Christmas celebrations.
He told Radio 4’s Today programme that
lorry drivers should be added to the
government’s skilled workers list to help
recruit people from overseas.
For the agriculture sector, the picture
is more mixed. A spokesperson for
Openfield, the Lincolnshire-based grain
co-op, said it has not yet had any problems
as it goes through its harvest time.
“We haven’t seen any significant
disruption and our haulage fleet
continues to operate normally with a full
complement of drivers.”
But at Scottish farm co-op body SAOS
(Scottish Agricultural Organisation
Society), supply chain development
director Alan Stevenson said: “Labour
resource continues to be a concern for the
sector in terms of processing capacity and
having the right skills available.
“In addition, we are keeping a close
watch on the lorry driver situation as
we approach harvest time where there
is a heavy demand for their services at a
critical point for the farming industry.
“Being part of a co-op is a great help in
sharing risk and bringing the operational
elements together to plan ahead as much
as possible. It still may prove challenging
bearing in mind weather factors will come
into the equation as well.”
SAOS has also echoed calls from the
National Farmers Union for scrutiny of
post-Brexit trade deals, such as the one
recently signed with Australia.
Chief executive Tim Bailey said: “We
believe that any and every deal should be
fully scrutinised. Only farming systems
demonstrably operating to equivalent
high standards of food safety, animal
health and welfare and environmental
protection should gain free trade access to
our markets.”
A spokesperson for CQLP, the livestock
marketing co-op based in south-west
England, said there had been no logistics
disruption – but echoed concerns over the
Australia deal.
“Farmers work really hard to overcome
lots of challenges within their industry
and are always striving to do things better;
our welfare standards are very stringent
and about to become even more so and a
lot of farmers feel this deal would be very
dangerous for UK agriculture as firstly
Australia’s farmers are allowed to use
some banned products such as growth
promoters, feed additives and pesticides
which doesn’t allow a level playing
field and it could encourage other large
food producing nations to push for their
produce to be allowed onto our market.
Thankfully trade in meat is currently very
small between ourselves and Australia
but if a tariff free deal were to happen it
could threaten our whole industry.
“We need a much stricter food labelling
system so consumers are informed of
their choices. The UK government have
been pushing high welfare and food
standards onto our industry for years and
allowing large volumes of substandard/
cheaper products on to our market would
be very damaging.”

6 | SEPTEMBER 2021
RETAIL
Midcounties works with local councils to fight school holiday hunger
Midcounties Co-op has partnered with
three local councils to help feed more
than 7,000 children over the summer
holidays as part of its mission to tackle
food poverty.
The society has joined forces with
Dudley CVS and Dudley, Walsall and
Shropshire councils to create meal boxes
to feed a family of four for up to four
nights, and deliver them to selected
homes, holiday clubs and libraries across
their communities on a weekly basis.
The meals have been designed in
partnership with qualified nutritionist
and in-store chef Judy Cheyne, who has
also developed recipe cards and videos
that the children can follow at home.
The initiative follows a series of
commitments from Midcounties to help
p Food from the society ready for distribution
deliver food justice, including a food bank
fund that raised more than £50K during
the Covid-19 crisis, joining forces with
other co-ops to campaign for food justice,
becoming a member of Marcus Rashford’s
Child Food Poverty Taskforce, and
continuing to provide essential support to
food banks across its communities.
Group CEO Phil Ponsonby said: “Food
justice is a real issue and we’re extremely
passionate about driving change to ensure
that no one is left behind. In the current
climate, it’s all too easy for families
experiencing financial difficulties to fall
into food poverty, and we’re committed
to being a leading part of a movement to
stop that.
“By working together as a society, with
our members, local stakeholders, and likeminded
organisations and individuals,
we know we can make a difference. I’m
extremely proud that these councils have
come to us as the partner on this initiative,
and we’re delighted we are able to help.”
Co-op Group adds
OneBanks kiosks to
three Scottish stores
The Co-op Group has introduced banking
kiosks from OneBanks to three of its stores
in Scotland.
OneBanks is a community banking
service which offers banking services to
people in areas where there are no longer
any bank branches, or want face-to-face
services because they have been left behind
by the move to digital. It offers services no
matter who people bank with.
Services are already on offer at the
Group’s Denny store, in Falkirk, and a
new kiosk at its convenience store in
Kilwinning, in the west of Scotland, will
enable customers to deposit and withdraw
notes and coins, and manage payments
for utilities and other bills.
An additional kiosk in Lochgelly, Fife, is
also planned for the coming weeks.
The Kilwinning trial will feature an
updated kiosk design which is wheelchair
compatible, with team members equipped
and trained to support those who are hard
of hearing through the SignLive app.
Kilwinning will also test out a new
facility, developed in partnership with
G4S, which means customers can deposit
p OneBanks' team at the Denny kiosk
coins as well as notes, and manage
payments for utilities and other bills. The
facility has a touch screen which allows
customers to buy goods and services from
online providers such as Amazon using
cash, and receive change in coins.
Mark Matthews, director of innovation
and formats at the Group, said: “Co-op is
committed to connecting communities and
operating at the heart of local life. We are
working with partners to develop added
services and choice, finding innovative
ways to expand access to products and
services locally, and create a compelling
offer to serve our members and customers.”
The OneBanks’ shared branch concept
received a boost in May when UK Finance
and the largest retail banks and building
societies launched the Access to Cash
Action Group, examining ways that
businesses and individuals can continue
to use cash for everyday banking. As
part of its existing co-operation with the
banks’ Community Access to Cash Pilots,
OneBanks is providing data to feed into
the design of possible models that will
meet that objective.
Services are provided free to customers,
whichever bank they use. OneBanks says
the Denny kiosk has proven popular with
small businesses because it has enabled
them to avoid a round trip of nearly 15
miles to their nearest open bank branch to
bank their cash takings.

SEPTEMBER 2021 | 7
ENVIRONMENT
Retail co-ops sign up to soft plastic collection scheme
p The recycling scheme offers a way forward for the crisis of plastic pollution
Independent retail co-ops in the UK have
signed up to the plastic collection scheme,
launched by the Co-op Group at the start
of last month.
The scheme sees the co-ops install
collection points at selected stores, where
people can recycle film and soft plastics,
items that are currently not collected by
all council services.
The collection points will allow people
to deposit items such as crisp packets,
sweet wrappers, plastic film, pet food
pouches, bread bags and other plastic
bags, which will then be backhauled via
the retailers’ distribution networks and
responsibly recycled.
Estimates from WRAP suggest that just
6% of plastic bags and wrapping from UK
households is recycled each year, while
(by weight) it makes up around a fifth of
all plastic packaging.
Items that cannot be recycled include
hard plastics, plastic bottles, plastic trays
and no compostable elements, however
recycling services for these items are
widely available.
Luke Olly, energy and environment
lead, at Central England Co-op said: “As
a co-operative, we have a responsibility
to champion sustainability for the good
of our members, consumers and local
communities and plastics is at the
forefront of these efforts.
“We have worked with other retail
co-ops to provide a network of instore
collection points for film and soft
plastics. Providing collection points
specifically for these types of plastics will
enable customers to easily recycle items
that are currently not collected through
council services, while doing this in
a co-operative manner means all the
communities the co-op serves can benefit
from this process, helping to provide a
nationwide solution.
“We hope our customers and members
will make use of the new collection
points and join us in our push to recycle
together.”
Mike Pickering, co-operative social
responsibility manager at Midcounties,
said: “As a society, we’re committed to
making change and encouraging our
members and customers to work with
us to build a better environment for our
future, and recycling is a big part of that.
“We know that many of our customers
and members want to do even more than
they already are to help the planet, and
the new recycling collection points are a
great, convenient solution to help them.”
Other co-ops introducing the scheme
include Chelmsford Star, East of England,
Lincolnshire and Heart of England.
Heart of England says plastic can be
taken to its stores in Hinckley, Long
Lawford, Wellesbourne, Balsall Common,
and Galley Common, Cedar Road and
Attleborough in Nuneaton, and Allesley
Old Road and Earlsdon in Coventry.
Steve Browne, general manager of
the society’s food division, said: “The
environment is an increasingly common
area of concern among our members
and customers. This new scheme will
help make a significant impact. Already
a great many of our stores offer packagefree
zones where customers use their
own refillable containers to buy certain
products, and our water stations too –
allowing customers to refill their own
water bottles – are also a huge hit.”
Southern Co-op has also told the News
it is planning to trial it.

8 | SEPTEMBER 2021
RETAIL
Scotmid launches intervention scheme to get people out of crime
A collaborative pilot programme to
help people involved in crime to make
positive life changes has been launched
by Scotmid Co-op.
Project RISE (Recovering in a
Supported Environment), which will be
piloted in Leith, has been designed to
intervene and support local people by
encouraging them to avoid potential
criminal situations, suggesting
alternative choices and signposting
individuals to support services.
It will work in partnership with several
organisations including Cyrenians,
Turning Point, Link-Up, Connecting
Circles and Police Scotland.
Scotmid hopes to roll the programme
out across other areas of the city, where
additional resources and support would
help make a difference.
Nick McGuirk, project manager for the
scheme, said: “As a retailer based in the
heart of our communities, we are in a
fortunate position to be able to identify
and reach some of the most vulnerable
people in our local areas. We’re pleased to
work collaboratively with some fantastic
charities to ensure we can support as
many people as possible, helping them
to make more positive life choices.”
Carmen McShane, Scotland service
manager of Turning Point, said: “It
has never been so important to make
mainstream services more accessible for
those who suffer from alcohol and other
drug use.
“Accessing support and treatment
can be a protective factor in reducing
overdose, therefore, outreach work in
Leith, and other local communities
like this, is vital if we want to prevent
drug-related deaths. I’m so pleased to
work with Scotmid, Connecting Circles,
Cyrenians and Link Up in this initiative
to deliver the support to people in our
community who need it.”
A spokesperson at Police Scotland
said: “Police Scotland is looking forward
to working alongside our partners
in this pilot programme, designed to
make positive changes for those who
require support and help. We hope the
programme will expand its work to
other areas, so that people can avoid
potentially dangerous circumstances,
whilst flourishing in their communities.”
In other news from Scotmid, the
society has joined up with development
agency Scottish Enterprise to invest in
the Alcoholic Water Company, a hard
seltzer business set up by a team of
drinks industry entrepreneurs.
The business, set up in 2019, wants to
develop the “world’s most sought after
portfolio of hard seltzers” – alcoholic
flavoured waters. It is a collaboration
between Glasgow-based Start-Up Drinks
Lab and London’s Whitelabel Group.
Scotmid has purchased a minority
stake, and says it will bring trade
expertise from its grocery network,
alongside mentoring and business
support. CEO John Brodie said: “This is
a fast growing sector of the market and
there are opportunities to establish a
brand at the premium end.”
RETAIL
Southern Co-op continues efforts to help young people off the dole
Southern Co-op is taking its third cohort of
Kickstarters – 16 to 24 year olds at risk of
long-term unemployment – next month.
The government scheme was set up to
help young people off universal credit and
the new recruits will bring the number on
placement at Southern to nearly 40.
The placements are spread across the
independent retail co-op’s head office in
Portsmouth and a number of its food and
funeral sites.
Sarah Kavanagh, the society’s business
transformation and HR director, said:
“Unemployment has been higher in
younger age groups for some time and
unfortunately this has been exacerbated
by the pandemic. It is clear to us that they
need additional help now to get back into
work or to take the first step toward full
time employment.
“The Kickstart Scheme means we look
for people aged 16 to 24, with the right
attitude, and give them the opportunity to
learn new skills while being paid.
“We expected it to take a bit of time
for some to find their feet and get into
the routine of work but, after about three
weeks, we have been getting some great
feedback. One manager described their
new starter as ‘100% amazing’, ‘flexible,
keen and willing to try anything’.”
The placements are funded by the
Government for 25 hours per week for six
months and referrals are made on to the
scheme via local Jobcentres.
The job placements provide opportunities
to young people who may have been
overlooked before due to lack of experience.
Southern’s programme is also giving
young adults a chance to gain a Level
One Certificate in Employability Skills at
Havant & South Downs College.

SEPTEMBER 2021 | 9
AWARDS
Finalists named for the Social Business Wales Awards
recognising those organisations which
have pivoted, grown and thrived in these
most challenging conditions.
“We wish all the businesses shortlisted
the best of luck at the awards. We hope
that, whatever the outcome, their success
will inspire a generation of future social
entrepreneurs.”
The full list of categories and shortlisted
finalists is as follows
Social Enterprise of the Year
• Creating Enterprise
• The Community Impact Initiative
• Therapeutic Activities Group CIC
• One to Watch
Wales Co-operative Centre has unveiled
the list of finalists for this year’s Social
Business Wales Awards.
This year there are two headline
categories – Wales Social Enterprise
of the Year, which looks for excellent
vision and strategic direction as well as a
clearly evidenced social, environmental
and community impact, and Wales
One to Watch, which looks for new and
innovative social enterprises with an
impressive initial impact and strong
vision for the future.
The other categories are Tech for Good;
Community Impact; and Social Enterprise
Team of the Year.
The Social Business Wales Awards are
being held virtually for the first time on
5 October. The awards, which have run
since 2010, are part of the Social Business
Wales project which is funded by Welsh
government and the European Regional
Development Fund.
Derek Walker, CEO of Wales Cooperative
Centre and delivery lead
for the Social Business Wales project,
said: “Trading conditions have been
significantly disrupted for a lot of
businesses over the last 18 months, so
for this year’s awards we are looking
to celebrate the resilience and the
entrepreneurial spirit of the social
business sector.
“The 2021 awards will also be a moment
to celebrate the incredible contributions
made by social businesses in Wales,
Amathanon CIC (Carmarthen Food)
• Drosi Bikes
• Prom Ally
• Tech for Good: Technology Social
Enterprise
Cardiff Cleaning Services (APP UK)
• Empower – Be the Change
• Denbighshire Music Co-operative
• Community Impact
PTAWA Enterprises Ltd
• Green Willow Funerals Ltd
• Iorwerth Arms
• Glyn Wylfa
•
Social Enterprise Team of the Year
• Creating Enterprise
• Empower Be The Change
• Llangefni Town Football Club
HOUSING
Government launches £4m fund for community housing
The Ministry of Housing, Communities
and Local Government (MHCLG) has
made £4m worth of grants available to
eligible community organisations.
The scheme, which runs in England
(outside Greater London), is funded
through the Community Housing Fund
Revenue Programme 2021/22. It will help
cover the revenue costs of project-specific
activities to support the development of
community-led housing proposals.
The programme is managed by
Community Led Homes, a partnership
of four leading community led housing
organisations: Confederation of Cooperative
Housing, Locality, National
Community Land Trust Network and UK
Cohousing Network.
It is aimed at schemes which can prove
their deliverability and are at the later
stages of pre-development, and will fund
pre-development work so that schemes
can complete the work required to
progress the scheme towards:
• submitting a planning application,
and/or
• submitting a capital funding bid, and/o
• getting to start on site.
The pre-development work funded
must be completed by the end of March
2022 so applications are recommended to
be made as soon as possible.
MHCLG adds that the programme will
not be suitable for groups who are just
forming and need start-up support, or
schemes that are at an early stage of predevelopment.
• Email grants@communityledhomes.org.
uk or visit bit.ly/3zkQM6V

