Co-op News March 2023

MARCH 2023 

MOBILISING 

SUPPORT FOR 

TURKEY AND SYRIA 

Plus … A Fair Future for all: 

coverage of the Future Coops and 

UKSCS conferences ... Fairtrade 

Fortnight highlights climate 

crises ... Securing fair livelihoods 

for waste pickers ... Equality: 

US Black History Month and 

International Women’s Day 

ISSN 0009-9821 

770009 982010 

01 

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A fair future for all 

CONNECTING, CHAMPIONING AND 

CHALLENGING THE GLOBAL CO-OP 

MOVEMENT SINCE 1871 

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Rebecca Harvey | rebecca@thenews.coop 

INTERNATIONAL EDITOR 

Anca Voinea | anca@thenews.coop 

DIGITAL EDITOR 

Miles Hadfield | miles@thenews.coop 

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Alice Toomer-McAlpine 

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Phil Hartwell; Gillian Lonergan; Nick 

Milton; Beverley Perkins; Shaz 

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Secretary: Richard Bickle 

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statement is to connect, champion 

and challenge the global co-operative 

movement, through fair and objective 

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CBP013875 

The Rochdale Society of Equitable Pioneers knew the value of fairness. 

Equity – one of the six co-operative values – is the quality of being fair and 

impartial; it’s treating everyone fairly and in the same way. It’s one of the 

defining f eatures o f c o-operatives, a nd c an b e d emonstrated t hough a n 

organisation’s governance, membership, prices and more. Co-ops make 

things fairer for people and communities through their business models, 

they join in celebrations of fairness, and challenge that which is unfair. 

The idea of ‘fairness’ threads through this issue. Fairtrade Fortnight runs 

from 27 February to 12 March and highlights the unfairness of the 

impact of climate crises on producers (p32-34). We reflect on Black 

History Month, which in the USA is celebrated in February, and how ‘co-op 

history is Black history’ (p35). And ahead of International Women’s 

Day (8 March) we explore the UN’s theme for the event (DIGITALL: 

innovation and technology for gender equality) and how co-ops are 

involved in the fight for digital fairness for women (p36-37). 

Fairness was a theme at the Future Co-ops 2023 conference too, which 

looked at how co-ops and communities can address the lack of access to 

basic needs – including housing, food, energy, secure employment and 

digital access – in a fair, equitable, dignified and culturally appropriate way 

(p26-28). And from South America, we hear how waste pickers are 

securing better, fairer livelihoods through co-operative organising 

(p38-40). 

We also have an interview with Andrew Bibby, whose new book, 

These Houses Are Ours, explores a legacy of co-operative housing 

development between 1870 and 1919, particularly ‘co-partnership 

tenant societies’, which were established to provide good homes at fair 

and affordable rents in tenant-run communities (p48-49). 

Co-operatives are born of need, and rally in times of desperation 

and catastrophic unfairness. On 7 February, parts of Southern 

Turkey and Northern Syria were devastated by 7.8 and 7.7 magnitude 

earthquakes. On p12-13 we hear from the co-ops responding to this 

event, and receive updates about practical actions being undertaken by 

organisations around the world. Our thoughts are with all the people, 

co-ops and communities that have been hit by this tragedy. 

REBECCA HARVEY - EXECUTIVE EDITOR 

Co-operative News is printed using vegetable oil-based inks 

on 80% recycled paper (with 60% from post-consumer waste) 

with the remaining 20% produced from FSC or PEFC certified 

sources. It is made in a totally chlorine free process. 

MARCH 2023 | 3

ISSN 0009-9821 

9 770009 982010 

01 

THIS ISSUE 

CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: 

The Friends of the Joiners Arms are among 

the groups supported by community 

shares (p5); The co-ops supporting 

emergency appeals following February’s 

earthquake in Turkey and Syria (p12-13); 

Circular economy strategies in Quebec 

(p46-47); A co-op solution to securing 

better livelihoods for waste pickers 

(p38-40); John Brodie, who celebrates 30 

years at Scotmid (p22-23) 

MARCH 2023 

MOBILISING 

SUPPORT FOR 


Plus … A Fair Future for all: 

coverage of the Future Coops and 

UKSCS conferences ... Fairtrade 

Fortnight highlights climate 

crises ... Securing fair livelihoods 

for waste pickers ... Equality: 

US Black History Month and 

International Women’s Day 

www.thenews.coop 

£4.20 

COVER: Turkey and Syria 

The International Federation of Red 

Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) 

launched an appeal following the 

earthquakes in Southern Turkey and 

Northern Syria. Co-ops around the world 

have rallied to support those affected. 

(Image: Turkish Red Crescent) 

Read more: p12-13 

22-23 MEET: JOHN BRODIE 

CEO of Scotmid and chair of the Scottish 

Retail Consortium 

25 OPINION: JEEVAN JONES 

Consumer co-ops: Rethinking economic 

value and communication 

26-28 FUTURE CO-OPS CONFERENCE From 

crisis to co-operation: changemakers in 

action 

29-31 UKSCS CONFERENCE 

Delegates discuss the role of consumer 

co-ops in shaping a better world 

32-34 FAIRTRADE FORTNIGHT 

Climate crisis: ‘Buy Fairtrade to protect the 

world’s most popular foods’ 

35 BLACK HISTORY MONTH 

US co-ops celebrate the achievements 

and contributions of African Americans 

36-37 INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY 

Taking the theme ‘DigitALL: innovation 

and technology for gender equality 

38-40 A SOLUTION FOR WASTE PICKERS 

‘Despite the crucial role they play, waste 

pickers receive the lowest payments in 

the value chain’ 

42-43 INTERVIEW: CLAIRE DALTON 

Co-operatives UK’s new secretary on her 

role at the UK’s apex body 

44-45 THE CIRCULAR ECONOMY IN QUEBEC 

Looking at ways co-ops ‘can help embed 

circular economy practices’ 

46-47 UN’S 2030 AGENDA 

Co-ops and corporations – is there room 

for more collaboration? 

48-49 THESE HOUSES ARE OURS Interview 

with Andrew Bibby: Learning from the 

legacy of co-operative housing 

REGULARS 

5-11 UK news 

12-21 Global news 

24 Letters 

50 Events 

4 | MARCH 2023

NEWS 

DEVELOPMENT 

£2.2m fund launched to support community businesses across the UK 

Co-operatives UK is to deliver a £2.2m 

investment in the community business 

sector, targeted at harder-to-reach and 

deprived areas. 

The funding has been granted by social 

investment body Access to help people 

use community shares to save local assets 

or set up vital services. Co-operative 

and Community Finance (CCF) and 

Community Shares ICOF will also help to 

deliver the scheme. 

The goal is to help communities access 

business development support, grants, 

equity and loan finance. The scheme will 

be administered through the Community 

Shares Booster Fund, managed by 

Co-operatives UK. Priorities include 

expanding the reach of community shares 

to communities which are more diverse, 

younger or marginalised. 

John Dawson, head of market 

development at Co-operatives UK’s 

Community Shares Unit, said: “Through 

this new investment we will be working 

closely with our partners CCF and 

Community Shares ICOF who will also 

be a match investor and will offer the 

option to underwrite individuals buying 

community shares over a 12-month period. 

CCF will also offer loan finance to Booster 

applicants if this is needed.” 

According to the CSU’s 2023 report, 

to date 130,000 people have invested 

£210m in 539 community businesses and 

organisations through 709 share offers. 

Examples include Heptonstall 

Community Assets, formed to save a 

village post office in West Yorkshire. Local 

resident Lindsay Smith said: “You realise 

what a lifeline it is. It functions very 

centrally in the little community that is 

Heptonstall. A shop facility like that is key 

for the future of the community.” 

The Ultimate Picture Palace in Oxford, 

a much-loved independent cinema, 

received support through the Booster 

Fund to launch a share offer which, by 

keeping share prices low, meant a wider 

range of people could invest. 

Former committee member Pat O’Shea 

said: “This cinema is an institution. It’s a 

facility people love and it’s important to 

the community. The minimum investment 

was £50 – lowered to £30 for young 

p Friends of the Joiners Arms, who saved their LGBTQ space (Image: Queer Garden) 

people and local residents. It meant lots 

of people put in small amounts, which is 

why we’ve got so many members; it’s a 

broad, inclusive base.” 

And the Joiners Arms pub, an LGBTQ 

space in Tower Hamlets, East London, 

was saved by regulars after it was closed 

for redevelopment. 

Amy Roberts, chair of Friends of 

The Joiners Arms, said: “We started a 

campaign shouting loudly about how 

important LGBTQ spaces are – and how 

losing these spaces is detrimental to a 

marginalised community. The Joiners 

Arms wasn’t just a pub, it was a vital hub 

for the LGBTQ community.” 

CCF’s business development manager, 

Tim Coomer, said: “We are keen that the 

combination of development support and 

investment will unlock the potential for 

The Sound Pound consortium of Greater 

Manchester credit unions has launched a 

new loan product with the backing of the 

regional combined authority. 

It says the Sound Pound loan provides 

a “safe solution’ for local people who are 

experiencing squeezed finances as the 

cost of living soars. The loan is available 

for any amount between £200 and £1,000, 

for anyone struggling financially, who is 

new to credit unions. 

Sheenagh Young, chair of Sound Pound 

and CEO of South Manchester Credit 

Union, said: “There are many people 

disadvantaged and under-represented 

communities to take ownership of local 

assets and control of enterprises that 

make their lives better.” 

Tim Davies-Pugh, CEO at Power to 

Change, added: “We know that when 

buildings and services are owned and 

run by the community they serve we see 

the creation of community wealth with 

resources, jobs and money staying local, 

helping to grow and build economically 

resilient places. 

“Power to Change has always 

recognised the potential and impact of 

community shares and what they can do 

for communities. We are delighted Access 

have also recognised the value of the 

programme – this additional investment 

will allow Booster to unlock power in 

more communities.” 

Sound Pound CUs launch cost of living loan 

living in our communities who usually get 

by okay but are now experiencing a real 

squeeze and are unsure where to turn. 

“Our new Sound Pound loan is our 

response to help local people get back on 

track and avoid any long term impacts of 

inflation and rising household costs.” 

Regional mayor Andy Burnham said: 

“Credit unions have a key role to play 

in the financial crisis. I’m delighted to 

see them come together across Greater 

Manchester to provide a local and ethical 

alternative to the high-interest payday 

loan companies and loan sharks.” 


EQUALITY 

Bright Future Co-op reappoints Causeway to run modern slavery programme 

Bright Future Co-op, formed in 2020 to 

help fast-track survivors of modern slavery 

into stable, high quality employment, 

has reappointed anti-slavery charity 

Causeway to run its National Matching 

Service for three more years. 

In the UK, official estimates say there 

are 10,000 people in forced labour – in 

places such as car washes, brothels, nail 

bars and restaurants – although many 

campaigners say the figure is much higher. 

To help tackle the crisis, the original 

Bright Future scheme was created by 

Causeway and Co-op Group in 2017 as a 

way of supporting survivors of modern 

slavery through a paid work experience 

scheme with the chance of permanent 

employment. It was designed to help 

vulnerable people avoid the barriers that 

made them nervous about re-joining 

the workforce, such as lengthy job 

applications or formal interviews. 

Bright Future then developed into an 

independent co-operative in 2020 and 

appointed Causeway to run its National 

Matching System (NMS) which helps place 

candidates with prospective employers. 

The co-op has 33 members. These 

include 20 organisations in the 

programme who refer their service 

users, and 13 business members offering 

employment opportunities, from several 

sectors. Businesses taking part include the 

Co-op Group, Midcounties Co-op, Currys, 

Pilgrims, Balfour Beatty and Morrisons. 

Bright Future’s board is made up of 

volunteers from some of these members. 

To date 77 people have found stable work 

through Bright Future. An open tender 

that ended on 23 January saw Causeway 

reappointed to run the NMS at the heart 

of the co-op’s operations until April 2026. 

Speaking on behalf of Bright Future 

Co-op, Alison Scowen said: “The quality 

of submissions received to run the NMS 

was high. It was encouraging to speak 

to a number of organisations who really 

understood what we’re trying to achieve 

and wanted to get involved. We’d like 

to thank everyone who took the time to 

submit a proposal. 

“Over the coming years we’ll be 

looking to deliver more placements, more 

efficiently and for more survivors. We’ll 

also look to encourage survivors who 

have completed a Bright Future Co-op 

placement to get involved in the running 

of the co-operative.” 

Pete Westall, chair of Bright Future, 

added: “The huge impact this co-operative 

has had with facilitating employment for 

survivors of modern slavery has been built 

on the engagement of businesses; referral 

partners, the survivors themselves, and 

importantly with the NMS. 

“Causeway have provided this service to 

Bright Future Co-op since June 2020. I am 

delighted that they have been re-appointed, 

following a robust and thorough open 

tender process, to continue to provide this 

service for the next three years. The board 

looks forward to working with them, and 

all our members, to continue to provide 

help and opportunity to give those in need 

the chance to rebuild their lives.” 

Causeway’s Bright Future Co-op 

manager Mischa Macaskill said: “I am 

so thankful that the board has trusted 

Causeway and believes in our vision for 

the co-op. We are extremely proud of 

the 77 placements we have supported 

candidates through and are looking 

forward to the growth of the programme. 

“This is a very exciting time as we 

continue to diversify the roles on offer 

to candidates. As more businesses get 

involved in becoming Bright Future 

employers it means that survivors get 

more choices in their accessible route to 

employment.” 

Meanwhile, all seven Labour/Co-op 

Party police and crime commissioners in 

England and Wales have written to home 

secretary Suella Braverman, calling on her 

to appoint an independent anti-slavery 

commissioner. 

In the letter, Alun Michael, Emily 

Spurrell, Jeff Cuthbert, Kim McGuinness, 

Andy Dunbobbin, Joy Allen and Alan 

Billings say the post should be filled to 

help police forces and authorities around 

the country tackle modern slavery. 

“Government is dragging its feet,” 

wrote Spurrell, PCC for Merseyside, in a 

post on the Party website. “Despite an 

obligation under the Modern Slavery Act ... 

the home secretary has left the post vacant 

since April 2022. 

“It is dismaying and frustrating that 

Suella Braverman has refused to appoint 

to the post, and there seems precious little 

movement in terms of recruitment.” 

Spurrell said police had made great 

strides in protecting survivors and 

investigating crimes, but a dedicated 

commissioner would aid further 

prevention, detection, investigation 

and prosecution. “It is almost as if the 

government is backpedalling on its 

previous ironclad commitment to tackle 

modern slavery,” she added. 


RETAIL 

Co-op Foundation runs second round of its climate fund 

The Co-op Foundation ran the second 

round of its £3.5m Carbon Innovation 

Fund (CIF) in February. 

As it selects applicants, the Foundation – 

the charitable arm of the Co-op Group, 

a partner on the fund – will focus on 

projects to reduce reliance on soy-based 

animal feed and synthetic fertilisers in 

agriculture. 

Grants of £75,000 to £200,000 are 

available to organisations through the 

fund, which the Foundation says builds 

on its plan to create more sustainable 

communities. Between five and 10 grants 

are expected to be awarded. 

Round one of the fund saw the 

partnership give £1.4m to organisations 

working to decrease carbon emissions 

from the food, farming and aquaculture 

industries. 

CIF is the largest partnership of its 

kind between the Group and its charity. 

It is funded by donations from the sale of 

compostable carrier bags in the Group’s 

stores, and the Foundation’s own funds. 

Nick Crofts, CEO of the Co-op 

Foundation, said: “The Carbon Innovation 

Fund is our largest ever partnership with 

Co-op and it truly embodies our shared 

commitment of co-operating for a fairer 

world. This second round of funding will 

help build more sustainable communities 

by reducing the environmental impact of 

the soy industry and synthetic fertilisers.” 

Adele Balmforth, director of propositions 

at the Group, said: “Collaboration is key to 

unlocking the carbon reductions that are 

needed to protect our planet, which is why 

the Carbon Innovation Fund is so integral 

in our ambitious pathway to Net Zero.” 

Meanwhile, the Group is scrapping 

best-before dates on more than 150 lines 

of fresh fruit in a bid to cut food waste and 

help shoppers with their grocery budgets. 

The change affects all the retailer’s fresh 

produce, with the exception of a small 

number of the more perishable products, 

or where it can be harder to use visual 

cues and judgment to assess the condition 

of a product. 

Product life testing by Wrap – a 

climate action NGO which works with 

governments and businesses around the 

world to improve the use of resources – 

shows that fruit and veg can be good to 

eat well beyond the best before date when 

stored in optimal conditions. 

The average family throws out an 

estimated £700 worth of good food a year, 

says Wrap, and households account for 

around 70% of UK food waste. It is hoped 

the removal of best-before dates can 

help tackle this problem – alongside onpack 

guidance to highlight the optimum 

storage conditions, another measure 

being introduced by the Group. 

Adele Balmforth, propositions director at 

the Group, said: “As we face into a climate, 

environmental and cost-of-living crisis we 

are committed to helping our customers 

cut food waste and save money.” 

Co-op Group will contest £450m legal claim over Somerfiel sale 

The Co-op Group says it will contest a 

£450m legal claim from the liquidators of 

The Food Retailer Operations Ltd, relating 

to the Somerfield chain of supermarkets. 

The Group purchased Somerfield in 

2009 for £1.565bn, and sold it in 2016 to 

The Food Retailer Group Limited, part of 

retail investor Hilco’s group. 

“Co-op strongly disputes both liability 

and quantum of the claim and the claim 

will be vigorously defended,” a statement 

from the Group said. 

The retailer announced it was facing the 

claim in an announcement to the stock 

exchange. It said: “The Group, and certain 

of its subsidiaries (Co-operative Group 

Food Limited, Co-operative Foodstores 

Limited and Rochpion Properties (4) LLP) 

are aware that a claim has been issued 

by the liquidators of The Food Retailer 

Operations Limited in connection with 

transactions which took place in 2015 

and 2016 relating to the Somerfield 

supermarket business acquired by Co-op 

in 2009.” 