10 | SEPTEMBER 2021
EDUCATION
Co-operative College awards honorary fellowship to Dr Cilla Ross
Dr Cilla Ross has received an honorary
fellowship award from the Co-operative
College, an organisation she joined six
years ago as vice principal.
Dr Ross is the first woman to be awarded
an honorary fellowship in the College’s
history. She was appointed its first ever
female principal in 2019, and has recently
stepped down from the role.
At the College, she worked across
multiple areas including teaching,
learning and global research, leading on
both co-operative higher education and
the co-operative university project. As a
fellow of the College, she will continue
to work with the education co-operatives
that the College has helped to establish.
In 2019, she sat on the Centenary
Commission on Adult Education, and has
recently been appointed to a three-year
honorary professorship in co-operative
education at the University of Nottingham.
Dr Ross said: “I am truly honoured by
this award. It has been a privilege being a
custodian and steward of the College and
in helping to ready it for its future.
“The College has a magnificent record
in empowering people through education
and this imperative is as critical as ever.
As a fellow, I will contribute in any way I
can to support the College’s commitment
to relevant, high quality and distinctive
learning that has social justice at its heart.”
Jon Nott, chair of the College trustees,
said: “Cilla has led the College through a
period of incredible external challenges
and internal transformation. She moves
into her new role having provided a strong
academic and organisational platform
from which the new team can build and
grow. I’m delighted that Cilla will be able
to continue her commitment to co-op
learning through this fellowship.”
Neil Calvert, CEO and principal of the
College, added: “Cilla’s contribution
to the work of the College cannot be
underestimated, and it is only right that
it is being recognised by this award. Her
influence will be sadly missed in our dayto-day
working, but I am grateful that we
will be able to retain our links with her
through the honorary fellowship.”
FINANCE
Ecology CEO Paul Ellis to step down after 40 years at the building society
Ecology Building Society CEO Paul Ellis is
step down after 40 years working for the
ethical lender.
He spent the last 26 years of his time
with Ecology in the top job, making him
the longest-serving CEO in the sector.
During this time, he has overseen an
increase in assets from £18m to £226m at
the end of 2020.
Ecology says Mr Ellis leaves it in a
good position, with its strongest ever
pipeline of lending and a strong interest
in its sustainable lending solutions. It
has started the recruitment process for
a replacement, with Mr Ellis expected to
remain in post until 2022 to support the
handover process.
Mr Ellis said: “I have had the great
good fortune to work for an organisation
whose principles and reason for being I
passionately support.
“Indeed, with Ecology I have had the
opportunity to demonstrate how balance
sheet dynamics can be constructed
in order to pursue the provision of
sustainable finance. Nothing would have
been possible without our members and
wider stakeholders in the green building
community, and I am proud to have met so
many passionate people and experienced
so many exciting projects. I will be leaving
Ecology with fantastic memories to
continue the fight for a sustainable future
through other means.
Ecology board chair Steve Round
said: “I would like to thank Paul, who
will be stepping down after 40 years
of involvement with Ecology, for his
extraordinary contributions to both the
development of the society, as a member,
then director and latterly CEO as well as
the wider values-based banking, social
and environmental finance, and green
building community.
“Throughout that time his unwavering
commitment to our founding members’
vision of applying ecological principles
to finance to deliver a sustainable future
has guided the society from its early
pioneering activity to our current position
as a leading exponent of green finance.”

SEPTEMBER 2021 | 11
RETAIL
Insight expert and
chef hired to drive new
innovation at Group
The Co-op Group has announced a new
role – head of insight and research – as
part of ongoing growth to its data, digital
and loyalty team.
The move, which follows the refresh of
its membership programme and launch of
the Co-op app last year, sees Nick Meagher
(above left) move to the Group from Tesco,
where he was head of customer insight.
Mr Meagher will start next month,
reporting directly to Charlotte Lock –
director of data, digital and loyalty at
the Group – to drive the its membership
ambitions. He will take on insight
and research leadership for the
Food, Insurance, Funeralcare, Legal,
Community and Membership functions.
Mr Meagher, whose CV also includes
global insight leadership roles with
Unilever and Mondelez International,
said: “Joining the Co-op is a great
opportunity to be part of what must be
one of the original, and certainly most
enduring, purpose-led businesses.”
In another recent appointment, the
Group has hired awarding winning chef
David Llewelyn to guide the culinary
direction for its food businesses. As
executive innovation chef, he will oversee
product creation for ranges such as GRO
and Irresistible.
Mr Llewleyn has 15 years’ experience in
the industry, with his most recent in-house
role being executive development and
innovation chef at Greencore. He was won
accolades at the British Sandwich Designer
of the Year awards and was named Free
From Pasta Chef of the Year 2019.
He said: “I am so excited to have the
opportunity to join the Co-op team, and
become part of a brand that puts so much
into the quality of its food and how it
sources ingredients.”
Livestock co-op shares £30,000 surplus among members
Cornwall-based farmers’ co-op CQLP
Livestock Marketing is sharing out
£30,000 of surplus cash among its trading
members, it has announced. The sum will
be divided up according to the amount of
cattle and sheep members have marketed
through the group, based on a price per
head of species sent.
Watchdog to investigate retail co-ops’ funeral deal
The Competition and Markets Authority is
(CMA) to examine the proposed transfer
of funeral homes from Midcounties Co-op
to Central England Co-op. The proposed
deal – involving 50 funeral homes, two
vehicle logistics sites and 252 colleagues,
which make up most of Midcounties’
funeralcare business – was announced
in June.
Southern Co-op extends home delivery scheme
Southern Co-op has launched a new
same-day delivery service on the Isle
of Wight, which it says will create eight
new jobs on the island. Offering a range
of Isle of Wight produce, the service is
run in partnership with Snappy Shopper.
Southern hopes to roll out the delivery
service to the rest of the island on 13
September.
Scottish credit union to deliver Covid support fund
North Ayrshire Council has pledged
£150,000 through Kilwinning-based
1st Alliance Credit Union to support
vulnerable people who have been
financially disadvantaged as a result of the
Covid-19 pandemic. Available to families,
citizens and communities, it is hoped
the scheme will help protect people from
high-cost payday lenders.
Leeds Credit Union helps housing tenants save millions
Leeds Credit Union has delivered a social
impact worth almost £6m to residents
in West Yorkshire, a new report shows.
It works with tenants of Housing Leeds,
helping them with money management
and budgeting. Using the Housing
Associations’ Charitable Trust Wellbeing
Valuation, it is estimated that this adds up
to £.8m between 2017 and 2021.

12 | SEPTEMBER 2021
AGRICULTURE
Arla releases report on
carbon footprints of its
UK dairy farms
The collective findings of the carbon
footprints of 1,964 UK dairy farms have
been released by the farmer-owned co-op
Arla, which says the data is being used to
cut emissions from its milk production.
The findings, summarised in a new
report, A Sustainable Future for British
Dairy, show that Arla’s UK farmers are
producing milk with 1.13kg CO2e per kg of
milk, around half the global average.
It also details the most common areas of
focus to reduce emissions further, and the
emerging technologies being trialled.
The co-op says the data will help it meet
its targets of a 30% emissions reduction
per kg of milk at farm-level by 2030, a first
step on its journey to carbon net zero.
Arla farmer and board director
Arthur Fearnall said: “There are a lot
of differences in how dairy is produced
around the world. As a co-operative,
Arla farmers want to help the public
understand dairy farming better. We have
put a huge amount of time and investment
into collating the data which we will now
use to make decisions on farm.
“I hope our report is another step on that
journey to provide better food education.
We want the British public to feel the
same sense of reassurance and pride
about just how committed Arla farmers
are to producing their dairy products as
sustainably as possibly.”
According to the report, Arla’s raw milk
emissions come from six key areas:
• cow digestion (46%)
• cow feed (where and how it is produced)
(37%)
• manure handling (9%)
• energy production and usage (5%)
• emissions from peat soils (1%)
• all other areas grouped together (2%).
The report also finds that there is no one
way to farm sustainably, and farmers who
balance their resources successfully are
those with the lowest emissions.
The report highlights innovations on
trial which have Arla involvement:
• Research to identify how to quantify
and speed up carbon sequestration
(the process of carbon being taken out
of the atmosphere by trees, grass or
hedgerows), which will naturally offset
some of Arla’s emissions in the future
given 79% of Arla’s farm land is used to
grow grass
• Implementing precision slurry
spreading techniques, currently used
by 53% of UK farmers which can help
reduce air born emissions of ammonia
by between 30% and 90%
• Supporting current research efforts
across the scientific community to
provide greater clarity around the
difference in impact of methane vs CO2
due to their lifespans, and the further
consideration that needs to be given to
the cycles of biogenic methane and how
these are accounted for
• Harnessing the power of slurry as a
source of energy and fuel through
anaerobic digestors on farm, and as a
potential future fuel source for Arla’s
milk tankers
• Increasing the renewable energy
produced on farm, with 27% of Arla
farmers already producing green energy
from wind or solar
• Developing and trialling new
technologies that will continue to
enhance animal welfare on farm such
as Arla UK 360’s Happy cow measure
and cow scanner trials
Graham Wilkinson, group agriculture
director for Arla Foods, said: “We know
that to feed a growing population, we
have to produce natural, nutritious and
affordable food that is made in the most
sustainable way. Dairy can and should
be part of a sustainable diet and our
new report is a major step forward in
demonstrating just how much action is
already underway across Arla farms as
we move towards carbon net zero dairy
production.
“I’m really pleased that our farmer
owners have collated this data and
agreed to release it. All food production
creates emissions, but our farmers are
stepping up to help with the climate
and environmental crisis we face. If we
want more biodiversity, fewer emissions
through natural processes and a reduced
reliance on ultra-processed foods, then
the only answer is to support British
farmers, who already have many of the
answers, but not always the financial
resources to implement them.”
Arla says the scheme is one of the world’s
largest externally validated sets of carbon
footprint data for farms. Since launching
last year, 7,990 farms across seven
European countries have submitted data on
203 questions covering livestock numbers,
feed composition, crop production,
fertiliser use, manure handling, and use
of electricity, fuel and renewable energy.
This data has been validated by external
assessors in every market, a process which
will be repeated annually.

SEPTEMBER 2021 | 13
HEALTH
Signalise co-operative
wins BSL NHS contract
Signalise Co-op, the multi-stakeholder
platform co-op established in 2019 to
revolutionise the booking of British Sign
Language (BSL) Interpreters, has won the
CCG Contract to deliver a BSL NHS Health
interpreting service in Liverpool.
The co-op created an online booking
system designed entirely by its users,
giving deaf people choice and control over
the interpreters they use.
Signalise is co-owned and co-run by
both members of the local deaf community
and BSL/English interpreters, and any
profit made is reinvested into the co-op
and its community. Because everything
is run online, costs are kept down and
interpreters are paid fairly.
“At long last we have a co-operative
that really does listen and involve deaf
members,” says co-op member Geraldine
O’Halloran. “Our motto is ‘nothing about
us without us’ and this means Signalise
puts deaf clients at the very centre of the
service. This has never happened before
– deaf people have a real opportunity to
take back control and ensure we work
with our interpreters, as partners, to get
the service we need.”
The framework agreement between
Signalise and NHS Liverpool CCG is
part of a wider programme to improve
access to healthcare, and includes
provision for other NHS partners from
Merseyside and Cheshire to join the
arrangements in the coming year. The
new sign language services go live for
GPs in Liverpool on 1 September 2021.
High profile supporters include John
McDonnell MP and disability activist
and author Ellen Clifford. And this
summer the co-op raised £328,250 in a
community share offer – £28,000 over its
£300,000 target. Signalise was awarded
funding by the Liverpool City Region
Future Innovation Fund to develop a VRS
service (video interpreting), and they also
received a £10,000 donation from the
National Education Union (NEU).
“We are delighted to be working with
Liverpool CCG to deliver an accessible and
user led provision,” added Ms O’Halloran.
“Signalise Co-op is a user-led cooperative
of deaf community members and
local interpreters – we are equal partners
and this means we can help to develop
and deliver an accessible communication
service for local NHS medical access.
“Remember deaf people are the experts
of their own needs, we know what we
need to get the right support.”
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14 | SEPTEMBER 2021
GLOBAL UPDATES
USA
Electric co-ops face ‘outrageous’ exit fees to leave Tri-State
Rural electric co-ops fighting to leave
the Tri-State Generation and Transmission
Association so they can source cleaner
energy have been told it will cost them
billions of dollars between them in exit
fees.
Nine members of Tri-State have been
trying to find out how much it will cost
to leave the association. Under their
membership terms they are required to
buy 95% of their energy from Tri-State,
which still generates a substantial amount
of coal energy.
Last month they received the estimates
in a federal filing, submitted by Tri-State
after it was criticised by the regulator, the
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
(FERC). For two Colorado co-ops which
have been leading the exodus, United
Power and La Plata Electric Association,
these come in at $1.5bn and $449m
respectively.
Tri-State says its exit fees are based
on whichever figure is higher out of the
exiting co-op’s share of the utility’s debt,
or the present value of all the electricity
Tri-State would have sold to the co-op up
until 2050. It says its remaining members
must be left in the same financial position
they would have enjoyed if no other coops
had left.
Eric Frankowski, executive director of
green campaign group Western Clean
Energy Campaign, said the exit fees are
“barriers to leaving” for the co-ops.
“It is disappointing that it took us
multiple years to get an exit charge from
Tri-State and that they did so only under
pressure from FERC,” said La Plata CEO
Jessica Matlock, who branded the co-op’s
fee “outrageous”.
Tri-State, which supplies wholesale
electricity to co-ops in Colorado, New
Mexico, Wyoming, and Nebraska, has
also announced changes to make the exit
process more transparent. It has scrapped
a fee for co-ops asking for an exit estimate
and will no longer give its board discretion
over whether a co-op can leave.
It is also making efforts to generate more
renewable energy. Last September, it said
it would close its coal plants in Colorado
and New Mexico and build a gigawatt of
new wind and solar projects. Ray Gifford,
former chair of the Colorado PUC, and
Matt Larson, a partner at Wilkinson
Barker Knauer LLP, who are representing
La Plata in its exit bid, have welcomed
FERC’s ruling in an opinion piece for
Utility Dive website, where they argue that
the generation and transmission model
for electric co-ops has long been in need
of reform.
They wrote: “For too long, distribution
co-operatives across the country have
felt pain … as many of them ineffectually
pursue a different energy future for
their customers – a future with lower
costs, cleaner generation and increased
flexibility.”
The case comes as the wider energy
co-op movement in the US continues a
push for cleaner energy. A campaign is
being mounted by news and consultancy
sharable Shareable, the Rural Power
Coalition and activist electric co-op
members, calling for $100bn in federal
support to help the sector transition
to renewables. “Low-income memberowners
of these co-operatives face three
times the energy burden of their higherincome
urban peers,” says Shareable.
“Rural communities need the
authorisation of $100bn in appropriations
for federally insured Hardship Loans
from the Rural Utilities Service along with
conditions for loan forgiveness akin to
those offered in the CARES Act through
the Small Business Administration.
There is still reliance on coal among
electric co-ops, however. In Michigan,
Wolverine Power Cooperative – which
comprises five electric co-ops – is being
lobbied by environmental groups to break
its contract with Ohio Valley Electric
Corporation, which uses two coal plants,
or to persuade it to work more efficiently
And in Minnesota, 27 of the 28 member
co-operatives of Great River Energy have
just approved the sale of the financially
struggling Coal Creek power coal power
plant in North Dakota to wholesale
company Rainbow Energy Center – and
have agreed to purchase electricity from
it over the next ten years. One co-op,
Connexus – the largest in the group -
voted against.
Great River has said it intends to source
more wind energy; and Rainbow Energy
says it is introducing carbon capture
storage. But Margaret Levin, director of
the Minnesota chapter of clean energy
campaign group the Sierra Club, said the
deal “sets the stage for an environmental
and financial fiasco. There is no
reasonable scenario where this ends well
for consumers and our environment.”