The amount claimed is more than £450m, 

the Group added, plus “unquantified 

amounts of interest and costs”. 


CREDIT UNIONS 

Credit union lending reaches record levels as UK borrowing costs rise 

Figures from the Bank of England show 

that credit unions are lending record sums 

to UK customers, as the cost of borrowing 

continues to rise. 

Analysis of the Bank figures for the third 

quarter of 2022 by Freedom Finance shows 

that total borrowing reached £1.92bn – up 

£255m (15%) on the same quarter in 2021, 

and up £51m from the previous quarter. 

The UK credit union sector has 1.94 

million members, more than 38,000 

higher that the same period in 2021, the 

latest Freedom Finance Credit Monitor 

adds. 

Average household quoted rates on 

credit cards hit 22.46%, their highest 

levels since 1998, while personal loans 

posted their highest quarterly increase of 

all time in Q4 2022. 

Freedom Finance CEO Emma Steeley 

said: “Credit unions play a critical role in 

plugging this gap but they remain poorly 

known and understood. 

“This is why it is so important that the 

industry continues to beat the drum for all 

providers – including credit unions – who 

are able to broaden access to the credit 

market and help more people benefit from 

more products which are suitable for their 

circumstances.”’ 

Robert Kelly, CEO of the Association 

of British Credit Unions (Abcul) said 

evidence of the growth of the sector was 

“encouraging”. 

“Our sector continues to gather pace 

as more people from all walks of life trust 

credit unions,” he added. “Credit unions 

offer safe savings and access to affordable 

and ethical credit facilities alongside 

access to a range of associated products 

and services, however they are bound by 

legislative framework that was originally 

implemented in 1979.” 

Kelly said Abcul has been “lobbying 

hard behind the scenes for many years” 

with legislators and regulators for a major 

reform of the Credit Union Act 1979, and 

in result, “a more enabling legislative 

framework will be delivered by April/May 

2023”. 

New legislation – announced at last 

year’s Abcul conference by Treasury 

minister John Glen – will give credit 

unions the opportunity to provide car 

finance under Hire Purchase (HP)/ 

Conditional Sale/PCP arrangements, and 

general insurance products and services. 

This will bring “a hugely exciting time 

for the credit union sector”, said Kelly, 

enhancing its “ability to serve many more 

consumers across the country and to serve 

a wider share of the financial needs of 

households and communities”. 

BANKING 

Save Our Bank customer union launches campaign fundraiser 

Save Our Bank – a union of customers of 

the Co-operative Bank – has launched a 

crowd funder to support its campaign to 

return the bank to co-op ownership. 

The customer union – itself a co-op – 

also wants the funds to grow its 

membership and to continue its campaign 

for wider banking reform. 

Formed by a group of customers in 2013 

when the Co-op Bank entered its financial 

crisis, Save Our Bank originally worked to 

preserve the organisation’s ethical stance. 

It is now looking to extend its work with 

a crowd funder for its next 10-year vision. 

In terms of restoring the bank to 

customer ownership, Save Our Bank said: 

“We need to do detailed research and 

development to help us create a fund to 

acquire at least some shares collectively in 

the bank. We think this might also create 

a model to build co-op customer stakes in 

businesses everywhere.” 

Save Our Bank says it has already 

raised £4,500 towards this project 

from three UK retail co-ops – Central 

England, Midcounties and Scotmid, with 

Co-operatives UK offering support in 

communicating its plan. 

It is also looking to grow its own base. 

“Although we have around 1,200 paying 

members, with the bank’s current 3.1 

million retail customers, we think we 

could be much bigger. This will need us 

to invest in more capacity, to work with 

the bank, and to explore a new name now 

that its ethics are secure. It will also help 

us become more resilient as some of our 

older members retire.” 

In terms of its wider banking campaign, 

it said: “If we can continue to help [the Coop 

Bank] lead on ethics ... we hope to use 

our learnings to influence participation 

and ethics systematically in the wider 

mainstream banking sector too.” 

Shaun Fensom from Save our Bank told 

Co-op News: “If we are going to build a 

co-op stake in the bank we need to identify 

the best way to do this, and that’s a key 

aim for the crowd funder. We’re really 

excited to be moving on to this next phase. 

“We think there’s real potential to 

replicate this model in other businesses. I 

really like the idea of ‘reversing’ a co-op 

into a shareholder-owned business.” 

The organisation has membership 

income but says it needs another £18,000 

to fund its campaign work. 

The crowdfunder runs until 10 May and 

Save Our Bank says a £15 donation from 

each of its members would see it make the 

full target. More details at bit.ly/3KvD6OT 


EDUCATION 

Barefoot training 

programme relaunched 

to tackle need for co-op 

business advisors 

Applications are open for the Barefoot 

training programme, set up to address the 

lack of specialist business advisors for the 

co-op and community-owned sectors. 

With sessions led by co-operative 

consortium Co-op Culture, the course will 

this year be delivered in partnership with coop 

development organisation Stir To Action. 

The six-month course, aimed at cooperative 

practitioners who want skills as 

democratic business advisors, includes 

an overview of co-op development, the 

elements to consider as a co-op and 

community business advisor, and skills 

and strategies for working with new and 

existing co-ops and community businesses. 

Since 2020, Barefoot has trained over 65 

advisors, who are now delivering support 

to new and existing co-ops and community 

businesses. Some graduates have gone 

on to establish new business support 

providers, such as People Support Co-op. 

The next round of the programme will 

include networking events for alumni. 

Stir to Action says the democratic 

business sector has a significant lack 

of advisors, and warns it has not taken 

advantage of the experience co-op 

practitioners have to offer – across a variety 

of backgrounds including tech, food and 

the creative industries. 

“We’re really excited to be relaunching 

Barefoot,” said Stir to Action’s Abby 

Gordon-Farleigh, “as more interest in 

worker and community ownership turns 

into new commitments from the local to 

the national level. We’re currently building 

partnerships with local government and 

infrastructure bodies in the third sector 

who could potentially invest in their 

members to be active as advisors.” 

Co-op Culture said that training up more 

advisors with relevant lived experience 

must be part of a wider strategic plan, 

adding: “Stir to Action are perfectly placed 

to enable Barefoot to reach its full potential, 

and grow the co-op and community 

business sector in the process.” 

Bonnie Hewson of Power to Change said: 

“Barefoot is the common-sense solution 

to scaling up co-op development. The 

advisors emerging from the programme 

are passionate and experienced co-op 

practitioners who are skilled up and 

connected to a wide-reaching network of 

experts to support more co-ops to emerge. 

“The course leaders are extremely 

experienced trainers on the cutting edge of 

co-op development themselves, and who are 

well placed to upskill the next generation of 

co-op development advisors. If we want to 

grow the new economy we have to support 

the growth of appropriate business support 

infrastructure, and Barefoot is an important 

piece of the puzzle.” 

The course starts on 25 April – for 

more details and application form, 

visit: stirtoaction.com/barefoot 

POLITICS 

Media co-ops welcome MPs’ call for local journalism support 

More support is needed to ensure the 

sustainability of the UK’s local news, MPs 

say in a parliamentary committee report. 

A number of co-ops and community 

businesses, including the Bristol Cable 

and Independent Media Association, gave 

evidence to the Department for Culture, 

Media and Sport’s (DCMS) Sustainability 

of local journalism inquiry last May. 

The fall in print advertising has led 

to the closure of more than 320 local 

titles between 2009 and 2019. The DCMS 

report concludes that some of the larger 

publishers’ approaches to local news in 

the face of these challenges “appear to be 

compromising the quality [of] the local 

journalism produced by their titles.” 

The report calls on the government 

to provide longer-term funding for 

public interest news in the local sector, 

look at ways to make it easier for local 

public interest news to access charitable 

donations, and take steps to ensure that 

support that is made available to publishers 

is fairly distributed. It also wants a level 

playing field between local news services 

and large digital platforms such as Google. 

The report said there are “many new 

local news publishers with a variety of 

innovative business models”. But one 

of these, the member-owned Bristol 

Cable, warned the inquiry it faces “major 

challenges to financial sustainability”. 

It added: “The very act of survival is 

success in itself. This is particularly the 

case in local journalism, where limitations 

on scale due to potential audience or 

supporter markets are more pertinent.” 

Following the release of the report, the 

Cable’s Eliz Mizon said: “It’s crucial that 

the government now takes seriously the 

committee’s several recommendations, 

prioritising financial and structural 

support for local journalism in the next 

few years to avoid a worsening of the crisis 

of democracy. 

“We know that our journalism has 

a positive impact, but we’re a small 

organisation with limited resources. If 

there was a public interest news fund to 

support organisations like the Bristol 

Cable, we could do so much more for the 

people of Bristol and beyond.” 

The Independent Media Association 

(IMA), a co-op representing more that 

50 titles including the Bristol Cable, 

said: “The government must listen to 

this important report, and ensure that 

future funding support for the industry 

is targeted at independent and regulated 

news titles which have high standards and 

produce quality, credible journalism.” 


ENERGY 

OVO pledges support 

for community energy 

in push for net zero 

OVO has joined Community Energy 

England’s membership as a principal 

supporter, saying it will offer enhanced 

levels of support for community-led 

renewable energy projects. 

Community Energy England (CEE) 

represents 310 community energy 

businesses across England. Through its 

principal supporter role, OVO aims to 

help projects secure additional revenue, 

by providing access to subsidy-free power 

purchase agreements (PPAs), which could 

make the difference between renewable 

energy developments going ahead or not. 

OVO was the first supplier to commit 

funding to specifically support subsidyfree 

generation, designed to incentivise 

small-scale, independent wind and solar 

farms by offering an above-market price 

for the electricity they generate. 

CEE says the initiative’s aim is to “create 

a thriving market that will directly drive 

new investment in renewable assets in the 

UK, supporting the UK’s net zero goals”. 

The announcement follows the news 

of two deals to power thousands of 

Energy co-op to join 

Leicestershire Council’s 

low carbon study 

A community energy project is joining 

partnership led by Leicestershire County 

Council to develop plans to hit the area’s 

2045 net zero target. 

Green Fox Community Energy Co-op 

has joined national consultancy Energy 

Systems Catapult in the Leicestershire 

CAN (Collaboration to Accelerate Net 

Zero) feasibility study, led by the council. 

The project will work alongside the 

county’s district and borough councils, 

Leicester City Council and the Leicester 

and Leicestershire Enterprise Partnership. 

Green Fox was launched by locals in 

Leicestershire to facilitate communityowned 

renewable and low carbon 

technology in the area. So far it has set up 

biomass energy systems in two schools 

and helped to develop a solar farm. 

homes. Last month, OVO signed two 

PPAs with new subsidy free onshore wind 

generators. It has also signed contracts to 

buy renewable electricity from Genatec’s 

Pond Farm Wind project and Ambition 

Community Energy CIC. 

Stephen Harris, VP of Energy, OVO 

Energy, said: “We’re committed to 

supporting investment in renewable 

energy generation and community 

projects across the UK. I am delighted 

to partner with CEE and support new 

independent renewable generation, 

supporting the UK’s net zero goals and 

removing our reliance on a fossil fuel 

dominated energy system.” 

p A Green Fox biomass installation 

Ben Dodd, director of Green Fox, said: 

“Working innovatively with partners 

in this way means we can accelerate 

community-based net zero delivery, 

ensuring local people play a meaningful 

and active part in the decarbonisation of 

Leicestershire.” 

Councillor Blake Pain, the cabinet 

member for the environment and green 

Philip Coventry, head of operations 

at CEE, said: ”We’re looking forward 

to helping OVO with their initiatives 

to support the growth of community 

energy by providing the sector with 

more investment and enhanced levels 

of support. We are confident that OVO’s 

engagement with community energy 

will facilitate new opportunities that will 

benefit the whole sector and its growth.” 

Meanwhile, 16,000 people have 

reserved space to buy shares in Ripple 

Energy’s third consumer-owned energy 

project. This follows Ripple’s first partner, 

Graig Fatha wind turbine in Wales, and an 

eight-turbine site being built in Ayrshire. 

agenda, said: The full council approved 

our Net Zero Strategy and Action Plan at 

the end of last year. The funding allows us 

to take it to the next level by developing 

a model to allow all partners to work 

together and remove the barriers to deliver 

our net zero aims.” 

Innovate UK, a non-departmental public 

body sponsored by the Department for 

Science, Innovation and Technology, says 

its overall national Net Zero programme 

focuses on overcoming ‘non-technical’ or 

social systemic barriers such as finance, 

governance, regulation and engagement. 

Innovate UK’s executive director for net 

zero Mike Biddle said: “Local authorities 

have a key role to play in addressing up 

to 30% of our carbon emissions, and even 

more through their influence on planning 

and policy decisions.” 

Projects supported by Innovate UK 

include decarbonising transport, housing 

retrofit, and local energy planning. 


HOUSING 

Glasgow housing co-op to 

build 44 affordable homes 

A co-operative housing provider plans to 

build 44 social rent homes on the site of a 

former primary school in Pollok, Glasgow. 

Glasgow City Council approved 

the disposal of the site of the former 

Gowanbank Primary School in Pollok 

to Rosehill Housing Co-operative on 2 

February. 

Rosehill will build a mixture of flats and 

houses on the 2.14 hectares site, close to 

the Silverburn shopping centre and bus 

and train stations. 

Originally set up in 1987 as one of an 

original six pilot fully mutual housing coops 

in Scotland, Rosehill is now the main 

registered social landlord in the Pollok 

area, renting over 1,000 properties. 

Rosehill’s director Geri Mogan told Coop 

News: “Rosehill is the main community 

based social landlord in Pollok with 

over 35 years of providing homes and 

services. Rosehill is pleased to have the 

opportunity to provide more good quality 

and affordable homes which are much 

needed in the area and to contribute to the 

Council’s affordable housing targets.” 

Rosehill will pay £570,000 for the 

cleared and vacant site. The Gowanbank 

Primary School buildings were closed and 

demolished in 2018. 

Glasgow City Council says the offmarket 

disposal is part of its strategic 

housing objectives policy. 

Cllr Ruairi Kelly, convener for 

Neighbourhoods Services and Assets at 

Glasgow City Council, said: “This disposal 

benefits the city in a number of ways – not 

only raising public funds in a challenging 

financial climate, but allowing the 

building of much-needed new flats and 

houses for social rent that will help to 

deliver our ambitious affordable housing 

targets.” 

Scotmid Co-op to fund a year’s training for lifeboat crew 

Scotmid Co-op has pledged a £21,000 

donation to the Royal National Lifeboat 

Institution (RNLI), which will fund a full 

year of training for 15 volunteer crew. 

The money will support one member 

of crew at each of the 15 lifeboat stations 

in Scotland that are within five miles of a 

Scotmid or Semichem store. 

Central Co-op extends member discount prices 

After reducing prices on more than 50 

products for members at the end of 2022, 

Central Co-op has extended the offer to 

over 100 items. 

The retail society says this ranges from 

key essentials like bread and milk to pet 

food and toiletries. For example, a fourpint 

carton of milk is priced at £1.50 for 

members, six medium free-range eggs are 

£1, and a loaf of bread is 75p. 

Oxfordshire Council gives fi ancial backing to bus co-op 

A rural bus route operated by a community 

co-op has been saved with cash from 

Oxfordshire County Council after it 

became financially unviable. 

The 210 bus provides a vital link 

between the town of Witney and its 

surrounding villages. 

Southern Co-op backs community projects to cut crime 

As part of its efforts to tackle crime, 

Southern Co-op is sharing £135,000 of 

funding among 18 projects which work to 

cut reoffending rates. 

This follows an initial investment of 

£100,000 by the retail society in 2020, 

which it says has led to more than 1,300 

people being supported – including 

offenders and those at risk of offending. 

Co-op Group opens new round of Apiary accelerator 

The Co-op Group has launched a second 

round of its Apiary business support 

scheme for small-scale suppliers. Last 

year’s opening round saw six new food 

brands hit the Group’s shelves after 

receiving tailored support and mentoring. 

This included advice on all aspects of 

the product journey, consumer insight, 

workshops, technical hints and tips and 

access to the Group’s buying teams. 


GLOBAL UPDATES 


Co-ops 

mobilise to support 

communities hit by 

twin earthquakes 

Co-ops around the world have rallied 

to support those affected by the twin 7.8 

and 7.7 earthquakes that struck Southern 

Turkey and Northern Syria on 7 February. 

Nearly 25,000 buildings have collapsed 

or were badly damaged as a result of the 

quake, according to Turkish officials. As 

of 21 February, the confirmed death toll 

for Turkey and Syria was nearing 50,000, 

with the number likely to increase. It is 

estimated that over 13.5 million people 

have been affected by the disaster. 

The Federation of Agricultural Credit 

Cooperatives of Turkey (Tarimkredi) was 

quick to step in to support its members 

and communities. 

“We are safe, but we are not well as 

millions of people have been affected” 

said Burçak Akansel, corporate 

communications specialist. “It is such a 

huge disaster affecting 10 provinces. The 

situation is very severe due to the harsh 

weather conditions, blocked roads and 

infrastructure, which makes it even harder 

for the aid materials to be dispatched to 

and the search and rescue teams to reach 

the quake-affected zones. 

“As Agricultural Credit Cooperatives 

of Turkey, we have more than 1,600 cooperatives 

all around the country; 150 

co-operatives with 80,000 members are in 

these 10 provinces hit by the earthquakes, 

half of which have been damaged, to the 

best of our knowledge. We can neither tell 

the exact number nor how much damage 

has been caused at the moment. 