SEPTEMBER 2021 | 15
USA
Plotting a brighter future of work: Worker-owned staffing agency
carries out research into quality jobs
A co-operative training and staffing
agency, which is expanding its operations
in San Francisco, California, has been
carrying out research to find ways to
improve job quality in an increasingly
casualised economy.
Underpinning the research by Turning
Basin Labs is its employment agency role,
operating out of the city’s Bay Area. It
says it aims to create value for progressive
businesses – including Workforce
Development Boards, restaurants and
community colleges – “by sourcing,
placing, and supporting the best, most
diverse talent”.
It also wants to help “temporary
workers seeking stability”. It currently
has 20 members, with approximately
36 people on the payroll across half a
dozen organisations, including Moxie
Bookkeeping, JVS.org, Irvine Foundation
and Martinez Adult Education. Once
employees have done 120 hours of work,
they become a member of the co-op with
voting rights.
Alongside its work in the Bay Area, it
has extended its reach as far as Minnesota,
Georgia, Oregon, and Washington, DC.
Last month, Turning Basin made a
presentation at the Horizons conference,
organised by JFF.org, a national nonprofit
that drives change in the American
workforce and education systems. It has
been working with JFF to help drive better
outcomes based on worker power, job
quality and career development.
Managing director Stephen Bediako
told the event: “We see ourselves as
very different from a traditional staffing
agency … We help our workers with
their tax filing, we provide a network of
community and support, we provide an
employment record service, we have an
emphasis on diversity and inclusion, and
learning and development.”
Mr Bediako said the co-op wants to
bring its principles to life in other areas –
which is why it is carrying out its research
to gain insights into workers’ experience
and develop their skills.
Lead researcher Danny Spitzberg said
JFF and TBL have spoken to workers
across a number of sectors about their
experience of work and found three
categories of job quality: trapped and
struggling; flexible but stuck; and happily
invested.
He said the research suggested that
job quality is defined by “approaching
some kind of economic ownership of the
business, not just a feeling, and having
some kind of career autonomy beyond
the job”. Things to avoid include policing
staff in the workplace and denying them
options for professional growth, he
added.
Mr Spitzberg said employers already
have a lot of obligations that can make
the additional task of offering job quality
a struggle – but businesses also want
committed, entrepreneurial workers.
“We are aiming above all to make it
easier for employers to take advantage of
these structures and of these benefits of
quality jobs – with more quality and more
ownership.”
In a paper it produced last year for JFF,
Quality Jobs, From the Worker Perspective,
Turning Basin said its research has also
seen it identify “employers that have
found creative ways to advance worker
power, improve job quality, and support
career development for low-wage earners,
with a particular attention to the needs of
independent contractors”.
It added: “Our aim was to determine
what’s actionable for employers
nationwide and then use the research
to develop an investment fund that can
support the growth of these workercentric
employment models.”
Marti Shaw, one of the four workerresearchers
who carried out the study,
said the project had changed her own
attitude to work. A personal trainer
who had been laid off because of the
pandemic, she had found work in an
Amazon warehouse.
She said the study meant she now
viewed work in terms of empowerment.
“For me, this work became personal,”
she said. “One participant called me
back to tell me how our interview about
‘empowerment’ and ‘ownership’ totally
changed her outlook.”
Going forward, Turning Basin Labs
wants to “reimagine career and career
progression in a dynamic way”.
It plans to “develop a framework
for better employment”, which offers
autonomy and ownership instead of
being police by employers and lacking
options.
“We will define what it means to
invest in employment models, and for
employers to invest in workers. One
former receptionist said her last company
saw her as ‘interchangeable’ and didn’t
take any interest in her as a person. In
contrast, a graphic designer told us that
her company literally invests in her as a
co-op owner and she sees a happy future
with a living wage and benefits.”

16 | SEPTEMBER 2021
USA
Wave of federal
acts could offer co-op
sector a springboard
Federal lawmakers are working on a raft
of new bills which could boost operations
in the co-op and credit union sectors.
The reforms take in a number of areas
of concern where the co-op movement
is well-placed to take action, from
rural broadband and renewable energy
provision to financial inclusion and
worker resilience.
One step welcomed by the sector is a
bill passed by the US House Committee
on Financial Services, ordering regulators
to examine barriers to the creation of new
credit unions.
The Promoting New and Diverse
Depository Institutions Act is supported
by the Credit Union National Association
(CUNA) and the National Association of
Federally-Insured Credit Unions (NAFCU).
It requires the National Credit Union
Administration and other prudential
regulators to conduct an 18-month study
examining challenges prospective new
depository institutions face. The regulators
would also be tasked with devising a plan
to encourage new financial institutions
while promoting safety and soundness.
“A challenge credit unions face in serving
underserved and unbanked communities
is the high regulatory burden to create
new or de novo credit unions” reads the
letter by CUNA’s CEO, Jim Nussle. “Prior
to the Great Recession, an average of 7.7 de
novo credit unions were created each year.
However, in the years after, and in the wake
of the implementation of Dodd-Frank, that
average decreased to the creation of just 2.2
de novo credit unions per year.”
Innovation partnerships
Meanwhile, a bipartisan bill to create new
regional hubs of innovation across the US
includes co-operatives.
Under the Regional Innovation Act, the
secretary of commerce would be directed
to create and promote regional innovation
hubs via a grant programme. The bill
also seeks to incentivise collaborative
partnerships between local governments,
colleges and universities, private
industry, non-profits, and community
organisations.
During the markup of the bill,
Congressman Jamaal Bowman (D-NY)
proposed an amendment that would
strengthen support for co-ops. The
amendment would allow co-operative
associations, co-operative development
centres, and other organisations to form
consortia and act as innovation hubs. The
hubs would provide, among other things,
co-operative technical assistance, access
to finance, start-ups training and support
for conversions to the co-operative model.
“Building community wealth is a key
goal of this bill and my amendment seeks
to reinforce that goal in a few different
ways,” said Congressman Bowman. “If
we want to democratise our economy and
create new industries in way that brings
everyone in, one of the best ways to do
so is to put employees in the driver seat
by giving them ownership and decisionmaking
stakes in the companies where
they invest their time and talent. My
amendment encourages that model as
well as co-operative business in general.
“In offering this amendment, I am
pleased to find common ground with
my colleagues across the aisle as well as
those who represent rural communities.
From rural electric co-ops to farmer cooperatives,
some of the most exciting
examples of economic democracy come
from rural parts of the country and my
amendment highlights that expertise.”
The amended bill awaits consideration
by the full US House of Representatives.
Infrastructure upgrade
Another bipartisan bill, approved by the
Senate, looks at upgrading the national
infrastructure and could provide billions
of dollars for electric co-op priorities, says
US sector body NCBA CLUSA.
The fund would support development
of broadband, electric vehicle charging
networks and clean energy technology
such as energy storage and carbon capture
and other clean energy technologies.
Electric co-ops have been identified as key
players in rolling out these innovations
into rural parts of the US.
The bill must still be taken up by the
House, which returned early from recess
on 23 August.
“Investing in our energy infrastructure
is vital to ensuring that electric cooperatives
can continue to do what they
do best: provide reliable, affordable power
to 42 million Americans,” said Louis
Finkel, NRECA’s senior vice president of
government relations. “Passage of this bill
is a great start. We’ll continue to work with

SEPTEMBER 2021 | 17
Congress to press for more co-op priorities
to be included in the bigger infrastructure
packages that lawmakers are expected to
take up later this year.”
But NCBA CLUSA warns that the $550bn
bill does not include the Flexible Financing
for Rural America Act, which would
allow co-ops to save more than $10bn
by repricing their existing Rural Utilities
Service debt at current low interest rates
without prepayment penalties. It also
does not include legislation to provide
co-ops with direct federal payments to
develop renewable energy and battery
storage projects.
Inclusion of those proposals was
hampered by the absence of tax or
agriculture sections, it says.
NRECA, the sector body for the country’s
rural electric co-ops, says will continue
to push for those two top priorities to
be included in separate infrastructure
legislation expected later this year.
Worker protections
Also working its way through the
legislature is the Emergency Economic
and Workforce System Resiliency Act,
introduced on 16 July by Representative
Adam Smith (D-Washington).
The bill will provide funding to state
and local workforce agencies to prevent
layoffs, support displaced workers, and
collaborate with employers to develop
strategies to preserve and create jobs.
“Covid-19 has significantly impacted
our workforce and left many workers
experiencing joblessness or employment
instability,” said Congressman Smith.
“These disruptions have underscored the
need for an updated workforce training
system that better prepares our workers for
changing job markets and supports them
in times of disruption. Current economic
development programmes, workforce
training programmes, and unemployment
benefits programmes are often siloed and
focus on workers already out of work.
“This bill will provide critical funding
to state and local workforce agencies to
prevent layoffs and support workers and
firms as jobs and industries encounter
transitions. Through increased resources
for training, upskilling, and piloting
innovative incumbent worker training
models, this bill will help workers
develop and stay current on the skills and
credentials necessary to maintain highquality
jobs with good wages and benefits.”
The Act would focus on prevention by
promoting a model of investing in workers
and firms prior to layoffs and sector-wide
changes in workforce needs, unlike the
current workforce system, which focuses
heavily on helping those already out
of work. As part of this, the bill creates
a five-year funding stream to state and
local workforce boards, which can be
used for investing in new programmes to
prevent layoffs, assist displaced workers,
assist firms in transitioning to employee
ownership or worker co-operative models,
and support employers in preserving
existing jobs and creating new ones.
Additional funding would also be allocated
for five-year pilot programmes for states to
implement innovative workforce systemwide
layoff aversion models.
The bill has the backing of a number
of co-operative apexes, including NCBA-
CLUSA, whose president and CEO Doug
O’Brien said: “NCBA is proud to endorse
the Emergency Economic and Workforce
Resiliency Act and appreciates the
leadership from Congressman Smith
and Senator Klobuchar (D-Minnesota).
Co-operatives are an important tool
toward sustainable and stable workforce
development and economic growth, and
we commend Rep. Smith for recognising
the value for workers, businesses and
communities. “By increasing financing
and technical assistance resources for
p The infrastructure bill could help co-ops supply EV charging points
co-operatives through the Workforce
Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA),
this legislation will not only help reduce
or avert layoffs, but also give more people
the opportunity to own and control the
businesses where they work and use,
and we look forward to working with Sen
Klobuchar and Rep Smith to advance
this legislation.”
The US Federation of Worker
Cooperatives (USFWC) said it was “proud to
support this legislation, which prioritises
workers who have been deeply impacted
by the Covid-19 pandemic by supporting
at-risk workers, employers, and industry
through strengthening state workforce
systems and industry-sector supports.”
The Democracy at Work Institute,
which was created by the US Federation of
Worker Cooperatives (USFWC) to ensure
that worker co-operative development in
economically and socially marginalised
communities is adequately supported,
effective, and strategically directed, also
supports the legislation.
Melissa Hoover, executive director
at the Institute, said: “The Emergency
Economic and Workforce Resiliency
Act can play a critical part in reducing
unemployment and creating a stronger
and more equitable foundation for the
American worker by making the tool of
worker ownership a more widely used
strategy for job quality and retention.”
The Bill is due to be introduced in the
Senate by Sen Amy Klobuchar.

18 | SEPTEMBER 2021
EUROPE
REScoop responds to EC draft state aid guidelines on green energy
The European federation of citizen energy
co-operatives (REScoop) has responded to
the European Commission’s consultation
on the draft revised Guidelines on State
aid for Environmental Protection and
Energy (CEEAG) 2014-2020.
Published in June, the draft guidelines
set out the conditions under which
state aid for energy and environmental
protection can be allowed under the
Single Market.
REScoop, which is a network of 1.900
European energy co-operatives and their
1.25 million citizens, argues the new draft
guidelines fail to align with the EU’s the
Clean Energy for All Europeans legislative
package (CEP).
“The legal framework for RECs created
by the CEP intended to remedy market
failures and create favourable policy
and legal environments so that RECs can
grow at the national level. Unfortunately,
the new draft Guidelines on State aid for
climate, environmental protection and
energy (CEEAG) do little to align with the
CEP’s approach.
“The CEEAG need to provide clear
and positive guidance, so that Member
States are able to innovate in designing
renewables support schemes that can
help jump-start community ownership
of renewables production in their energy
markets,” warns the apex.
REScoop also pointed out that the
existing 2014 Guidelines on State aid for
Environmental Protection and Energy
(EEAG) had contributed towards a
number of barriers to the development of
renewable energy co-operatives (RECs),
such as an uneven level playing field for
RECs due to an emphasis on competitive
bidding for renewables support and an
“insufficient recognition of the different
factual and legal situation of smaller
and non-commercial market actors, in
particular RECs.”
The apex adds that the draft guidelines
do not acknowledge the market failures
that prevent communities from taking
more ownership in the renewables sector
or take into account the challenges small
and non-commercial market actors face to
access market-based competitive bidding
procedures.
It also argues that the guidance should
“balance cost-efficiency and other marketbased
outcomes against other social policy
considerations such as inclusiveness and
public acceptance”.
To address these issues, REScoop
suggests, among others, dedicated
provisions on RECs acknowledging their
unique market position and challenges
as non-commercial market actors;
increased thresholds to exempt RECs
and other small renewables production
installations from having to participate
in competitive bidding procedures; clear
and concrete guidance to help Member
States integrate RECs into their support
schemes; and simpler administrative
burdens on Member States that want to
create dedicated support for RECs in their
national renewables support scheme.
The guidelines should also recognise the
social impacts on local communities from
renewable energy projects, and establish
supportive provisions on the integration
of social criteria into competitive bidding
procedures for renewables, adds REScoop.
REScoop’s reaction echoed that of the
European Community Power Coalition,
a network of over 40 associations,
which has also criticised the European
Commission for ignoring Renewable
Energy Communities in its latest draft
state aid guidelines.
The Coalition wants the draft guidelines
changed to include provisions and
references to RECs to make sure that
competition law supports the green
transition, rather than forming a barrier
to it.

SEPTEMBER 2021 | 19
NEW ZEALAND
Fonterra scraps
coal power at cheese
plant in climate drive
p Fonterra’s team at the Stirling plant
New Zealand dairy giant Fonterra has
announced plans to phase out coal use at
its Stirling plant in Otago.
The cheese plant, which plans to be
coal free by August next year, will replace
coal with wood biomass and become
Fonterra’s first 100% renewable thermal
energy site.
Fonterra plans to replicate the initiative,
as part of its ambitions to get out of coal
altogether by 2037. Eight out of its 29 sites
are still using coal.
The co-operative says that switching to
wood biomass will cut the site’s annual
emissions by 18,500 tonnes of CO2.
Fonterra general manager (operations,
Lower South Island) Richard Gray says
this is another huge decarbonisation
milestone for the co-op.
“Sustainability is at the heart of our
strategy, and this project is something
that will be good for the environment and
local community,” he said.
“As well as the site being coal-free there
are additional environmental benefits,
including a reduction in wastewater,
noise, solid waste to landfill and air
discharge emissions.
“There are also economic benefits
– the installation will contribute more
than NZ$10m into the region, along with
supporting an estimated 10 jobs in the
wood biomass industry.”
Fonterra has undertaken two other
fuel-switching projects over the past
three years at its Te Awamutu and
Brightwater sites.
Impact Conference to feature training course for execs
The International Centre for Co-operative
Management at Saint Mary’s University
in Canada is offering a new executive
education course at the Cooperative
Impact Conference, organised by US
sector body NCBA CLUSA. It will cover
all aspects of the co-operative identity,
offering a range of tools and case studies.
More information at ncbaclusa.coop
Canadian co-ops want a higher profile for the model
Poor awareness of the co-op model is
the most pressing issue for the sector,
a survey finds. Other concerns reported
to the Canadian Centre for the Study of
Cooperatives include demutualisation
risks, difficulty in accessing finance, and
poor understanding of co-ops among
leaders hired from conventional
business. uNew Economical
demutualises, p40-41
Mexican cartels using fishery co-ops to move drugs
Criminal groups in Mexico are said to be
using fishery co-operatives to transport
drugs.
A report by newspaper El Universal
revealed that local gangs are setting up fake
fishing co-operatives in the states Chiapas,
Oaxaca y Guerrero, in southern Mexico,
and use registered vessels to travel to collect
drugs from Colombia and Ecuador.
Grocery co-op network launches online retail platform
National Co+op Grocers (NCG) has teamed
up with e-commerce platform Mercato to
provide its member network of grocery
co-ops with digital capabilities, such as
online ordering and delivery. Mercato says
it is creating a customised platform where
co-op shoppers can use their member
number when purchasing items online.
Co-operative Housing Ireland creates 454 new homes
Co-operative Housing Ireland (CHI) has
created 454 homes in 2020, according to
its latest annual report. A federation of coops
with 14 affiliated societies, CHI works
with local and national government,
housebuyers, tenants and developers.
The report came as it launched its Kildare
development of 80 homes in Loughlion
Green, its largest to date.