“We also have co-op supermarkets 

selling co-op products. We sent 14 trucks 

filled with food and hygiene products 

working in collaboration with AFAD (the 

Disaster and Emergency Management 

Authority). We are working on a debt relief 

programme for our members.” 

Before sending 14 trucks to the area, 

Tarimkredi distributed 50 truckloads of 

goods from its warehouses in the region, 

and is raising money for the earthquake 

victims via its network of employees. 

p Inogar Coop members helping in the recovery efforts 

And through its mining subsidiary 

Gübretaş Maden, the co-op sent a team 

of miners trained in search and rescue to 

provide support and logistical assistance. 

“Last but not least, our co-operatives 

and personnel still do their best to serve 

our members by providing their basic 

needs such as animal feed free of charge. 

We are working on initiatives to postpone 

and restructure their debts, as well,” 

added Akansel. 

Other Turkish co-ops are fundraising 

to support those affected, including Genc 

Isi Kooperatif (Youth Deal Cooperative) 

in Izmir, Turkey. “In Turkey, 14% of 

co-operatives and 11% of co-operative 

members are in the 10 provinces affected 

by the earthquake,” said Berkin Şafak 

Şener, a member of the co-op. “Two of 

our members were planning to travel to 

Şanlıurfa to deliver training next week. 

“Our co-operative is also a member of 

the New Generation Cooperatives Society 

which brings together co-operatives from 

the disaster-affected region. . 

“The initial news reveals that many 

fellow co-operators lost their lives, 

and many others seek shelter together 

with their families. They are deprived 

of basic human needs such as food, 

medicine, healthcare, water, sanitation 

and transport. The co-operative economy 

is inevitably deeply affected by this 

disaster. We plan to first do our best to 

facilitate the delivery of search, rescue 

and humanitarian assistance operations. 

In the medium term, we will support our 

fellow co-operators and local communities 

to recover and build back better. This is 

certainly easier said than done. Hence, we 

need international solidarity and help.” 

Through its Coops4TR campaign, the 

co-ops hopes to mobilise the global cooperative 

movement to help communities 

affected by the earthquake, added Şener. 

“We have always believed in cooperation 

among co-operatives and 

established long-standing communication 

with international bodies such as the 

ICA Youth Committee, Young European 

Cooperators Network, US Federation 

of Worker Cooperatives, and many 

others,” he said. “We thus wanted to 

leverage these connections in order to 

provide more and better support to local 

NGOs, co-operatives and humanitarian 

organisations that work on the field as 

first-responders. We invite our fellow 

co-operators from around the world to 

donate and share this aid appeal among 

your networks. The Coops4TR campaign 

can evolve into an act of solidarity which 

can help local co-operatives recover and 

build back stronger. 

“We received immediate response 

from the co-operative unions such as 

ICA, Cooperatives Europe, Democracy 

at Work Institute, Legacoop, Platform 

Cooperatives Consortium, Co-operatives 

UK. We also heard back from Pangea 

Cooperative and Articolo 12 Cooperative 

from Italy, Supercoop from Germany. This 

is just a short list of responses we received 

within 24 hours. These mean a lot to us 

and we really appreciate our fellow cooperators’ 

support.” 

Needs Map Coop, a map-based data 

matching platform, and Inogar Coop, 


a social co-operative, are also helping 

on the ground by matching people who 

need shelter with available houses and 

distributing essential goods. 

The two co-ops have set up a fundraising 

page to support relief and recovery efforts 

in the affected region. The funding will 

help the two co-ops meet the immediate 

needs of those affected by distributing 

food packages, winter clothes, heaters, 

blankets, sanitary products, clean water 

and medicine, among others. 

Meanwhile, the UK’s Solidarity 

Economy Association is encouraging 

donations to support those affected in 

Northern Syria, where around 300,000 

people have been displaced. 

“Solidarity Economy Association 

encourages people to donate to Heyva 

Sor (Kurdish Red Crescent) to support 

emergency response efforts as they are 

well placed to provide this support. We 

know that Heyva Sor will spend the 

money efficiently, quickly and effectively, 

with a bare minimum of overheads,” said 

SEA co-founder Colm Massey. 

Co-operatives UK and UK retail co-ops, 

including the Co-op Group, Radstock, 

Midcounties and Scotmid are promoting 

a fundraising appeal launched by the 

Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC). 

Customers and members can make online 

donations or donate by texting COOP to 

70787. 

“We are calling for co-operatives across 

the movement to back the appeal by asking 

colleagues, members and customers 

where possible to donate,” Co-operatives 

UK said in an email to members. 

The International Co-operative Working 

Group (ICWG) is in touch with co-ops in 

Turkey and Syria to explore what extra 

support the UK movement can offer. 

Rose Marley, CEO of Co-operatives 

UK and chair of the ICWG, said: “The 

devastation of the earthquakes in 

southern Turkey and north west Syria 

is incomprehensible. We urge the cooperative 

movement to take collective 

action to support the DEC Appeal. It’s vital 

we get funds to people on the ground who 

can help those in need.” 

The Co-op Group has made a £100,000 

donation to the Disasters Emergency 

Committee (DEC) to kickstart the appeal. 

Rebecca Birkbeck, the Group’s director 

of community and member participation, 

said: “People have been left without 

p Image: NeedsMap co-op 

shelter in freezing winter conditions, with 

humanitarian needs expected to grow in 

the coming days. 

“We know our members and customers 

will want to help and we’re proud to be 

coming together with other co-operative 

societies and the wider co-op movement, 

as well as our Nisa colleagues to 

collectively support this appeal.” 

Mutual insurer Simplyhealth has 

launched a fundraising appeal for DEC’s 

Turkey-Syria Earthquake Appeal, and will 

match donations up to £75,000. 

On 10 February the Worldwide 

Foundation for Credit Unions, in 

partnership with World Council of Credit 

Unions (Woccu), announced the launch of 

its Turkish Cooperative Earthquake Relief 

Fund to solicit donations in support of 

Turkey’s co-operative movement. 

Woccu president and CEO Elissa 

McCarter LaBorde has reached out to the 

leaders of Tarimkredi and the heads of 

other organisations in Turkey to assess 

the greatest needs and to determine how 

the Relief Fund can be put to the best use. 

“As someone who managed postearthquake 

recovery programmes in 

Turkey earlier in my career, my heart goes 

out to the many communities that have 

been hit by this tragedy,” she said. “We are 

proud to play a part in helping mobilise 

the generosity of the global credit union 

movement to support those in need.” 

Woccu is also encouraging those 

who want to support the immediate 

humanitarian relief efforts in Turkey 

and Syria to donate to the International 

Blue Crescent Relief and Development 

Foundation (IBC) which is distributing 

hot meals, ready-to-eat food, blankets, aid 

kits, and is contributing to build shelters 

and tent cities. 

p Members of Inogar Coop assisting with the 

relief efforts (image: Inogar) 

Co-op and mutual insurers around the 

world have also confirmed donations. 

The International Cooperative and 

Mutual Insurance Federation (Icmif) 

said Canadian Red Cross donations had 

come from Canadian insurers Beneva 

(CA$25,000), Co-operators ($50,000,) 

Desjardins Group ($60,000) and Gore 

Mutual ($25,000). In Denmark, the LB 

Foreningen association, which includes 

all 420,000 members of ICMIF member 

LB Forsikring, has donated DKK2m to 

the Red Cross. German co-op insurer R+V 

Versicherung has given €50,000 to the 

International Federation of Red Cross and 

Red Crescent Societies. 

Co-ops in Israel are helping relief efforts 

in Turkey. The Arab-Jewish Center for 

Empowerment, Equality, and Cooperation 

– Negev Institute for Strategies of Peace and 

Economic Development (Ajeec-Nisped) 

and Kibbutz co-op movement are working 

with NGO IsraAID and co-operators in 

Turkey. “IsraAID partnered with Latet, 

Society for International Development, 

the Israeli Chamber of Commerce, and 

co-ops in Israel and Turkey to pack and 

distribute food, tents, warm blankets, and 

other humanitarian relief items. We are 

also sending essentials from our logistics 

hub in Tulcea, Romania,” said Mully Dor, 

chair of Ajeec-Nisped and board member 

of IsraAID. 

Links for donations 

DEC – bit.ly/3SpbooM 

Turkish Cooperative Fund – bit.ly/3EtPYl0 

IBC – bit.ly/3lZcb3R 

Heyva Sor – bit.ly/3YW3upv 

AKUT Search and Rescue – bit.ly/3ErznOn 

UN Crisis Relief – bit.ly/3Zg7CjS 

AFAD – bit.ly/3IKsqL6 


CHILE 

Electric co-ops 

work to keep power on 

as wildfi es break out 

An outbreak of wildfires has caused havoc 

in Chile, with electric co-ops among 

organisations working to stay operational 

through the disaster. 

The forest fires, which have been 

burning across the south-central region 

of the country, spread into new areas last 

month, prompting president Gabriel Boric 

to declare a state of emergency in the 

states of Biobio, Nuble and Araucania. 

So far the disaster has cost 24 lives, 

destroyed over 1,000 houses and affected 

300,000 hectares of land. 

Power supplies were threatened as 

electric co-op infrastructure was caught 

up in the fires and steps have been taken 

to restore service. 

Two fires, one of which affected the 

distribution network at a river crossing, 

affected the Cooperativa Eléctrica 

Curicó. “Fortunately, thanks to the good 

construction quality and use of conductor 

of good quality, the network withstood 

the ravages of the fire,” general manager 

Alejandro Toledo told Co-op News. 

The co-op is carrying out preventive 

maintenance tasks, he added, including 

thermography, inspections and the felling 

of trees that could fall on the network in 

the event of a fire. 

“We have had to set up a stock of 

equipment and materials to be able 

to replace quickly in the event of a 

contingency that damages the network,” 

said Toledo.“Our brigades remain alert 

and our operations centre coordinates 

with the fire stations to be able to react 

quickly both to cut off the supply when 

fire-fighters require it for safety, and to 

replace it as soon as possible so that 

customers are not affected by a loss of 

power supply.” 

Also affected was Copelec, an electric 

co-op based in Chillán, central Chile, 

south of the River Ñuble. “Despite the 

difficult conditions, Copelec is deployed 

p Staff from Cooperativa Eléctrica Curicó 

assessing damages (image: Cooperativa 

Eléctrica Curicó) 

with all of its emergency crews to restore 

service as soon as possible to our cooperatives 

and affected customers,” it 

told members in a statement. “We thank 

you very much for your understanding in 

these hard times that our region and the 

south of Chile are going through.” 

USA 

Federation of 

Southern Co-ops offers 

disaster relief after 

tornado hits Alabama 

Co-operators in the USA have mobilised 

relief efforts after severe weather raged 

through Alabama last month, with the 

cities of Selma and Eutaw hit by a tornado. 

The Federation of Southern 

Cooperatives (FSC) sent an emergency 

team to the area to help the community 

cover roofs with blue tarps, with many 

residents sheltering in their damaged 

homes to save their belongings. 

Made up of Alabama-based staff, the 

FSC team was led by Freddie Davis, 

director of its Rural Training & Research 

Center (RTRC) in Epes. 

While in Selma, the relief team helped 

with the clean-up operation, cutting 

and clearing trees and brush. They also 

answered phone calls, prepared lunches, 

mended fences, served dinners, and 

guided residents to resource locations. 

While recovery work continues, the 

Federation is offering temporary housing 

p A team from the Federation helps with the 

post-disaster recovery work (image: FSC) 

at the RTRC to families impacted by the 

tornado. 

“The Federation is committed to 

providing co-operative development 

and land retention support and other 

resources for family farmers to aid in 

the recovery and rebuilding process,” 

said Davis. 

Historically, rural communities have 

less developed infrastructure, greater 

distances between people and services, 

and fewer resources. The Federation 

says these communities suffer more from 

disaster, as limited resources can’t support 

the assistance needed, and what help 

there is takes twice as long to arrive. The 

greatest needs during times of disaster are 

food, water, and shelter. 

“Family farmers, co-operatives and 

community-based organisations, like 

the Federation, are usually positioned 

to assist communities and populations 

severely affected by disasters, and 

other economic hardships,” added the 

Federation, a 56-year-old co-operative 

association of black farmers, landowners, 

and co-operatives. 

“Disaster relief and recovery is a major 

part of our overall co-operative economic 

development, land retention, and 

advocacy efforts,” said the Federation’s 

executive director Cornelius Blanding. 

“We understand there are various 

challenges of rebuilding rural 

communities after a major disaster; the 

community itself – including farmers, 

landowners, and co-operatively owned 

businesses – must be part of the relief and 

recovery efforts in order to create resilient 

communities. 

“Farmers are first responders and have 

always been.” 


EUROPE 

Worker co-ops 

welcome progress 

toward new EU rules 

for digital economy 

The European Parliament has adopted a 

negotiating mandate for talks on measures 

to improve conditions for workers on 

digital labour platforms. 

At a plenary session on 2 February, 

MEPs approved a report from its 

Committee on Employment and Social 

Affairs (EMPL), which sets its negotiating 

position, with measures to combat false 

self-employment in platform work, 

human oversight on all decisions affecting 

working conditions, and a requirement for 

platforms to share more information with 

national authorities. 

The vote, passed with 376 in favour, 212 

against and 15 abstentions, gives EMPL a 

mandate to negotiate with the European 

Council, as part of the next steps towards 

the adoption of the directive. 

The European confederation of 

industrial and service co-operatives 

(Cecop) welcomed the vote as “a strong 

step forward towards a more level playing 

field for businesses and better working 

conditions for workers”. 

The text recognises co-ops and calls 

on the EU member states to “protect and 

promote co-operative undertakings”, 

Cecop noted, and includes an inclusive 

definition of workers’ representatives, 

which may also cover worker-owned cooperatives. 

Cecop also welcomed a provision to 

ensure a fair classification of platform 

workers, adding that “if all platforms 

correctly define the status of their workers, 

this will ensure level playing field and fair 

competition for co-operative platforms”. 

“We defend the workers, we defend the 

good employers and fair competition,” 

report author MEP Elisabetta Gualmini 

(S&D, Italy), told MEPs. 

The growth of the gig economy has 

prompted fierce debate over working 

conditions around the world. The 

European Commission estimates that 28 

million people across the EU work through 

digital labour platforms, and this number 

will reach 43 million by 2025. 

DENNMARK 

Co-op owned meat processor Danish Crown to cut 150 jobs 

Co-operatively owned meat processor 

Danish Crown has announced 150 job 

cuts at its business unit as part of a ‘new 

roadmap’. 

Danish Crown, which is owned by 

9,000 Danish cattle farmers via the coop 

Leverandørselskabet Danish Crown 

Amba, released a statement last month 

with details of the restructuring. 

It cites Covid-19, war in Ukraine and 

growth in China’s domestic pig production 

as factors that have led to lower exports 

and “reluctant customers”. 

Danish Crown now aims to cut DKK 

400m (GBP 47.8m) per year through a 

process of restructuring that is expected 

to take around six months. 

“These are drastic changes which have 

happened in a very short space of time,’ 

said says Jais Valeur, group CEO at Danish 

Crown. 

“We can’t influence market trends, 

but we can do something about our own 

business. We based our strategy on a 

stable and strong market and a positive 

outlook. Now, everything has been turned 

upside down, and we’ve had to rethink the 

way in which we can achieve our goals.” 

The cost-cutting plans include merging 

or shutting down sales companies outside 

Denmark and reducing the capacity of 

its factories and slaughterhouses around 

Europe. 

Up to 40% less cattle will be slaughtered 

by Danish Crown between now and May, 

with future capacity beyond that date yet 

to be determined. 

The news comes after the recent 

announcement that Danish Crown is 

closing its deboning site in Boizenburg, 

east of Hamburg, Germany. Production 

director Per Laursen said that the site’s 

200 employees would be offered jobs at 

one of their other facilities “to the extent 

that it is possible”. 

Danish Crown also plans to cut 150 

jobs, 100 of which are expected to be in 

Denmark – primarily in the business unit 

Danish Crown, which was created through 

the merger of Danish Crown Pork and 

Danish Crown Foods. 

“It’s very sad having to say goodbye to 

so many skilled employees,” said Valeur, 

“but we really have no other choice in the 

current situation. Costs, efficiency and 

a tight supply chain all the way from the 

farmer to the consumer are central to the 

current market situation. 

“This is why I would also like to stress 

that it is not because individual employees 

have not lived up to their responsibilities, 

but because of the extraordinary situation 

that we’re faced with and which, 

unfortunately, requires a rightsizing of the 

organisation.” 

Danish Crown says it has informed 

employees of the anticipated redundancies 

and is establishing a negotiating 

committee comprising management and 

employee representatives to discuss terms 

for those concerned. 


UKRAINE 

War-torn credit 

unions given $355k in 

grants as global sector 

continues support 

Ukrainian credit unions will receive three 

grants worth US$355,000 (£286,556) from 

the Worldwide Foundation for Credit 

Unions (WFCU), via its Ukrainian Credit 

Union Displacement Fund, to cover the 

cost of operating expenses, purchase 

alternative sources of power and recover 

the unpaid interest on loans. 

WFCU, the international development 

and charitable arm of the World Council 

of Credit Unions (Woccu), worked with 

the All-Ukrainian Association of Credit 

Unions (AUACU) and the Ukrainian 

National Association of Savings and 

Credit Unions (UNASCU), both members 

of Woccu, to determine the key areas of 

need for the sector. 

Ukrainian martial law exempts military 

personnel from paying interest on loans, 

which hits the income of credit unions and 

limits their ability to provide new lending. 

Through the WFCU’s Servicemen Interest 

Compensation Program, Ukrainian 

credit unions are reimbursed on this lost 

CANADA 

Co-op insurer 

earns Zero Carbon 

Certifi ation for new 

corporate HQ 

A co-operative insurer’s new corporate 

headquarters in Guelph, Ontario, has 

earned a Zero Carbon Building – Design 

Standard certification from the Canada 

Green Building Council (CAGBC). 