20 | SEPTEMBER 2021
IVORY COAST
Fairtrade helps cocoa farmers lift income by 85% in four years
p Fairtrade farmers collect cocoa pods at harvest
A household income survey by Fairtrade
International found that Fairtrade
farmers in Côte d’Ivoire have significantly
boosted their income over the last four
years.
The survey collected data through
online interviews with farmers and a
survey of management staff of the farmer
co-operatives in Côte d’Ivoire.
The survey found that the average
Ivorian cocoa farmer annual household
income grew by 85%, from US$2,670
(£1,920) in 2016/17 to $4,937 (£3,552)
in 2020/21, a surge it attributes to
increased revenue from cocoa sales and
diversification through in-kind and offfarm
incomes. For example, in 2016-2017
the average farmer earned 74% of their
household income from cocoa; today that
figure is 58%.
The research also revealed that 61% of
the farmers’ households in the study were
living above the extreme poverty line,
compared to 42% based on data collected
in 2016/17 and published in 2018.
“This increase in household income
is good news for these Fairtrade farmer
households in challenging times,” said
Jon Walker, Fairtrade’s senior adviser on
cocoa. “However, far too many farmer
households are still not earning a living
income. With continued pressure on
prices, high national production and
suppressed global demand, brands and
retailers can step in and make further
progress on living incomes through
long-term contracts, stable prices and
programmatic support focusing on farm
efficiency and diversification. There is
still much more to be done.”
The report found that some co-ops
performed better than others in the
distribution of the Fairtrade Minimum
Price (FMP) differential (ranging from
100% of farmers who received the
payment for the best performing co-op, to
12% for the lowest performing. Fairtrade
says it will take action to ensure that
future payments are made in a timely
manner and farmers are more clearly
informed about it.
Another finding was that for 64.3%
of farmers, the FT premium makes up
less than 2% of their income, meaning
they have become less reliant on the
premium because the average household
income has increased. One possible
explanation is that farmers have received
more support from the premium in the
form of services and training instead of
payments.
Fairtrade concluded that diversification
strategies, premiums and trainings could
drive further improvements.
USA
Land O’Lakes reports doubled half-year
earnings as it marks centenary
US dairy co-op Land O’Lakes has reported
a 9% increase in half-year sales of US$8bn,
with net earnings up 99% to $236m.
The results came in as the co-op marked
its 100th anniversary with the unveiling
of bronze statue Rooted in Tomorrow. The
sculpture, modelled after an image of a
Land O’Lakes member and grandchild
walking the farm, “symbolises how our
co-operative is celebrating a century of
innovation and fostering relationships”,
wrote communications manager Brooke
Dillon in a blog post.
The statue is the work of Minnesota artist
Deb Zeller, the granddaughter of a former
Land O’Lakes farmer. “This opportunity
was inspired by many recollections of
working around our farm with my dad, a
proud Land O’Lakes dairy man,” said Ms
Zeller. “In farming, we say we manage so
the next generations can thrive. I see this
work telling that story — the little girl is
leading the family farm into the future,
encouraged by the strength and character
of those who raised her there.”
The co-op said its strong financial
performance “reflects strength in crop
inputs and animal nutrition and higher
pricing across the portfolio to offset rising
input and supply chain costs.
“Net sales accelerated in the second
quarter as farmers invested in their crops
and animals,” it added. “The company
continued to leverage its differentiated
brands and reported stronger performance
across all business units.”
But president and CEO Beth Ford
warned that the coming third quarter
“could be our toughest year-over-year
comparison in our historically smallest
quarter, as during 2020, Covid-19 drove
above normal retail purchasing.
“I’m proud of the team that continues
to lead strong performance, both in sales
and in voice.”

SEPTEMBER 2021 | 21
JORDAN
Co-ops put in the driving seat for decent work
Jordan plans to use co-operatives as a tool
to drive decent work and productivity in
different economic sectors in the country.
The plans are laid out in the new
national strategy developed by Jordan
Cooperative Corporation (JCC) and the
International Labour Organization (ILO).
The strategy was launched at an event
featuring prime minister Bisher Al-
Khasawneh on 3 July, the International
Day of Co-operatives.
The event was attended by other highlevel
government officials, including the
minister of agriculture Khaled Hneifat; the
director general of the Jordan Cooperative
Corporation, Abdel Fattah Al Shalabi;
and ILO deputy regional director for Arab
states, Frank Hagemann.
“There is a need to develop the
Jordanian co-operative movement, due
to its importance in contributing to the
development of local communities, and
to develop the tools and means to bring
about change towards a co-operative
movement that is more widespread and
more influential in Jordan’s society,”
said Mr Hneifat at the launch. “The ILO
considers co-operatives as critical in
advancing its mandate for social justice,
and the ILO has supported co-operative
development for 100 years.
“We have been working closely with
the co-operative movement in Jordan
to strengthen its capacity to advance
livelihood opportunities for Jordanian,
refugee, and migrant women and men,
particularly those employed in the
agricultural sector.”
While developing the strategy,
JCC engaged with a national steering
committee, which included representatives
of key ministries and co-operative experts.
The five-year strategic document aims
to achieve three outcomes: a conducive
environment for the Jordanian cooperative
movement; an efficient service
infrastructure for co-operatives and
unions; and autonomous, self-reliant cooperatives
providing efficient services to
their members.
“The strategy represents a new start for
co-operative work and the co-operative
movement in Jordan. It adopts several
outputs, the most important of which is the
existence of an enabling environment for
co-operatives and which includes revising
legislation that govern co-operative work,
in addition to establishing autonomous
and self-reliant co-operatives based on cooperative
principles and values that serve
their members,” said JCC director general
Abdel Fattah Al Shalabi.
The strategy was developed with
the technical and financial support
from the ILO in Jordan as part of under
PROSPECTS, a four-year programme led
by the government of the Netherlands, in
close collaboration with the ILO’s Global
Co-operative Unit (COOP)
“Advancing decent work opportunities
is one of the main aims of Dutch
development programming in Jordan,”
said the chargé d’affaires of the Embassy
of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, H.E.
Mr. Dolf Hogewoning.
“The launch of the national strategy
for the co-operative movement signifies a
milestone in strengthening co-operatives
to ensure decent job creation and work
across the agricultural value chain. The
Netherlands is proud to support the
Government of Jordan in the development
and implementation of this work through
the PROSPECTS partnership.”
SOUTH SUDAN
Co-op Bank reports increase in half-year profit
The Co-op Bank of South Sudan says its
net profit for the first six months of the
year has grown 2.3% to Sh7.4bn (£40m).
It says the growth comes a 20% increase
in total operating income – made up of
interest income and non-interest income
– to Sh29.2bn (£160m).
Net interest income grew by 18%, with
an 11% expansion in the loan book, while
non-interest income rose 24%. This was
supported by the bank’s Mco-op Cash
mobile wallet has given out loans valued
at around Sh5.6bn (£30m) a month.
Operating expenses rose 28% to
Sh18.7bn (£100m) on account of a 123%
growth in provisioning for loan defaults.
CEO Gideon Muriuki said the increase
in default provision was made to allow
for challenges posed to customers by
the pandemic – adding that customers
have resumed payments on most of the
restructured loans.
The bank is a joint venture between the
Co-op Bank of Kenya with the government
of South Sudan, which has just been
extended by three years.
The partners formed the Co-operative
Bank of South Sudan in 2013, with the
Kenyan banking multinational taking a
controlling 51% stake. The government
took the remaining 49%, which it will
hold in trust and later transfer to the
national co-op movement.

22 | SEPTEMBER 2021
MEET...
Om Devi Malla
Vice chair of Nepal’s co-op
federation and ICA global board
member
Om Devi Malla is a member of the legislative Parliament of Nepal,
vice-chairperson of National Cooperative Federation of Nepal,
and sits on the global board of the International Cooperative
Alliance.
HOW DID YOU GET INVOLVED IN THE
CO-OPERATIVE MOVEMENT?
My inner sense of mutual help and co-operation
pushed me to be a co-operator. In my preliminary
working life, I was involved in the private business
sector with my family. Coincidentally, I came
across the co-operative activities with my seniors
who inspired me to start a co-operative and extend
collaboration among ourselves. The co-operative
movement is a movement of people, its centre is
its members. To be involved in the co-operative is
to serve members. It is a collective way of helping
each other. I found the co-operative movement to
be a medium of a socialist society with democratic
norms and values.
WHO HAS ENCOURAGED YOUR CO-OP JOURNEY?
When I joined the co-operative movement in 1996,
my family members and friends were my supporters.
But gradually I got involved with the National
Cooperative Federation (NCF) where I met Deepak
Prakash Baskota, then chair of the federation, who
encouraged me. In 2005 I went to India to study for a
diploma in co-operative education and management
and met Savitri Singh, the director of National
Cooperative Union of India; she motivated me to
continue with the movement. Dame Pauline Green,
former president of the International Cooperative
My inner sense of mutual help and
co-operation pushed me to be a
co-operator
Alliance, is another role model who inspired me
more to be actively involved.
NEPAL HAS RECENTLY LAUNCHED A UNIVERSITY
DEGREE IN CO-OPS. HOW DID THIS COME ABOUT?
[This degree] is the result of many years of effort.
When I studied in India, the idea of a similar course
in Nepal came to mind; I started lobbying for it, but
there was no policy to back it up at the time. The
co-op movement of Nepal was also lobbying the
government and the political parties to recognise
the co-operative model for economic development;
this was achieved in the interim constitution of
Nepal 2007, and the first national co-operative
policy was announced by the government in 2012.
National Co-operative Policy explicitly says
that co-operatives will be taught at school
and university level, but we struggled to make
the formal arrangement. A team from Nepal
led by myself with the dean of management
from Tribhuvan University and others visited
universities in India where the co-op model has
been taught for a long time. It was a breakthrough
event for introducing the co-operative course in
grades 9-12 (secondary level) in Nepal; now the
NCF has made a memorandum of understanding
with the Tribhuvan University to launch an MBA in
co-ops and entrepreneurship. Next we are focusing
on the managerial level and are developing diploma
level skill-oriented academic and nonacademic
courses in collaboration with the universities.
YOU ARE ALSO AN MP. HOW DO YOU SEE THE
ROLE OF LEGISLATION IN ENABLING CO-OPS?
We have made several efforts to get co-operatives
recognised as a pillar of economic development

SEPTEMBER 2021 | 23
and as a means of attaining the goal of socialist
society in the new constitution of Nepal. As a
member of the constituent I had made personal
efforts to make this happen. Secondly, with the
then chairman of NCF and constituent assembly
member Keshav Badal, I worked on the change in
parliamentary committees. So, despite some room
for further improvement, we have put our best
effort to include many good provisions for the cooperative
promotion in the New Cooperative Act
2017 and Cooperative Regulation 2019.
For example, we put 33% mandatory reservation
for female participation board representation.
However, there are other several cross cutting
laws that need to be amended to increase the
contribution of co-ops in agri enterprise and
medium and large industries.
The lesson we have learnt for fostering an
enabling environment for co-ops is to continuously
lobby and advocate with the government and other
stakeholders.
HOW HAVE NEPALESE CO-OPS BEEN SUPPORTED
DURING COVID-19?
The Nepalese co-operative movement has tried
its very best to service our members affected by
the pandemic. During lockdown, co-operatives
delivered doorstep services. Because of the closure
of small and medium enterprises, our members
could not deposit their regular savings or repay
instalments in time. This affected cash flow and
other financial indicators, so we lobbied for the
extension of payment periods, discounted interest
and penalties, and rearranged the loan structure
through several policy measures.
WHAT IS THE SITUATION OF WOMEN IN THE
NEPALESE CO-OPERATIVE MOVEMENT?
In Nepal, women make up more than 56% of co-op
members, but hold less than 40% of the leadership
roles. Considering women’s inclusion in cooperatives,
we managed to reserve 33% of seats for
women in the different committees of co-operatives
through the Cooperative Act 2017 – but the challenge
is still there. Many co-operatives have not changed
their bylaws in line with the spirit of co-operative
act and regulation. Women co-operators should
come forward to enjoy their rights and duties. They
should be proactive. Nobody will grant them the
benefits – it should be grasped. Although the legal
environment is favourable, there is still a lack of
knowledge in a largely patriarchal society. We are
developing women empowerment programmes
to give women the tools to be independent and
empowered economically, socially and culturally.
HOW DO YOU SEE THE FUTURE OF THE CO-OP
MOVEMENT IN NEPAL?
Very bright. The co-operative movement was
initiated by the executive government order in
1956 for the support of flood-stricken people. Later
the government enacted the co-operative act and
institutionalised co-operative development. The
government started to write co-operative plans
from its 10th five-year plan. Now we have the 15th
five-year plan, again including co-op development.
The most important thing is to have co-operatives
in the constitution as one of the pillars of economic
development. This all shows the full commitment
of the government to promote co-operatives.
But we have to show our sincerity towards
maintaining co-operative principles and values,
and show our commitment in keeping good
governance in co-operatives.
To grow the sector, we must empower cooperators
and develop a transparent and healthy
co-op movement by implementing standardised
monitoring indicators. It doesn’t matter how many
members, savings and share accounts we have
unless it positively affects the living standards
and lives of co-op members. So we have to be
serious about uplifting their living standard
through different socio-economic activities while
also developing a self-sustainable co-operative
movement.
I am trying my best to increase the number of
young members and women members because
I believe young people are good ambassadors
for the change in society – and women must be
economically self-sustained.
I appeal to all national, regional and international
organisations to make a common effort for attaining
the self-sustained and good governed co-operative
movement around the globe.

24 | SEPTEMBER 2021
YOUR VIEWS
THE BRITISH FEDERATION OF YOUNG
COOPERATORS (BFYC, CO-OP NEWS,
AUGUST 2021)
I remember the BFYC – I was chair of the
Chelmsford Star Co-op Society branch for
a couple of years in the early 60s. We went
to a couple of weekend schools/meetings,
one at a co-op youth residential centre in
Sussex, the other in the Peak District.
As a result of this practical experience,
and the Co-op Union courses I took over
six or seven years, I won a scholarship to
the Co-op College at Stanford Hall in 1962.
There, as well as completing management
courses and a teaching course, I was chair
of the students’ branch of Co-operative
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.
Party. Sixty years later I am still involved
with co-op societies and the Co-op Party.
Societies today should do more to
educate their staff and members about
the co-operative model. Once they know
there is a very successful alternative to
capitalism, they will be more involved.
Co-operators have been saying that cooperation
should be taught to all school
and college students for the last 100 years.
Sadly with no response. Information
needs to be distributed to all schools and
colleges and they should cover all types of
UK co-ops not just the retail societies.
John Harrington
Via Facebook
Co-operative News, Holyoake
House, Hanover Street,
Manchester M60 0AS
letters@thenews.coop
@coopnews
Co-operative News
PAUL ELLIS STEPPING DOWN (P10)
This is a tremendous lifetime achievement
from Paul – the longest serving CEO in the
sector. Another example of sustainability
from the wonderful Ecology Building
Society!
Helen Ashley Taylor
Via Twitter
BCCM LAUNCHES TRAINING
PROGRAMMES FOR CO-OPERATIVE
LAWYERS AND ACCOUNTANTS
[Professional co-operative training
programmes] are badly needed in Ireland
too. I regularly speak to co-ops that
have been ill-advised based on advisors
treating them as either an investor
oriented firm, or a nonprofit...
Sam Toland
Via Twitter
OBITUARY:
Derek Oldham
Derek Oldham, a driving force behind the
success of Penrith Co-operative Society,
has died at the age of 92.
Mr Oldham was general manager
at the society from 1961 until 1991
and oversaw major improvements at
a number of its shops in Cumbria,
including the development of the
premises in Burrowgate, Penrith, into
a supermarket and department store.
Penrith Co-op had formed in 1890; it
merged with Scotmid Co-operative in
2013, and rebranded as the Lakes &
Dales Co-operative.
Born in Rusholme, Manchester, to
Phyllis and James Oldham, he qualified
as an accountant and worked for the cooperative
movement around Lancashire
and Yorkshire.
He married Doreen Lees, from
Longsight, in 1953 and became manager
of the Great Moor co-op, in Stockport,
and later the general manager in Penrith.
The next 30 years saw the Penrith
society enjoy great success, with Derek
overseeing developments such as the
building of new premises for the Shap
and Keswick branches, and the creation
in Penrith of a large store in Burrowgate
where there had been a series of small
shops. The society also had a number
of smaller shops and ran mobile shops
along with milk and coal rounds.
Away from his work – to which he
was highly dedicated, Mr Oldham was
a founder member of Penrith Lions Club
and twice served as its president. He
also helped to form a meningitis support
group in the Penrith area, and organised
fundraising – including through a 1981
football match between the Penrith club
and Manchester City, who were FA Cup
finalists that year, for which Penrith
Co-operative Society provided financial
support.
He was a keen Manchester City
supporter, and played table tennis,
badminton, squash and lawn tennis,
serving as chair of the Penrith Tennis
Club, of which he and Doreen were
members.
Derek Oldham is survived by his
wife Doreen, children Jill, Janine and
Jonathan, two grandchildren and two
great-grandchildren.

Co-op Women’s Voices is a series of
conversations with women, who will
share what has motivated them, what
the challenges have been, and who has
supported them along the way.
29.09.2021
l 14:00-15:00 BST
CHERYL BARROTT
Director, Co-operatives UK
13.10.2021
l 15:00-16:00 BST
DEBBIE ROBINSON
CEO, Central England Co-operative, UK
24.11.2021
l Time TBC
MIRAI CHATTERJEE
Director of the Social Security Unit at
Self-Employed Women’s Association (SEWA), India
15.12.2021
l 09.30-10.30 GMT
MELINA MORRISON
CEO, Business Council of Co-operatives and Mutuals,
Australia
bit.ly/3sHDKOg

26 | SEPTEMBER 2021
CO-OPERATIVES REACT TO
IPCC CLIMATE REPORT
by REBECCA HARVEY
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate
Change’s (IPCC) most recent assessment
report, published on 9 August, concluded
unequivocally that the current climate crisis
is caused by human activities and is already
affecting every corner of the planet’s land, air
and sea.
Produced by the world’s top scientists and
signed off by all the world’s governments,
the report concluded that climate change is
“widespread, rapid, and intensifying” and
warned that 1C of heating has already occurred,
getting perilously close to the 1.5C danger limit
agreed in the Paris climate deal. This is caused
by forest destruction, greenhouse gas emissions
from burning fossil fuels and other human
activities, the report says. Carbon dioxide levels
in the air are now at their highest point for at
least 2 million years, and the extreme heatwaves
and heavy rains that have been increasing are set
to continue.
The UN secretary-general, António Guterres,
said: “Today’s IPCC Working Group 1 Report
is a code red for humanity. The alarm bells are
deafening, and the evidence is irrefutable.”
But he said there is still hope – which lies
in working together, collaborating, and cooperating.
“The solutions are clear,” he said.
“Inclusive and green economies, prosperity,
cleaner air and better health are possible for
all if we respond to this crisis with solidarity
and courage. All nations, especially the G20
and other major emitters, need to join the netzero
emissions coalition and reinforce their
commitments with credible, concrete and
enhanced Nationally Determined Contributions
and policies before COP26 in Glasgow. We need
immediate action on energy.”
The UN Climate Change Conference of the
Parties (COP26), is taking place in Glasgow
on 1-12 November, and aims to “bring parties
together to accelerate action towards the goals
of the Paris Agreement and the UN Framework
Convention on Climate Change”.
Mr Guterres added: “There is a clear moral
and economic imperative to protect the lives
and livelihoods of those on the front lines of
the climate crisis […] We owe this to the entire
human family, especially the poorest and most
vulnerable communities and nations that are the
hardest hit despite being least responsible for
today’s climate emergency.”
This sentiment was echoed by Ariel Guarco,
president of the International Cooperative
Alliance. “Global heating is affecting every
region on Earth, with many of the changes
becoming irreversible as said the IPCC in its
report. But it says too that human actions still

SEPTEMBER 2021 | 27
The report says
that the increase in
extreme events –
including fires and
flooding – are a
result of human
activity
have ‘the potential to determine the future
course of climate’,” he said.
“As a generation, we have the duty to transform
the way we produce and consume towards
socially, economically and environmentally
sustainable models. Co-operatives work for the
sustainable development of their communities
and can help make the needed shift. In cooperatives,
the production and consumption are
done putting the people and the environment at
the centre.”
Rose Marley, chief executive of Co-operatives
UK (the business network for UK co-ops) called
the report “sobering reading”.
“It’s clear ‘business as usual’ is not a viable
response to the climate emergency,” she said.
“Global government action is needed, but we
don’t have to wait. Businesses – and indeed every
single one of us – can take action today to reduce
our carbon footprint. Many of our co-operative
members are already making changes – from the
Co-op Group developing the first compostable
plastic bag to Greencity Wholefoods trialling
deliveries by electric trike to reduce diesel
emissions. We want to see all businesses, from
PLCs to community businesses, following suit to
take action for climate change.”
Carbon dioxide levels in the air are now at
their highest point for at least two million years,
and the extreme heatwaves and heavy rains that
have been increasing are set to continue.
“AS A GENERATION, WE
HAVE THE DUTY TO
TRANSFORM THE
WAY WE PRODUCE
AND CONSUME
TOWARDS SOCIALLY,
ECONOMICALLY AND
ENVIRONMENTALLY
SUSTAINABLE MODELS”
SO WHAT DOES THE REPORT MEAN
FOR CO-OPS?
The findings of the Climate Report affect co-ops
around the world in different ways. For producer
co-ops, it is a stark reminder of the fragility of
the environment on which crops and livestock
depend; for retail co-ops, it highlights the critical
importance of their action on supply chains and
sustainability; and for energy co-ops, it shows
the enormity of the task ahead.
“Today’s report is unequivocal in its
findings, highlighting how climate change
is threatening every aspect of our lives – our
economy, our prosperity and our wellbeing,”
said Gemma Lacey, director of sustainability
and communications at Southern Co-operative.
“But if we act now, we can put things right. We
all need to step up and play our part in halving
greenhouse gas emissions by 2030, with targets
rooted in science and we must act to restore
nature and our natural environment.”
She added: “Co-operation and collaboration
will be key – now is the time for thinking
and talking about how we as individuals,
organisations and a co-operative community can
do more to work together to create a sustainable
future. By sharing our plans, progress and
solutions we can use our collective voice and
actions to help drive the wide-scale change
needed.”
In June, Southern published climate plans
that were praised as ‘ambitious’ by a collaboration
of world-leading environmental organisations,
the Science-Based Targets initiative (SBTi).
The targets include commitments to reduce
greenhouse gas emissions that fall under its
operational control (such as electricity, gas, fuel
and emissions associated with refrigeration) by
50% by 2030 from a 2019 base year and to reduce
emissions from managed trading businesses
17% over the same target period. Southern has
previously reduced its business carbon footprint
by 27% between 2012 and 2019.
This year the Co-op Group also published
ambitious targets in a 10-Point Climate Plan to
drive its goal of net-zero emissions by 2040 –
and its goal of being the first supermarket in the
world to sell fully carbon-neutral own brand food
and drink by 2025. “This is a hugely significant

28 | SEPTEMBER 2021
p Carbon dioxide
levels in the air are
now at their highest
point for at least
2 million years,
and the extreme
heatwaves and heavy
rains that have been
increasing are set to
continue
year and the world will be watching as the UK
government hosts the largest climate change
conference ever (COP-26),” said Co-op Food CEO,
Jo Whitfield, at the time. “Just as the government
must be ambitious in delivering against its own
commitments, we must all be bold and take
collective action to tackle climate change.”
Commenting on the IPCC report, Barry Clavin,
sustainability lead at the Co-op Group, said: “We
welcome [this report] as a sobering reminder of
the challenges we face but also as an indicator of
the opportunity that we still have to avoid some
of the worst impacts.
“NET ZERO WILL ONLY BE ACHIEVED IF
EVERYBODY IS ACTIVELY ENGAGED IN
CREATING AND ADOPTING CLIMATE
SOLUTIONS. COMMUNITY ENERGY IS
ESSENTIAL TO THAT ENGAGEMENT”
“As part of our new 10-Point Climate Plan
we’re committed to reducing or have committed
to reduce our total emissions as quickly as
possible and to achieve net-zero by 2040, 10
years ahead of international agreements. We’re
also committed to working co-operatively across
sectors, and with governments, NGOs and
consumers because the vast changes that are
required at pace are about ensuring that we can
protect our environment and to give current and
future generations a half-decent chance for a
fairer and more sustainable world.”
POWERING CHANGE FOR GOOD
The energy sector is a key contributor to climate
change, accounting for more than two-thirds of
global greenhouse gas emissions. Community
and co-operative energy organisations have
been key drivers in promoting and establishing
renewable energy sources, but the report shows
a long and difficult road ahead, with action
needed immediately.
“The IPCC Report shows us above all that
there is no time to waste,” said Emma Bridge,
chief executive of Community Energy England.
“We can limit global
temperature rises to 1.5
degrees, but to do that
we need to act now. As
an IPCC member state,
the UK government has
endorsed the report’s
findings, so must
now act with greatly
increased urgency and
effectiveness. Net Zero will only be achieved
if everybody is actively engaged in creating
and adopting climate solutions. Community
energy is essential to that engagement and to
local action on Net Zero. With COP26 on the
horizon, the government must actively enable
the potential of community energy by providing
the sector with real support.”
Dirk Vansintjan, president of REScoop (the
European federation of citizen energy cooperatives),
also highlighted the vital need to
act quickly. “The new ICPP report reveals once

SEPTEMBER 2021 | 29
more that the next couple of years will be crucial
if we are to address the climate crisis,” he said.
“We need to see radical changes in the way
energy is generated and used. Citizen support
will be critical in achieving that transition,
and co-operatives are the best way we know of
mobilising them.”
Mr Vansintjan added: “The climate situation
is urgent, the need for action never greater.
With the new EU directives featured in the Clean
Energy for All Europeans legislative package
(CEP), everything has been put in place for
member states to develop enabling frameworks
through which energy communities can thrive
and prosper.
“Unfortunately, the new draft guidelines on
state aid for climate, environmental protection
and energy (CEEAG) do little to align with that
approach. The CEEAG needs to provide clear
and positive guidance so that member states
are able to innovate in designing RES support
schemes that can help jump-start community
ownership of renewables production in their
energy markets.”
In the UK, Midcounties Co-operative has
introduced a range of measures to reduce its
carbon footprint in its different businesses
(including food, pharmacy, funeralcare,
childcare, and utilities) – and through its Coop
Energy business, has been a long-standing
supporter of community power.
“We support more than 100 renewable
community energy projects across the UK,
enabling our members and customers to live
low carbon and socially responsible lifestyles
through the Co-op Energy Co-op Community
Power tariff,” said Mike Pickering, co-operative
social responsibility manager at Midcounties.
“We’re also working with co-ops around the
world to make a positive difference, supporting
Fairtrade and initiatives in areas where people
are already profoundly feeling the effects of
climate change in their daily lives.”
He highlighted that while the IPCC report lays
bare the extent of the climate emergency we
face, it also shows that if we work together now
to reduce emissions we can still prevent the
worst impacts of climate change.
“This has long been a focus for co-ops, and we
know it’s a priority for our members, colleagues
and customers,” he said. “We know through
our co-operative values that by working in
partnership with others we can make an even
bigger difference.
“It is vital that today’s report acts as a wakeup
call for everyone, and at Midcounties we
stand ready to work with other co-ops across
the UK and around the world to go further
and faster in our efforts to create a sustainable
future for all.”
q Solar panels on
the roof of a German
kindergarten building:
‘Citizen support will
be critical in achieving
that transition, and
co-operatives are the
best way we know of
mobilising them’

30 | SEPTEMBER 2021
CROATIA’S COAL
PHASE-OUT
How co-ops can help with climate targets
by ANCA VOINEA
p Solar power
plant in the city of
Križevci launched
following a successful
crowdfunding
campaign led
by Green Energy
Co-operative
Credit: Green Energy
Co-operative
With Croatia setting an ambitious renewable
energy target for 2030, a local co-operative is
trying to encourage more citizens to get involved
in clean energy projects.
Set up in 2016, the Green Energy Cooperative
grew out of the United Nations Development
Programme in Croatia and acts as a support
organisation for groups looking to develop
renewable energy projects.
Through its National and Climate Plan (NECP),
Croatia has set a renewable energy target for
2030 of 36.4%, up from 28% at present.
“Our mission is to support cities and their
citizens in developing, investing, and utilising
renewable sources of energy. We do that through
a variety of projects (EU-funded) and our
services,” says Kristina Lauš, communications
manager at the Green Energy Cooperative (ZEZ).
One of the projects the co-op runs is SOL4ALL,
which aims to make it easier for Croatian citizens
to invest and install small solar PV systems in
their homes by providing them full support in
the process. The co-operative’s goal is to enable
10MW of installed solar PV capacity across the
Western Balkans, and by doing so, increase the
resilience of cities, encourage a just economic
recovery and create green jobs.
“This project has been recognised within the
Google.org Impact Challenge for Central and
Eastern Europe 2021, meaning we have won a
grant and support from Google.org to further
develop the service, particularly in terms of its
digital aspect and market development,” adds
Ms Lauš.
Other projects of the co-op include a
Crowdfunding Academy, the first integrated
crowdfunding education programme in SE
Europe. The academy has so far trained over
500 students, who learnt about how launch a
successful crowdfunding campaign. Another
project, Agrifficiency sees the Green Energy
Cooperative work with agriculture producers
and processors, providing technical support
and finance to enable them to implement green
energy projects.
So far, the Green Energy Cooperative has 20
members, who are employees, supporters and
industry experts. Part of its work also focuses on
awareness raising, given that co-operatives are
not the go-to option for most people.
“A part of our work is getting people to learn
about this and showing them by example what
can that mean in practice,” explains Ms Lauš.
The co-operative is also working on several
research and development projects, exploring
how smart meters or Blockchain technology

SEPTEMBER 2021 | 31
can be used for peer-to-peer trading or the
management of energy communities.
“All of this work is supporting the transition to
democratising the energy and allowing citizens
cheaper energy and also feeds into the policy
and EU directives that Croatia is trying to adopt,”
says Erica Svetec, project manager at the cooperative.
The Green Energy Cooperative is one of
Croatia’s ten energy co-ops, which mostly focus
on supporting groups who want to develop
renewable energy projects.
One of the main barriers preventing these
co-ops from directly participating in the joint
production, consumption, and sharing of
electricity is legislation.
The country is in the process of amending
the existing Act on Renewable Energy Sources
and High-efficiency Cogeneration, which will
enable energy communities, including co-ops,
to participate in the market. Under the draft law
an energy community is defined as a legal entity
based on voluntary and open participation,
which is controlled by members or shareholders
and exists to provide environmental, economic
or social benefits to its
members or shareholders
or local areas in which
it operates. Therefore,
the establishment of a
community is limited to
a specific area, which
could make it difficult for
co-ops to attract sufficient
members.
“This provision of
the law will initially limit the potential for the
establishment and development of the Energy
Communities and the activities of the Green
Energy Cooperative in the coming period will
be aimed at pointing out this illogicality and
advocating the legislator to mitigate or abolish
this provision,” says Ms Lauš.
Furthermore, the law requires members of
energy communities to be connected to the same
low voltage transformer station 10 (20) / 0.4 kV.
Thus, in addition to being located in the same
local government area, energy communities must
be connected to the same transformer station,
which further narrows the number of potential
members, especially for sparsely populated areas
in Croatia, explains Ms Lauš.
The bill also lacks clarifications on the required
legal form of the Energy Community, mentioning
that an energy community can be established
as a legal entity that operates on the basis of
the law governing the financial operations and
accounting of non-profit organisations.
“In order to avoid additional complications
in business, tax, and financial treatment, it is
necessary to clearly define what legal form the
Energy Community can be and how its business
is conducted,” adds Ms Lauš.
Another barrier for the sector is the fact that
most people in Croatia associate co-operatives
with forced collectivisation and the old
Communist System of the Socialist Federative
“THE GREEN ENERGY
COOPERATIVE IS ONE OF
CROATIA’S TEN ENERGY
CO-OPS”
Republic of Yugoslavia, of which Croatia was part.
“In addition to these ambiguities in the
legal definition and potentially tax and
financial treatment, there are socio-cultural
challenges. We witness a lack of awareness and
knowledge about the potential of such a form of
organisation, non-recognition of co-operatives
as an organisational form, and lack of systematic
support. Although Croatia has a rich history
when it comes to co-operatives, a certain amount
of scepticism towards this type of organisation
is present due to them being perceived as an
unwanted remnant of the socialist economy.
New Electricity Market Law is an opportunity to
change that, but it is necessary to invest effort
into the establishment of good examples of
Energy Communities, through which citizens will
be shown plastically and transparently how they
work in practice and what are all the benefits
and potential risks for their involvement,” says
Ms Lauš.
p Kristina Lauš
talking to members of
the public at a local
event