Co-operators announced it had become 

carbon-neutral in 2020 and in 2021 

pledged to reach net zero emissions in its 

operations by 2040. 

It says the new building, which opens 

next summer, will be energy efficient, 

minimising its annual carbon emissions 

and offsetting any remaining emissions. 

The building’s all-electric design, with 

high-level insulation, automatic tinting 

windows and LED lights to conserve 

interest; so far, 42 associated credit unions 

have applied and received compensation 

totalling $170,000 (£137,224). WFCU has 

also spent $130,000 (£104,936) under its 

Covering Operational Expenses Program 

to help 75 credit unions with their 

operating expenses. 

Meanwhile, WFCU’s Alternative 

Power Sources Program co-financed the 

purchase of alternative energy sources 

for credit unions, so they could stay 

operational during power outages. A total 

of 91 credit unions each received $600 

(£484) toward the purchase of generators, 

power stations or power banks. 

Around 100 credit unions have received 

grants under these three programmes, 

representing more than two-thirds of 

Ukraine’s entire credit union market. 

“Thanks to Woccu and WFCU efforts, 

as well as donations from the global 

credit co-operative community, Ukrainian 

credit unions have received invaluable 

assistance,” wrote Olga Tugai and 

Volodymyr Sydorovsky, managers of the 

All-Ukrainian Credit Union Association, in 

their joint letter of appreciation to WFCU. 

“In these difficult times for our credit 

unions, the assistance provided has been a 

significant contribution to the support and 

preservation of the Ukrainian credit union 

movement. Your support emphasises that 

energy, will generate around 9% of its 

annual consumption through a 282 kW 

rooftop solar array. It will feature 40% 

greater energy and greenhouse gas 

savings than the Ontario Building Code’s 

all-electric baseline and 60% higher 

heating load reduction than the minimum 

required for new office builds. 

“With this certification, Co-operators 

joins a growing list of forward-thinking 

organisations investing in the future 

through zero carbon buildings,” said 

Thomas Mueller, president and CEO of 

the Canada Green Building Council. “Our 

made-in-Canada and globally recognised 

all of us, together, make up a large global 

credit co-operative family.” 

The initiatives are part of WFCU’s 

efforts to support Ukrainian credit unions. 

WFCU has so far disbursed more than 

$600,000 (£484,320) from its Ukrainian 

Credit Union Displacement Fund to assist 

credit unions, their members and their 

communities that are struggling during 

wartime. 

“We continue to be overwhelmed by the 

support of the international credit union 

community, which has now donated 

nearly $2m (£1.61m) to the Displacement 

Fund in less than one year. We will 

keep looking for ways to provide aid 

to credit unions during the war, while 

keeping money on hand for the eventual 

restoration and rebuilding of Ukraine’s 

credit union system,” said Mike Reuter, 

WFCU executive director. 

Donations to the fund can be made at 

bit.ly/3jjKWA4 

Zero Carbon Building standards provide 

tangible ways for organisations like Cooperators 

to realise their sustainability 

targets. The Co-operators’ headquarters 

promises to be a marquee green building 

offering enduring value and resiliency for 

the company and a healthy and productive 

place to work for employees.” 

Co-operators’ vice-president of 

workplace services, Shawn Fitzgerald, 

said: “Achieving the Zero Carbon 

Building – Design Standard certification 

for our national headquarters is a strong 

reflection of our values and vision to 

catalyse sustainability in our society. 

“This building is a compelling 

demonstration of imagination and 

innovation that will be required as we 

build for a more sustainable future in 

Canada. We have an important role to play 

in mitigating the risks of climate change 

in a direct and meaningful way, helping 

move Canada and the world towards a net 

zero emissions future.” 


EUROPE 

Co-operative banking sector continues to grow, EACB fig res show 

The European Association of Co-operative 

Banks (EACB) has published its latest 

statistics on the sector, showing continued 

growth and “sound business results” for 

the sector. 

In addition to the statistics, compiled 

from member data, the EACB unveiled 

research paper by Prof Hans Groeneveld 

from Tilburg University, European 

cooperative banks in 2021: a concise 

assessment, which reviews developments 

in the overall performance of 18 co-op 

banking groups in 13 countries. 

It found that co-operative bank 

membership grew by 1.4% to 88 million 

in 2021. Co-operative banks also managed 

to stabilise their domestic market 

share but witnessed a slight decrease 

of 0.2 percentage points to 34.7 in their 

branch market share, a change the study 

attributes to a relatively larger downsizing 

of their branch networks in 2021. 

Meanwhile, the average Tier 1 ratio 

reached a new all-time high of 17.3 and 

the cost-to-income ratio improved by 2 

percentage points to 62. 

The study also compared the average 

performance to that of the entire banking 

sector in same countries in 2021 and 

estimates the likely implications of the 

2022 data. It found that the average return 

on equity of co-operative banks and all 

other banks rose to the highest levels in 

years (6.8% and 6.5%, respectively). The 

paper described the disparity in lending 

and deposit growth between co-op banks 

and the collective banking sector as a 

structural phenomenon. 

In terms of loans, growth accelerated 

to 6.7% for co-operative banks – the 

sector’s largest expansion since 2011. The 

whole banking sector increased its loan 

portfolio by only 4.1%. 

Co-operative banks also witnessed a 

7% increase in their deposit base – this 

was just 5.9% for other banks. 

“Co-operative banks posted sound 

business results in 2021. For the countries 

included in the study, the membership 

base continued to grow, welcoming 

more than 1 million new members” said 

Groeneveld. 

“Co-operative banks strengthened 

their market position in the domestic 

retail banking sphere as a result of higher 

growth rates of both loans and deposits 

in comparison to all other banks. They 

accommodated strong credit demand by 

expanding their loan portfolio by 6.7%. 

“This marks the highest credit 

growth since 2011. Cooperative banks 

also significantly improved their Tier 1 

ratio, which hit a record level in 2021. 

The figures demonstrate the divergent 

business focus of co-operative banks 

as well as their importance for the real 

economy in Europe.” 

EACB CEO Nina Schindler thanked the 

organisation’s members for contributing 

with their data to the statistics table. 

“This shall not only serve as a useful 

tool for researchers and academics, but 

offer policymakers a quantitative insight 

into the co-operative banking sector,” 

she added. “This publication certainly 

manifests that co-operative banks 

are decisive players in the European 

economy.” 

GLOBAL 

International 

learning programme for 

credit union educators 

open for applications 

The Worldwide Foundation for Credit 

Unions (I-CUDE) is now accepting 

applications for its International 

Credit Union Development Education 

programme. 

Aimed at credit union development 

educators, the programme is available to 

credit union professionals who complete 

a significant level of project work and have 

received a Development Educator (DE) 

designation through one of seven national 

or regional DE programmes. 

To qualify, applicants must have 

received DE status in their home country 

and show they have completed at least 

one independent studies project that 

aligns with the learning objectives of the 

DE programme. The application process 

includes writing a 500 word report on the 

project. 

The I-CUDE Class of 2023 will be 

recognised at the 2023 World Credit Union 

Conference, co-hosted by World Council 

of Credit Unions and the Canadian 

Credit Union Association, July 23-26, in 

Vancouver, Canada. 

“We can’t wait to select the I-CUDE 

Class of 2023 and introduce them to the 

world this summer.” 

All applications will be sent to national 

or regional DE programme directors 

who will confirm they meet I-CUDE 

requirements before forwarding them 

to the Worldwide Foundation for Credit 

Unions, whose staff will review, select 

and notify those chosen for I-CUDE 

designation. 

Applications are open until 14 April at 

p Kevin Lashley (Barbados) and Angela 

Prestil (USA) from the I-CUDE Class of 2022 

(image: WCFU) 

bit.ly/418QiyX 


USA 

Hawaiian electric co-op draws up habitat plan to meet eco-regulations 

Kauaʿi Island Utility Cooperative 

(KIUC) has unveiled a US$265m habitat 

conservation plan to minimise its impact 

on threatened wildlife. 

The co-op is acquiring an incidental 

take permit – which is required for 

otherwise lawful projects that might result 

in the take of an endangered or threatened 

species – from the US Fish and Wildlife 

Service and an incidental take license 

(ITL) from the Hawai‘i Department of 

Land and Natural Resources’ Division of 

Forestry and Wildlife. 

The permits would allow the continued 

operation and maintenance of existing 

and new KIUC infrastructure for the 

next 50 years. KIUC has developed the 

conservation plan to support the issuance 

of these permits. 

The plan’s covered species are the green 

sea turtle, Hawaiian goose, Hawaiian 

common gallinule, Hawaiian coot, 

Hawaiian duck, Hawaiian stilt, bandrumped 

storm-petrel, Hawaiian petrel and 

Newell’s shearwater. 

The co-op is responsible for the 

production, purchase, transmission, 

distribution, and sale of electricity on 

Kauaʻi, which has a land area of around 550 

square miles. It owns and operates a variety 

of electrical utility installations including 

fossil fuel-fired, hydroelectric, and solar 

generating facilities, 17 substations and 

switchyards, and approximately 1,487 

circuit miles (2,393 km) of transmission 

and distribution lines. 