32 | SEPTEMBER 2021
How the co-op movement gave students the
POWER TO BUY
THEIR FIRST HOUSE
by MILES HADFIELD
The first student housing co-op in south-east
England has drawn on the support of the wider
movement to secure its first property – and hopes
to set an example to encourage more co-operation
in its area.
Seasalt (South-East Students Autonomously
Living Together) housing co-op, which is getting
ready for its first tenants next month, has worked
closely with Brighton & Hove Community Land
Trust (BHCLT) on the venture.
BHCLT bought the property, which will be taken
up on a seven-year lease by Seasalt which is the
fifth project in the UK to establish a co-operative
model of homes for students, collectively
managed and at affordable rents.
The student housing co-op movement
aims to offer an alternative to the private
rental market, offering lower rents and betterquality
accommodation. They are designed
to allow tenants to pool their resources to
create community-style homes where everyone
collaborates for mutual benefit. The rent paid is
only used to cover the upkeep of the house (lease,
bills, repairs, etc.) and not to enrich landlords.
Seasalt has also enjoyed advice and support
from Brighton’s community pub, the Bevy – who
said: “The Bevy as a community-owned pub is a
great example of how an area can really benefit
from collective ownership. We are excited about
working with Seasalt and helping the students
become a real part of the wider Moulsecoomb
community.”
Student housing co-ops have already enjoyed
help from the wider co-op movement. Last year,
retail co-op Heart of England invested £100,000
in a community share offer from Student Co-op
Homes (SCH) – the national body set up to grow
the student co-op housing market.
And Birmingham Student Housing Co-op was
launched in 2014 with support from the Phone
Co-op, which was an enthusiastic backer of the
movement.
The rise of student housing co-ops comes in
response to increasing difficulty in the rental
market. Brighton University lecturer Rebecca
Searle has warned: “High rents are causing
significant inequalities in education. Those
students whose families are able to support them
are able to devote considerably more time to their
studies than those who are having to work long
hours to cover their rents.”
Responsibility for maintenance and long-term
plans for the new property is shared between
the two organisations, with SEASALT having full
autonomy in the day-to-day running, membership
of the co-operative and the life of the community.
Both organisations have made commitments to
prioritising energy efficiency and environmental
sustainability in the use of the home.
Seasalt are also looking to be good neighbours:
who says it feels strongly about the importance of
community, they will allow their members to stay
for the duration of their studies plus a year after
graduation. This will give them the opportunity

SEPTEMBER 2021 | 33
to build relationships with their neighbours and
escape short-term tenancies that students and the
community around them find disruptive.
Each new member will sign up to Seasalt’s
community promise and not wanting to take up
family housing was the main driver behind the
group looking for larger properties.
Funding to buy the property was secured
through a mortgage from another key player in the
co-op economy, Ecology Building Society, and a
successful community share
offer which raised £336,200
from over 140 investors.
The plan is to buy a second
property in two to three
years, creating more homes
that will be out of private
ownership and affordable,
secure and sustainable in
the long term.
Jon Lee, who leads on Ecology Building
Society’s support for community and co-operative
housing, said: “As a longstanding supporter of
co-operative housing we were delighted to be
asked to support Brighton and Hove Community
Land Trust’s partnership with Seasalt to deliver
affordable, energy efficient and quality rental
accommodation for students.
Ecology specialises in supporting projects
which respect the environment and enable
sustainable communities and has pioneered
innovative 40-year mortgages for housing cooperatives,
helping to maintain rents at affordable
levels.
“As a member-owned mutual ourselves, it’s
fantastic to be part of this ground-breaking
project which we hope will pave the way for many
more co-operative student housing schemes
throughout the UK.”
The problems with student accommodation
are endemic of the wider issues with the housing
market in this country. Seasalt said: “As young
people, we have grown up in a country where
the impacts of the financial crash, resulting
austerity and a profit driven neoliberal system
have disproportionately impacted disadvantaged
communities, including us. The mass sell-off of
public land and unequal land ownership have
given rise to a financialised housing market with
accommodation and rent prices spiralling faster
than inflation.
“For students, these issues are only enhanced
as landlords and letting agents look to exploit our
inexperience and precarious, insecure situations,
frequently to make maximum profit for minimum
effort. This means that student accommodation
often exemplifies the worst aspects of housing in
this country. Thus, it is very difficult to break the
yearly cycle of renting with private landlords who
usually have no incentive to improve student living
conditions or tackle big issues such as the carbon
emissions and accessibility of their housing stock.
“By empowering our students to take control of
their accommodation, we have taken the first steps
towards building a fairer and more equal future
across Brighton and Hove, putting the needs of
our local community first. So, not only do we want
“AS A MEMBER-OWNED MUTUAL
OURSELVES, IT’S FANTASTIC
TO BE PART OF THIS GROUND-
BREAKING PROJECT”
to provide affordable, sustainable and democratic
solutions to housing, we also want to demonstrate
how co-ops and the co-operative economy can
help solve the big issues of our time. This could
include climate change and sustainability, wealth
and land inequality, democratising our economy
or, of course, our housing crisis. That’s how we fit
into the bigger picture, because after all, if we a
small group of students can make big change in
our community, why can’t you?”
Janet Crome, director of BHCLT, added: “We
have really enjoyed working with these inspiring
students, who have given so much passion and
time to the project, even though some of them may
not live in the house themselves. We look forward
to a long and fruitful and enjoyable partnership
with them and watching them thrive.”

34 | SEPTEMBER 2021
New bid to scale up the
COMMUNITY
PUB MODEL
by MILES HADFIELD
A group of co-operators are working on plans for
a national, community-owned pub organisation,
and are currently looking for seed funding to
begin its start-up process.
The idea behind the People’s Pub Partnership
is for a national multi-stakeholder co-op
which will raise a pool of finance through
crowdfunding to help communities buy out
struggling pubs, backed by additional local
crowdfunders.
The team – led by experienced publicans
J Mark Dodds and Damon Horrill – are currently
working on a REACH fund application; they are
looking for £35,000 in seed funding to bring it to
bring the idea to investment readiness.
Mr Dodds says his own experience in the pub
trade saw him take on a struggling London local,
the Sun and Doves, in 1995, and turn it into an
award-winning pub, but also taught him harsh
lessons about working in the tied pub sector,
with tenant landlords subject to extractive
business practices.
Between 2006 and 2008 he became involved
in the campaign to scrap the beer ties that were
driving pub tenants to the wall, with supporters
including the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA)
and the co-op movement. This led to the 2016
pub code, introduced by the government to
regulate the tied sector, but Mr Dodds says this
was ineffective –leading him to look for an
alternative solution.
This would be “a radical pub company that’s
properly fit for 21st century purpose. Think a
blend of Brewdog, the John Lewis Partnership
and Co-op Local.”
The plan would see a managed pub company
established first, probably expanding its scope of
operations to leased and tenanted and franchise.

SEPTEMBER 2021 | 35
The brief suggests one pub per community
catchment, with each individual pub business
becoming an investor in an Open Capital
partnership (LLP). Surplus would be reinvested
in purchasing or investing in more pubs.
It would follow a simple structure, with
no involvement with operations or supply of
products. The brief considers the possibility of
the purchase of the commercial property estates
of pubs like Global Mutual did last year from EI
Group – picking up 370 pubs for £350m.
“THERE ARE A LOT OF PUBS AND
THEIR COMMUNITIES THAT NEED TO
BE SAVED FROM THE RAVAGES OF
PRIVATE EQUITY GREED”
“There are a lot of pubs and their communities
that need to be saved from the ravages of private
equity greed,” said Mr Dodds. “Pub companies
are run by extractive hedge funds – they are
asset-sweating British pubs and closing them
down.”
He says this is a matter of urgency, with the
pub sector already in crisis before it was hit by
the Covid-19 pandemic.
“Every tied pub is by default run down,
knackered, in need of refurbishment – the
kitchens and heating systems often aren’t up to
scratch.
“If it needs a new boiler, the tenant can’t
afford it. If we can acquire the sites it would be
a good opportunity to get of their gas and oil
fired systems; we would carry out a low carbon
retrofit.
“And we would use only local resources and
beers – get rid of global brands unless they can
give guarantees that they operate sustainable
supply chains.”
Local involvement would come from the start,
he added, with the community deciding what
happens in the pub, but with a professional
overview from those experienced in the pub
trade, who know how to keep and sell beer and
manage the clientele.
Mr Dodds says that under the plan, each pub
would pay a national living wage and run a fair
pay ratio; sites would be run independently with
head office organising back office functions, as a
secondary co-op, for the whole network – taking
care of admin, accounting, training, branding
and marketing.
“The licensee would have secure long term job
as an employee. We’d also work to tackle the lack
of experience, skills and diversity in the industry,
and address the lack of access to market from
local brewers.
“We have crises running in parallel – affecting
community, pubs and climate. We need
something to bring them together so they can be
managed at human level people can relate to.”
But Mr Dodds says there are also barriers to
overcome within the co-op movement itself,
citing the often-heard lament that it “doesn’t cooperate
and doesn’t move”, which has in the past
hampered his efforts to establish a secondary
co-op for the sector. Meanwhile, he warns, the
existing community pub model faces potential
weaknesses – with the risk of volunteer burnout,
lack of knowledge of how to properly run a
pub, and a lack of profitability.
“There are some very good ones but if all
community pubs were invested in and properly
run they would be thriving.”
It’s an ambitious plan: Mr Dodds estimates
the venture would need to raise £500,000 per
pub – “to get any pub up and running fossil
fuel free that is”. He wants to see a “big plan,
go to whole country to crowdfund capital – a
national community share issue – along with £1
memberships. It would be a national campaign
to save Britain’s pubs.”
The pubs would be protected by an asset lock,
with a dividend paid to investors on the amount
of equity they have put in; he’d like to see 4%
paid on capital invested.
“If you want to take your money back out,
you’d give two or three months’ notice; your
shares would be sold among membership or the
company would buy them back; but there would
be no capital gains.”
A steering group – which includes experienced
co-operators Vivian Woodell and Dave Boyle – are
working on the seed fund application which will
bring the proposition to investment readiness –
paying for legal structures, branding, marketing
and Youtube videos.
“The challenge is there has been no pub co
like this before,” warns Mr Dodds. “It needs team
of people who know finance and property and
want it to happen. Pub experts should be on the
ground in the pubs.
But – in a time when national life is marked
by polarisation and social isolation, the model
would continue the aspirations of community
pubs to offer social value. Mr Dodds hopes the
move will “revive the world’s original social
network” and offer venues to “curate the national
conversation.”

36 | SEPTEMBER 2021
EXPANDING PRINCIPLE 6
CHANGING
THE RULES
by REBECCA HARVEY
‘Co-operation among Co-operatives’ is a core
co-op principle. But as society and business
types evolve, and other ‘for-purpose’ organisations
emerge, shouldn’t co-ops be open to working
more closely with other business models?
One person well placed to answer this is Lord
Victor Adebowale, a director of the Co-op Group
and chair of Social Enterprise UK (SEUK, the
national body for social enterprise), who started
his career volunteering at Newham Community
Housing Co-operative in east London.
“Very early on, co-ops seemed to me to be a
very sensible, very progressive thing,” he says.
While co-operatives trace their roots to groups
such as the Rochdale Pioneers (1845) and the
Fenwick Weavers (1761), social enterprises were
first developed as a distinct concept in the late
1970s, during attempts to steer economic criteria
from capital to social interest. Today SEUK
describes social enterprises as ‘businesses with
a social or environmental mission’.
“WE NEED TO SPEND LESS TIME
NAVAL-GAZING AND MORE
TIME HOLDING HANDS”
A 2019 report from SEUK, supported by the
Co-op Group and Nationwide Building Society,
stated there are 100,000 social enterprises in
the UK, contributing £60bn to the UK economy
and employing 2 million people. Co-operatives
UK’s Co-op Economy Report 2021 revealed the
country has over 7,000 independent cooperative
businesses, with a combined turnover of
£39.7bn, employing more than 250,000 people.
Social enterprise is the fastest growing form
of business in the UK, and the fastest growing
form of employment (four jobs for one created
in a traditional business), and they also operate
in the poorest communities, employing
black people and women in leadership positions.
He is shocked at the lack of diversity in
co-ops. “Why is the leadership of the co-op
movement so white? Diverse businesses make
better decisions and diverse leaderships reach
more people. It is unjust and unhealthy to have
a movement like this which is only led by one
monoculture. It’s inefficient and inappropriate.
We need to be brave enough to ask why this has
happened, to arrive at the correct answer, and
then we need to do something about it.”
WHAT’S IN A NAME?
Some co-operative activists are irritated by the
way phrases such as ‘social enterprise’, ‘community
businesses’, and ‘employee ownership’ are
seemingly used as synonyms for ‘co-operative’,
which could potentially devalue co-op identity.
Others view both co-ops and social enterprises
as important forms of mutual business and are
in turn irritated at the perceived exclusivity of
co-ops – which in their view could help account
for the general lack of public awareness.
“For me, the similarities between co-ops and
social enterprises are far more interesting than
the differences,” says Lord Victor. “Both are a
form of mutuality, in the philosophical sense.
They are engaged with connection, community,
culture, and sustainability – both economic
as well as environmental. Both challenge the
orthodoxy of individualism that is going to
wreck the planet; we have common calls in
that regard.”
The two models are “different forms of doing
the same thing”, he says, with that thing being a
collective effort to formulate progress.
“I’m interested in intention and process. If the
intention of a co-op is collective distribution and
ownership, then the process by which it delivers
that seems to me to make sense. Similarly,
if the intention of social enterprises is accountability,
responsibility, collective ownership and
sustainability, the process seems to match that.
“Don’t get me wrong, you do need a certain
legal frame and governance, but I think that

SEPTEMBER 2021 | 37
sometimes process can become more important
than the intention. In my view, it’s one of
the reasons why co-ops are a niche thing when
in fact we should be, and at one point were, the
popular form.”
He takes no truck with people who seek to
create separation between organisations who
have a shared basic vision. “We haven’t got time
for that. It’s not a war. It’s and/and not either/
or. It’s a case of a common view of the progressive
economy, within which commerce serves
a purpose, that we look to impress upon the
economy a set of values. The form that we
choose is largely a matter of choice. We need
to spend less time naval-gazing and more time
holding hands.”
CHANGING THE RULES
One of the reasons for his impatience is an acute
awareness of the climate emergency. “We’ve got
10 years. The worse the problem gets, the more
extreme the responses are going to need to be,”
he says. “These people who think we’ve got
some choices need to be reminded that the more
time we spend making them, the less choices
we have about what we’re going to have to do.
Business models need to change and economies
need to change, and the sustainable models that
we need to change to are staring us in the face
[...] We need a mixed economy, which is more
balanced towards social enterprises and co-ops
than it is at the moment.”
What’s holding co-ops back, he thinks,
is a tendency to be “too inward looking, too
obsessed with nomenclature and less with
purpose and intention”.
“In many other countries, particularly African
countries, co-ops are thriving. In Spain,
co-ops are sitting around the table with ministers
and policymakers. In this country? Nada.
Why? We’re too insular, too closed, too obsessed
with the rules, less obsessed with the purpose
of the rules.”
He likens the co-operative movement to a
private club more interested in its own survival
than its purpose. “The purpose of co-ops was
never to create a self perpetuating clique of
insiders, they were meant to improve communities.”
So what do we do about this? “Firstly, invest
in and appoint more people like [Co-operatives
UK CEO] Rose Marley, who can communicate,
who can express themselves, who have a strategy
which is inclusive, not exclusive, and who
have a mission and values that align with different
movements. Her appearance on Newsnight
a few weeks ago was the first time I’ve seen a
co-op leader on that programme who explains
in plain English and speaks to an audience
beyond the co-op bubble. Co-ops need to grow
presence, relevance and passion. They need
to be inclusive, not exclusive. They need to be
reaching out to other businesses.
“Secondly, take a look at the rules, because
there’s something that’s stopping people from
joining co-op particularly amongst the young,
and I suspect it’s in part the labyrinthine,
Gormenghast-type practices. Young people are
crying out for a model which is credible, because
they know the current model of our economy is
incredible, and it’s them who will suffer. Yes
there are some young people involved in co-ops
but it’s not a mass movement. We’re not making
it attractive, we’re not making it easy. It should
be the easiest thing in the world to form, work
for or join a co-op – it should be easier than falling
off a log.”
He adds: “I know people get very passionate
about co-operatives and co-op models and the
rules, and I’m seen as a bit of an outsider. But
I’ve spent a lot of time, including my formative
years, with co ops. I can just see things from
the outside, and it doesn’t look too sweet. But
as a model of commerce, co-ops have the potential
to change the way the country operates its
economy and save the planet. There aren’t many
other ideas currently running that can do that.”

38 | SEPTEMBER 2021
US CO-OPS APEX
MAKES A PUSH
FOR PRINCIPLE 6
by MILES HADFIELD
u Mike Mercer
NCBA CLUSA, the national sector body for coops
in the USA, has been exploring ways to drive
Principle 6 – co-operation among co-ops – in a
series of weekly newsletters.
The online posts include a rallying call to
the movement from one of its leading figures
in the US, Mike Mercer, who wants to see more
investment by co-operatives to help other co-ops
through start-ups and scale-ups.
Mr Mercer – former CEO of Georgia Credit
Union Affiliates who has chaired the boards of
the Credit Union National Association (CUNA),
American Association of Credit Union Leagues
and National Cooperative Bank (NCB) – says this
will help to address the difficulty co-ops have in
raising capital, often cited as a key barrier to the
growth of the movement.
“The great irony of the ‘co-operative
moment’ is that co-operators invest their
money in the corporations that they admonish
for being extractive, the government that
they regard as being too political, and the
real estate that they advocate members
should share,” he wrote.
Mr Mercer identified at a number of solutions
– from making more use of the investment
potential of co-op members to developing pools
of “patient capital”, where investors are prepared
to wait longer for returns on their money.
“Other groups like Zebras Unite and Seed
Commons are taking a systemic approach to
organising, assisting and funding for co-ops,” he
wrote. “These and other initiatives … are working
with players from across the co-op space to
design solutions to the co-op capital challenge.
“NCBA CLUSA and the National Cooperative
Bank are convening discussions soon that will
bring together some of the capital innovators
with leaders from the established co-op sectors
to explore the possibility of setting up a national
co-op capital mechanism that brings co-ops
together across the sectors to help solve for the
co-op capital challenge.”
He added: “Most co-operators believe in
but are not really investors in co-ops. Beyond
membership shares and membership fees, there
isn’t any easy way to become a financial investor
in a co-op.”
A lack of knowledge between different silos
of the co-op movement hampers this sort of
investment, he added. “What would compel
a member/leader of a food co-op, let’s say, to
become an investor in a childcare co-op? What
does a credit union exec know about a worker
co-op?”
There are other problems too. “Enabling
instruments and structures are still in the early
innovation stage. Laws and regulations could be
more helpful.”
His proposed solution is intermediation. “The
co-op system could benefit from a well-resourced
capital sourcing facility. And such a facility
should enable co-operators and the co-ops that
they guide (especially the large ones) to become
investors in new co-op development and earlystage
co-op scale-up.”

SEPTEMBER 2021 | 39
“COMMITMENT TO OPPORTUNITY,
FAIRNESS AND INCLUSIVITY
EXTENDS BEYOND THE WALLS OF
THE CREDIT UNION”
Citing Vancity CU and VSECU as credit unions
willing to invest in co-ops, Mr Mercer argued:
“The co-op system should become more of a
circular economic engine. Risk can be managed
collaboratively, and return should be generous,
paid out over time from successful co-op
operations. A co-op capital sourcing facility
would be a major evidence of co-operative
identity and a significant cross-sector exercise of
Principle 6.”
In another edition of the newsletter, Mr
Mercer reminds the movement that the Rochdale
Pioneers “learned quickly that an ecosystem of
co-operative enterprises could help members
more than simply staying focused on making
good flour”.
He argued that improved collaboration
between the co-op and credit union sectors,
would help to “address jobs, health, elder care,
childcare, housing, and the other challenges
that impact the financial wellbeing of members”.
Co-ops and credit unions should work together
to press the advantages of their reputation
“honesty providers”, he wrote.
“Commitment to opportunity, fairness and
inclusivity extends beyond the walls of the credit
union,” he added. The member begins to look
more like a person in search of a better life –
and a little less like a customer measured on a
product penetration scale.
He said NCBA CLUSA is working on an
initiative to help co-ops “identify the ways that
a nation full of honesty providers can work
together to elevate the value created for co-op
members.
“This project is now known as the Principle 6
Initiative, which you’ll hear more about in the
months ahead.”
t Zebras Unite is one
of the organisations
working to improve the
capital landscape for
co-ops

40 | SEPTEMBER 2021
Lessons to learn from the demutualisation of
ECONOMICAL MUTUAL
INSURANCE
Anca Voinea
Economical Mutual Insurance, a Canadian
mutual insurer set up 145 years ago, has
received approval from policy holders to
demutualise, a move pending approval from
the finance minister. The plans to demutualise
were approved at the third and final special
meeting on demutualisation, which was held
virtually in May. At the meeting 97% of eligible
policyholders voted in favour of proceeding with
demutualisation.
Board chair John Bowey said at the time: “This
is an important day in our 150-year history, as
we are one significant step closer to completing
the demutualisation process, which will allow
Economical to unlock our full potential as
a strong, Canadian competitor in a rapidly
changing industry.”
The decision was facilitated by Economical
Mutual’s dual class membership structure,
through which around 900 policy holders were
members with 60,000 not members.
Economical Mutual says the average
eligible mutual policyholder could receive
demutualisation benefits with an approximate
value of CA$300,000 to $430,000, while the
average eligible non-mutual policyholder
could receive demutualisation benefits with an
approximate value of $1,500 to $2,300. Another
$100m of the proceeds of demutualisation
have been allocated to fund a new charitable
foundation.
Fear of potential demutualisations exists
among other Canadian co-ops and mutuals,
according to a recent report by the Canadian
Centre for the Study of Cooperatives (CCSC).
These concerns were exacerbated by the
demutualisation of Mountain Equipment Coop
(MEC), the largest consumer cooperative in
Canada, back in 2020.
Co-op leaders surveyed by CCSC said they
regarded the demutualisation of MEC as
“a cautionary tale” which highlighted the
importance of building a board culture that
views the co-op model as a strength. They also
emphasised the importance of co-op-specific
board governance training and education.
Economical Mutual Insurance, which now
brands itself as Economical Insurance, argues
that demutualisation is an exciting opportunity
that will enable it to invest in the business
and innovate, especially by acquiring other
companies, strengthen its financial position for
long-term success and better compete with other
insurance companies.
However, Co-operatives and Mutuals Canada
(CMC), the apex representing the country’s coops
and mutuals, says the sector is more resilient
than the average business. CMC is undertaking

SEPTEMBER 2021 | 41
“CO-OPERATIVES AND MUTUALS HAVE PROVEN TO BE
MORE RESILIENT THAN THE AVERAGE BUSINESS.
a 2.5-year study on the impact of Covid-19 on the
co-op and mutual sector in Canada.
“Co-operatives and mutuals have proven to
be more resilient than the average business.
The decision by Economical Mutual Insurance
membership to demutualise and distribute its
assets goes against the intent and business
model of individuals who create co-operatives
and mutuals – and contribute to their growth,”
said John Kay, president of CMC.
Shaun Tarbuck, chief executive of the
International Cooperative and Mutual
Insurance Federation (ICMIF) also criticised
the demutualisation of Economical Mutual
Insurance, adding that there was no business
case for the move.
He said: “The demutualisation of The
Economical is a long-running saga driven by
greed of the few. This has been ongoing for
over ten years now and was started by less than
1,000 owners of the Economical who saw an
opportunity to sell the business and therefore
receive over $1m each.
Threat to values
“The unique dual membership structure that
The Economical has had since the 1920s meant
that less than 1,000 member owners control the
mutual and all the other member policyholders
have had no ownership rights. There are three
other mutuals with similar structures in Canada
but they all are firmly committed to mutuality.”
Mr Bowey insists the idea of “neighbour
helping neighbour” on which the mutual was
created 145 years ago continues to shape the
business. He said back in May: “Economical was
created 150 years ago in a small town that is now
Kitchener, Ontario, with the idea of neighbour
helping neighbour. That value still holds true
for our company and will live on in the way we
serve our customers and through the significant
impact of the charitable foundation that this
process will bring to life.”
But Mr Tarbuck expects to see class action
lawsuits post demutualisation and warns that
the mutual’s values might be lost due to the
decision to demutualise.
“There have been many challenges made to
the validity of the demutualisation, which is
why it has taken so long, and there are likely to
be class action lawsuits post demutualisation,”
he added. “There is no business reason to
demutualise, as was the case with the majority
of the demutualisations in the 1990s, it was then
and is now driven by greed of the few.
“As with most demutualisations, the company
may well be acquired within a year or two by a
larger stock company and the history of The
Economical and the communities it used to serve
will be lost or members will probably move to
another mutual or co-operative insurer.
As to the future, Mr Tarbuck believes that new
mutuals will emerge in the years to come.
“Given the mis-selling of so many mutuals in
the 1990s, there is now a significant challenge by
the regulators, media and customers should any
mutual propose to demutualise nowadays, for
example LV= in the UK.
“Thankfully, we are now seeing a trend for
the creation of new mutuals with several being
started in the last few years and also the remutualisation
of stock company insurers as we
have seen in Scandinavia recently.
“Demutualisation was a trend in the 1990s
which was proven to be driven by greed.
However, many more businesses these days
are trying to be fairer, more socially aware and
looking to be values-led organisations with a
social purpose, The Economical demutualisation
is a real outlier.”
Despite the recent demutualisations of MEC
and the Economical Mutual Insurance, the cooperative
sector remains strong in Canada, says
CMC. Co-ops represent 3.4% of the country’s
gross domestic product (GDP) and provide
almost 200,000 jobs.
q The old HQ of the
Waterloo Mutual Fire
Insurance Company,
later a part of
Economical
Facing page: A header
from Economical’s
website which sets
out the “exciting
opportunity” of
demutualisation

42 | SEPTEMBER 2021
A CLASH OF VALUES AT
LEFT-WING JOURNAL
Susan Press
Staff at an influential left-wing publication in the
US claim they were fired for trying to organise
into a workers’ co-operative.
Current Affairs, a bi-monthly magazine and
podcast, was founded in 2015 with the aim of
making left politics fun and rendering all other
magazines “both despised and obsolete and,
in the process of doing so, to help usher in a
glorious era of democratic socialism”.
Subscriptions, according to the website,
mean that “not only are you supporting a left
media institution with credibility and influence,
but you’re also giving a cheerful middle finger
to wealthy corporations, subservient state
propagandists, and joyless buzzkills across
the world!”
But angry writers and admin staff say several
leading members of their team were ‘unilaterally
fired’ at the beginning of August following
an online ‘virtual retreat’ where editor-inchief
Nathan J Robinson axed jobs to avoid an
organisational restructuring being carried out
on co-operative lines.
Five members of staff, including business
manager Allegra Silcox and managing editor
Lyta Gold, signed a joint letter, released on social
media, in which they claimed the firings were
down to plans to restructure the publication to a
co-operative model.
They claim Robinson feared his editorial
autonomy would be taken away.
“We discussed it informally, we tried piecemeal
reforms, we did a full-organisation survey and
one-on-one interviews with editors and staff
to try to find consensus on a collective vision.
Everyone’s stated goal, including Nathan’s,
was to create a democratic workplace where all
voices were equally valued. But when we finally
got around to discussing organisational models
during a Zoom meeting, Nathan insisted that
in our attempt to set shared internal values, we
were disregarding his vision for Current Affairs.
The next morning, he sent letters requesting
resignations, eliminating positions, and in some
cases offering new ‘honorary titles’ which would
have no say in governance,” reads the letter.
Managing editor Lyta Gold, formerly a close
associate and friend, expressed her discontent
on Twitter: “I’m so sad about all of this. I loved
my job. I loved the articles I edited and the
writers and artists I worked with. I loved the
podcast. I still can’t believe that Nathan tried to
take Current Affairs from us because he didn’t
want to share power.”
Robinson is no stranger to controversy. He
once worked for the Guardian as a columnist but
lost his slot following allegations of ‘fake news’
Tweets about Israel. Born in Stevenage, his
family relocated to the US when he was a small
boy and he describes himself as a ‘libertarian
socialist’.
Amid the latest furore, he has released a
statement in which he admits making ‘terrible
mistakes’ but denies blocking moves to make the
workplace more democratic.

SEPTEMBER 2021 | 43
u Nathan Robinson
speaks at the Austin
Democratic Socialists
of America in 2020
(Photo: Austin DSA)
“I have never sought a profit
from Current Affairs and never
opposed any changes to
working conditions.”
He said: “I cannot defend my recent actions
as good. Clearly they were a disaster. I felt very
stupid about asking Lyta to resign immediately
after doing it and apologised profusely and
begged her not to go.
“Current Affairs has a record of workplace
egalitarianism that I am proud of.”
He added: “All full-time staff, including myself
earn the same salary. Jobs have a high level of
autonomy. I have never sought a profit from
Current Affairs and never opposed any changes
to working conditions. I had a conflict with these
staff over editorial control. I ultimately asked
two staff members, our business manager and
admin, to resign. They declined and still work for
Current Affairs. Nobody has been fired.”
Board member Adrian Rennix, also a founding
writer for the libertarian socialist publication,
said: “Everyone at Current Affairs, including
Nathan, has long stated they wanted it to be
a democratic workplace. I can confirm that
there continued to be universal concern about
implementing functional, shared decisionmaking
procedures, and a broad interest in
worker ownership.”
Mr Rennix added: “As of the time of the
attempted firings conducted by Nathan, no
actual decisions on organisational restructuring
had been made: we were only beginning the
conversation about possible workplace models.
For all that Nathan now claims that he does not
want total control and ownership over Current
Affairs and wanted a board-owned non-profit
model for this reason, I would note that he did
not consult a single board member about these
attempted forced resignations and indeed
obstructed all our efforts to reach out to him for
conversations in advance of these actions.”
The editorial board of Current Affairs has now
stepped in, in a bid to resolve the matter, with
a month’s grace for all employees until the end
of September when it is still hoped the magazine
will resume publication. All staff will be paid
until then but no income or severance pay is
guaranteed after that.
The controversy has attracted considerable
flak from many on the left, including Pulitzer
prize-winning journalist Glenn Greenwald, a
former fan of the publication who this week
accused Robinson a of hypocrisy.
However, the 31-year-old editor-in-chief
denies the accusations that he has betrayed
the socialist principles on which Current Affairs
was founded.
“I have very serious regrets about how I
handled it all, and I have a great deal to learn
about effectively managing an organisation in
accordance with the values I hold,” he said.
“There has never been a dispute between staff
and myself over conditions, pay, benefits, hours,
etc. at Current Affairs. This is because I have
taken great pains to make sure that there are no
unfair labour practices. None have been alleged.
“I strongly dispute that I tried to prevent
Current Affairs from becoming a co-operative.
I freely admit to making poor decisions
that alienated people, but I am absolutely
committed to making sure Current Affairs
always has fair labour practices. I will
endeavour to do better than I have done and we
will be transparent and be held accountable. I
realise that many of our supporters will want
evidence that they can trust us to live up to our
values. It is my responsibility to back up my
words with actions going forward.

44 | SEPTEMBER 2021
How a co-op past helped a journey to
OLYMPIC GOLD
David J. Thompson
p Credit: creative commons
image – (Fernando Frazão/
Agência Brasil / CC BY 3.0 br)
Brought up in the Rochdale Village Co-op in
Queens, NYC, the young girl who once raced
around the Rochdale Village Community Center
has become one of the fastest Olympic hurdlers
of all time.
In 2016 at the Rio Olympics, Dalilah
Muhammad became the first American woman
ever to win a Gold Medal in the 400 meter
hurdles. She won a Gold Medal for the 400m
hurdles at the 2019 World Championships with
a world record of 52.16 seconds. Muhammad also
won Gold in the 4X400 meter relay at the same
2019 World Championships.
At the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, Muhammad won
all her heats and took silver medal at the 400m
hurdles. In the Tokyo event on 3 August, she
achieved a personal best of 51.58 seconds which
beat the existing world record and she is the
second fastest woman in the world at this event.
A few days later, on 7 August, Muhammad won
another gold being part of the US Dream Team
that won the 4×400 relay.
Muhammad was born in 1990 and grew up in
Rochdale Village, a housing co-op sponsored
by the United Housing Foundation. From a
very young age, Dalilah showed athleticism
especially in track events. After running rampant
at her High School, Muhammad won an athletic
scholarship to the University of Southern
California (USC). In 2012, Muhammad turned
professional and has continued in her winning
ways.

SEPTEMBER 2021 | 45
“THERE’S AN
AFRICAN PROVERB
THAT SAYS IT TAKES
A VILLAGE TO RAISE
A CHILD, AND IN
OUR EXPERIENCE,
THAT IS THE
ABSOLUTE TRUTH”
Muhammad is only the second female 400m
hurdler in history, after Sally Gunnell (UK), to
have won the Olympic, world titles and broken
the world record. She is the second American
Muslim woman to win an Olympic gold medal.
Her parents are Nadirah and Askia Muhammed.
Nadirah is a child protection specialist and Askia
is a Muslim Chaplain, teaching Islamic Studies
at the New York Theological Seminary. All the
family have careers in public service.
“We enjoy family and we enjoy community,”
her father, Askia Muhammad said. “There’s
an African proverb that says it takes a village
to raise a child, and in our experience, that is
the absolute truth. Because so many people
contributed to the success of Dalilah and all of
our children.”
Interviewed after her wins this year for NBC
Channel 4 New York Muhammad the track and
field athlete said: “having a big house or a lot
of money” used to motivate her to do her best.
That’s not the case any more. Muhammad says
now it’s all about giving back to her community.
“It makes me proud to be representing Queens
and be from Rochdale Village,” she said. “It’s
definitely the thing that pushes me forward to do
my very best.”
In 2016, Rochdale Village Co-op organised
a parade and event to honour her Olympic
achievements. You can see the event here on
YouTube: bit.ly/3zkDjw7
There are 5,860 apartments at Rochdale
Village in 20 buildings of 13 floors each.
Rochdale Village sits on 120 acres most of which
previously had been the Jamaica Race Track.
Nearly 25,000 people live at Rochdale Village.
When it opened in 1963, Rochdale Village
was the largest housing co-op in the world.
It is now 2nd after Co-op City in the Bronx at
16,000 apartments. It takes about three years
on the Rochdale Village waiting list before an
apartment becomes available.
The Rochdale Village Co-op web site states:
“Rochdale Village is a completely self-contained
community. Our 120 landscaped acres feature
tall shade trees, lawns, flowerbeds, sitting areas,
baseball field, basketball and tennis courts,
playgrounds and a community garden. Other
amenities include two onsite shopping malls, a
community centre and senior centre.”
p Credit: creative commons
image – (Fernando Frazão/
Agência Brasil / CC BY 3.0 br)

46 | SEPTEMBER 2021
150 years of Co-op News
Rebecca Harvey
q The first edition of
Co-operative News
On 2 September 1871, the first issue of The Cooperative
News was published, as “A Record
of Industrial, Political, Humanitarian, and
Educational Progress”.
“What is Co-operation?” its opening lines
asked. “The question which heads this article is
to appear ance so simple that many persons will
be almost inclined to call it foolish, and yet a
very little thought will show that it is much more
easy to put the question than to find a proper
reply to it…”
The publication was a long time coming and
was preceded by journals such as The Co-operator
(founded by the Manchester and Salford Society
in 1860. This was taken over by journalist Henry
Pitman who shouldered the paper’s full financial
burden and indulged his passionate opposition
to Dr Edward Jenner’s anti-smallpox vaccination
programme, to the
extent of renaming
the publication ‘The
Co-operator and Anti-
Vaccinationist’ and a
growing clamour for
the co-op movement
to produce its own
weekly newspaper.
A
‘special
conference’ discussed
the establishment
of a paper for the
movement on 5
November 1864, and
further conferences were held in 1865, 1867 and
1868 – with vocal debates disputes around such
a new publication’s name, audience, and who
should control it. But on 10 June, 1871, a meeting
of society representatives and individual
co-operators resolved that a Co-operative
Newspaper Society be set up and a board of
directors appointed.
About £400 in capital was promised, mostly
by individuals, with a quarter coming from
the Co-operative Wholesale Society (CWS).
Circulation increased from 7,000 to 15,000
within 18 months – a citation which, according
to Co-op Union Librarian and ex-News journalist
Roy Garratt, “became a worry to some in the
‘Co-operative Establishment’ who felt the News
should be controlled by the Congress Central
Board (later the Co-op Union Central Board, later
Co-operatives UK) or CWS”.
But the society’s chair, Thomas Hayes, laid the
ground rules for the paper’s future development
when he told the 1873 Congress in no uncertain
terms that “the board of the News believes that
its perfect independence should be preserved
and that it should be above the suspicion of
being controlled by an organisation other than
its own.”
Printing of the publication was initially
carried out by the North of England Printing
Society — established in 1869 at Balloon Street,
Manchester, to serve the growing number of
retail societies and CWS. By 1919, the Balloon
Street registered office of the society had added

SEPTEMBER 2021 | 47
a Manchester works, a London branch and a
Newcastle branch and became known as the Cooperative
Printing Society.
The Co-operative Newspaper Society (CNS)
bought its own printing machinery in 1887, built
new premises at 22 Long Millgate, Manchester
in 1895 and launched new publications Millgate
Monthly, Our Circle, Women’s Outlook, Cooperative
Youth and Sunshine Stories (as well
as Reynolds News/Sunday Citizen newspapers)
– recognising the importance of engaging with
young people and women.
The CNS became the National Co-operative
Publishing Society, which in turn was renamed
Co-operative Press in 1934, and built up an
envied reputation as a printer and publisher
to the co-operative, labour and trade union
movements. The Co-operative Press became
the country’s largest trade union printers, and
broadened the base of the Co-operative Press
outside the movement was effected through two
companies — Trafford Press Limited and Trafford
Advertising Limited – but the increasing costs
and technological changed led to the decision
to exit the printing sector in 1999, sell off the
society’s remaining Old Trafford print works
(having previously divested its Birmingham
and Newcastle premises), and move the head
office to Holyoake House, a stone’s throw from
its original base in Balloon Street, and current
home to offices for a family of co-ops including
Co-operatives UK, the Co-operative College, the
Co-operative Heritage Trust, the Association of
British Credit Unions, the Phone Co-op and Third
Sector Accountancy.
Co-operative News has had just 15 editors in
its 150-year existence including a father and
son who held the post for 46 of the publication’s
first 50 years – and just two women, Lily Howe
and myself. They are: R Bailey Walker(1871);
John Collier Farn (1871-1875); Samuel Bamford
(1875-1898); William Bamford (1898-1921); James
A Flanagan (1921-1937); William Richardson
(later Sir William, 1937-1942); Fred Tootill (1942-
1955); David Boydell (1955); Frank Bruckshaw (
1955-1972); Lily Howe (1972-1984); David Short
(1984-1986); Geoff Whiteley (1984-1999); David
Bowman (1999-2012); Anthony Murray (2012-
2018); and Rebecca Harvey (2018- present).
Between us we have witnessed huge changes
within the co-operative movement, both in
“Co-operative News has
had just 15 editors in its
150-year existence”
the UK and internationally, as well as wider
changes in technology, communication and the
role of the media. As society and co-operatives
have evolved, so too has Co-op News, in scale,
scope and in its fundamental role of connecting
co-operatives, championing their successes
and challenging their misdemeanors. We
have a growing number of organisational and
individual members around the world. Last
year, our website was visited by someone in
every single country in the world (except three).
We are adapting and developing while staying
respectful of our - and the movement’s past.
Thank you for coming on this journey with
us. We are looking forward to seeing where we
go next.

48 | SEPTEMBER 2021
REVIEWS
Taking back the idea of community
Tomorrow’s
Communities: Lessons
for community-based
transformation in the
age of global crises,
ed Henry Tam (Bristol
University Press, 2021,
£26.99)
Gloucester Services,
a case study for how
community-based
working can deliver
successful outcomes
From the explosion of mutual aid in response
to Covid-19, to growing interest in Preston-style
community wealth building, co-operative ideas
have enjoyed a higher profile in recent years, and
in compiling this book, Henry Tam hopes to show
how these ideas can save our democracy from the
reactionary populism of recent years.
Setting out to find policies and practices which
can “protect our collective self governance from
abuse and manipulation”, he turns to a number of
figures familiar to co-operators – such as Ed Mayo,
Pat Conaty, Dave Boyle and John Restakis – to
explore ways to build community resilience.
Tam warns that political calls to build community
can lead to conservative, oppressive policy, and
looks for a progressive way forward “away from
outmoded thinking and practices” – doing so “not at
the expense of close, committed relationships, but
on the basis of building such relationships through
mutual respect and thoughtful co-operation”.
“Communities must become active agents
in shaping and pursuing their priorities in
collaboration with their members, other
communities and public institutions,” he says.
How do we make this happen? In their chapter, Ed
Mayo and Pat Conaty argue for a “virtuous circle” of
community economic development, which brings
positive social and economic outcomes – and builds
confidence, curing communities of a condition of
“learned helplessness”; they cite examples from
the USA where community initiatives have brought
billions of dollars of investment into struggling
areas, using models such as the community land
trust. In the UK, they point to pioneering initiatives
like Coin Street Community Builders, given land to
develop by the Greater London Council in the 1980s
in response to protests against intrusive top-down
redevelopment; the area now has artists’ studios,
street markets and co-op housing.
This is a progressive take on the notion of
community and Mayo and Conaty set out a number
of practical models for achieving it.
In a chapter co-written with Philip Ross,
Conaty addresses another problem faced by such
communities: the lack of work opportunities and
the rise of the exploitative gig economy. Their
solutions include encouraging the growth of
worker co-ops, drawing on examples such as Smart
in Europe and Green Taxis in the US.
There are also instructive looks at how cooperative,
community-led models can build
resilience through education (Marjorie Mayo),
community organising (Steve Wyler) and healthcare
(John Restakis) alongside studies of how the model
can help drive food justice (Alice Willatt, Rosalind
Beadle and Mary Brydon- Miller) and sustainability
(Alice Warburton).
Dave Boyle looks at how developing methods
of co-production can rethink public services
such as healthcare for the better. Noting that the
UK’s postwar welfare and health reforms which
spring from the Beveridge Report have done
little to narrow inequality, he looks at how GP
practices have managed to improve outcomes
by collaborating with communities on health
and wellbeing projects such as allotments. He
explores ways to make such project work without
them falling under the sway of the government
departments or other organisations which
fund them.
With a political landscape no less polarised
than it was during the upheavals of 2016, and the
pandemic adding to the pressures on society that
have been building since the 2008 crash, this book
offers valuable perspectives on how co-operativism
and allied movements can point the way forward.
And if you need to confront any naysayers, there
are some striking case studies to demonstrate how
it can work in practice, such as the Gloucester
motorway services, opened by a community
partnership on the M5 in 2014, providing training
to 240 long-term unemployed locals, generating
wealth that is channelled into local regeneration,
helping biodiversity, offering a meeting space, and
providing a retail outlet for local produce.
Travellers who take a pit-stop at this pleasant
spot should take note that it offers some useful
pointers for a journey to a better tomorrow.

50 | SEPTEMBER 2021
DIARY
The Covid-19 crisis had led to the
postponement of many co-operative
events. However, a number of
co-operatives and apex bodies
are holding online webinars and
meetings.
We listed some of these below.
If you would like to add any
postponements – or let us know
of any virtual events taking place
instead, please email
events@thenews.coop
UKSCS Annual Conference
9-11 September 2021
The UKSCS is inviting submissions
for presentations, papers, panels and
practical activities that focus on intercooperation
between co-operators and
co-operatives. Proposals can be oriented
towards generating debates and engaging
members, facilitating experiential
learning activities and/or reporting
the findings of research studies. A full
programme will be made available soon.
bit.ly/3ybvS8R
Decent Work & Democracy – Union
Co-ops
1-2 October 2021
Union-coops:uk’s first conference will be
held at Wortley Hall, near Sheffield, ‘the
worker’s stately home’. The conference
will look at, among others, how to
‘build back better’ after Covid-19, the gig
economy, what union activists can do
to fight for decent work and democracy
and how to promote democracy in the
workplace. Speakers include Cheryl
Barrott (Co-op Party), Miguel Martinez-
Lucio (University of Manchester), Ian
Manborde (Equality & Diversity Organiser
– Equity), Michael Peck (1worker1vote –
USA), Ian Wilson (CASE), Sion Whellens
(Workers Co-op Council), and Sarah
Woolley (Gen Sec BFAWU).
bit.ly/388xbuS
Cooperative IMPACT Conference
4-8 October 2021
This year’s Cooperative Impact Conference
will be a hybrid event - featuring two
days of in-person programming at the
National Press Club while still preserving
the accessibility and convenience of a
virtual event. Organised by the National
Cooperative Business Association in
the USA, the conference is themed
“Embracing Our Cooperative Identity” and
will challenge co-operators everywhere
to deepen their understanding of the
values and principles that truly make cooperative
enterprise unique.
bit.ly/38bPrDB
Co-operative Party Annual Conference
and AGM
9-10 October 2021
The Co-operative Party’s annual
conference will be held virtually again
this year. Delegates will hear from the
Party’s chair, Jim McMahon MP, as well as
a series of leading Labour/Co‐op keynote
speakers and players from co‐operative
and socialist movements. Reinvigorating
the high streets and social care are two
of the issues that will be addressed at the
conference, which will also look at the
Party’s recent work and campaigns. More
details will be available at a later date.
bit.ly/3B8ytT2
International Credit Union Day
21 October
Celebrated on the third Thursday of
October since 1948, the International
Credit Union Day aims to raise the
profile of credit unions. The day is an
opportunity for the sector to reflect upon
the credit union movement’s history,
promote its achievements, and share
member experiences. This year’s theme
is “Building financial health for a brighter
tomorrow.” Official ICU Day 2021 posters
and logos will be made available soon
by the World Council of Credit Unions
and Credit Union National Association
(CUNA).
bit.ly/388JA1X
World Cooperative Congress
1-3 December 2021
The 33rd World Cooperative Congress
will enable the cooperative movement
to explore its identity to build a more
secure future. Using the current global
crisis as a framework, discussions will
aim to deepen the co-operative identity
by examining its values, strengthening
its actions, committing to its principles
and living its achievements. This hybrid
event will be held in person in Seoul, the
Republic of Korea and online.
icaworldcoopcongress.coop

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