KIUC’s conservation strategy is based 

on a set of biological goals and objectives 

for each covered species. These were 

designed to minimise impact from power 

line strikes and light attraction from 

streetlights while mitigating as much 

as possible any unavoidable effects and 

contributing to species recovery. 

Another component of the strategy is 

adaptive management, which, says KIUC, 

will monitor results to adjust conservation 

measures and better meet the goals of 

the plan. 

Measures include power line collision 

minimisation; curbing light attraction; 

funding for the Save Our Shearwaters 

Program; managing and enhancing 

seabird breeding habitat and colonies 

at conservation sites; a green sea turtle 

p Upper Waiahi Hydro Plant (image: KIUC) 

nest detection and temporary shielding 

program; and identifying and installing 

practicable permanent light minimisation 

techniques for green sea turtles. 

The cost of the plan will be included in 

KIUC’s annual operating budget and paid 

for by customers via energy sales. The coop 

says it included $4.9m in operating 

expenses and $14.1m in capital costs 

related to endangered species compliance 

for the test year of 2023, as part of its 

recent rate case filing with the Public 

Utilities Commission. The estimated cost 

of the habitat conservation plan over the 

50-year period is just under $265m. 

The plan will be available for public 

review and comment by 24 March. 

Comments may be emailed to dofaw. 

hcp@hawaii.gov or mailed to Department 

of Land and Natural Resources, 1151 

Punchbowl Street, Room 325, Honolulu, 

Hawaii 96813 or to hcp@kiuc.coop. 

KIUC was bought out from Citizen 

Utilities by a group of local business 

people, who converted it into a co-op in 

2002. At the time Kauai’s electric rates 

were among the highest in the nation. Not 

only did they stabilise since then, but the 

co-op had no rate increases between 2009 

and 2020. It has also already achieved its 

70% renewable power by 2030 target. 

“We’ve essentially reached the State’s 

2040 renewable benchmark a full 

nineteen years early, and nine years 

ahead of our Board of Directors’ strategic 

goal,” stated KIUC’s president and chief 

executive David Bissell, following the 

utility’s annual Renewable Portfolio 

Standards (RPS) filing with the Hawaiʻi 

Public Utilities Commission. He added 

that 69.5% is more than double the State 

of Hawaiʻi’s current RPS requirement of 

30%. Kauaʻi’s power generation mix for 

2021 included 45% solar, 14% hydro and 

11% biomass. 

In December 2022, for only the second 

time in its 20-year history, the co-op asked 

the Hawaiʻi Public Utilities Commission 

(PUC) for an increase in rates to address 

the gap in sales growth versus inflation. 

This increase is designed to provide the 

co-op with an approximate 9.42% increase 

in its electric revenues and will cost the 

average residential customer an extra $19 

for 500 kilowatt hours per month. 

“There’s never a good time to increase 

rates,” said Bissell. “However, since our 

last base rate increase in 2010, growth 

in electricity sales has lagged far behind 

inflation, so an adjustment is necessary.” 


USA 

Electric co-ops 

included in $2.7bn 

federal fund to upgrade 

rural power grid 

The US government has announced a 

$2.7bn investment to help 64 electric 

co-operatives and utilities expand and 

modernise the rural electric grid and 

improve security. 

Announcing the move, agriculture 

secretary Tom Vilsack said: “These critical 

investments will benefit rural people and 

businesses in many ways for decades to 

come. This funding will help rural cooperatives 

and utilities invest in changes 

that make our energy more efficient, more 

reliable, and more affordable. Investing in 

infrastructure – roads, bridges, broadband 

and energy – supports good-paying jobs 

and keeps the United States poised to lead 

the global economy.” 

The US Department of Agriculture 

(USDA) is investing in 64 projects through 

its Electric Loan Program, and says it 

will benefit nearly 2 million rural people 

and businesses in Alabama, Arkansas, 

Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, 

Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota, 

Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, New 

Mexico, North Carolina, North Dakota, 

Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Carolina, 

South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, 

Washington and Wisconsin. 

The loans include $613m to help rural 

utilities and co-ops install and upgrade 

smart grid technologies. Smart grid can 

be a catalyst for broadband and other 

telecommunications services in unserved 

and underserved rural areas in addition to 

improving grid security and reliability. 

Nearly half of the awards will help 

finance infrastructure improvements 

in underserved communities, the 

USDA adds. Co-ops benefiting from the 

scheme include: 

• The Northern Virginia Electric 

Cooperative is receiving a $111m 

loan to connect 1,264 consumers and 

build and improve 404 miles of line. 

The loan includes $13.4m for smart 

grid technologies. Northern Virginia 

Electric, headquartered in Manassas, 

serves 176,604 consumers over 7,614 

miles of line in six counties. 

• The Carteret-Craven Electric 

Membership Cooperative in Newport, 

North Carolina, is receiving a $28m 


build and improve 132 miles of line. The 

loan includes $169,437 for smart grid 

technologies. Carteret-Craven Electric 

serves 41,655 consumers through 

2,493 miles of line in four counties in 

southeastern North Carolina. 

• Minnesota’s Beltrami Electric 

Cooperative is receiving a $22.7m 


build and improve 225 miles of line. 

The loan includes $1.3m for smart 

grid technologies. Beltrami Electric is 

headquartered in Bemidji, Minnesota. 

It serves 21,772 consumers in portions 

of Beltrami, Cass, Clearwater, Hubbard, 

Itasca and Koochiching counties with 

3,500 miles of distribution line covering 

approximately 3,000 square miles. 

In the coming months, USDA will 

announce additional energy infrastructure 

financing, and says the Electric Loan 

Program can help finance wind, solar and 

natural gas plants, as well as improvements 

to produce cleaner energy from coalfired 

plants. Local utilities also use the 

loans to invest in infrastructure to deliver 

affordable power to millions of residential, 

commercial and agricultural consumers. 

NRECA launches 10-point plan to beat cybercrime 

The USA’s National Rural Electric 

Cooperative Association (NRECA) has 

launched a cybersecurity programme to 

help co-ops in the sector improve their 

defences and response to cyberthreats. 

The programme, which sets out 10 

goals, is based on the performance 

recommendations from the US 

Department of Homeland Security. 

NRECA is calling on all electric co-ops 

to participate in the scheme and meet the 

following goals: 

• Establish a cybersecurity point of 

contact 

• Self-assessment 

• Contract review 

• Multi-factor authentication 

• Default password policy 

• Leadership training 

• Employee training 

• IT\OT segmentation 

• Cyber Incident response plan 

• Data backups 

Co-ops that sign up for the programme 

will receive guidelines and links to 

resources to help them meet the 10 goals, 

which can be used alongside its new CEO 

guidebook on cybersecurity. 

“These goals are building blocks for a 

solid cybersecurity posture and lead coops 

on the road to achieving greater cyber 

priorities,” NRECA chief scientist Emma 

Stewart told Rural Electric Magazine. 

The apex will provide awards along 

with a digital badge to all co-ops that 

complete the 10 goals by the end of 2023. 


JAPAN 

Sustainable 

housing co-op built 

in Yakushima Island’s 

ancient cedar forest 

A newly built Japanese housing co-op, on 

Yakushima Island, has been designed to 

foster a greater connection with nature for 

its inhabitants. 

Sumu Yakushima is co-owned by 

eight members who live on the site with 

their families, and also offers holiday 

accommodation for visitors. 

Sumu means both “to live” and “to 

become clear”, and according to its coowners, 

the name expresses how they 

live in the co-op – in a way that positively 

impacts both its residents and the 

landscape. 

Sumu Yakushima’s architect, Tsukasa 

Ono, developed the idea for the housing 

project with his friends in 2020 while 

temporarily living in a hotel on Yakushima 

during lockdown. 

Identifying three main needs for 

humans – drinking water and food, energy 

and community – Ono said: “Sumu was 

conceived as a place to meet them all. 

“Yakushima is an island rich in nature, 

SPAIN 

Catalan housing 

co-op receives social 

innovation prize 

Sostre Cívic, a housing co-op in Catalonia, 

Spain, was one of the three winners at 

the 2022 European Social Innovation 

Competition. 

In their 10th edition, the awards are 

granted by the European Commission 

and the European Innovation Council 

and SMEs Executive Agency (EISMEA). 

The 2022 competition sought to attract 

applications from diverse fields tackling 

the challenge linked to the current 

architecture and sustainable solutions of 

European housing districts. 

Sostre Cívic was one of the three winners 

and will receive €50,000 along with a twoday 

Social Innovation Academia, which 

will offer business acceleration services to 

all winners and finalists. 

so you can even drink the water from the 

river. We have a farm and can produce 

food. Energy can be charged hourly in offgrid 

systems. And we share and nurture 

this place with our most important 

friends.” 

The co-op was built among cedar 

trees, in a manner sympathetic to the 

surrounding landscape without cutting 

down large trees or levelling the ground, 

and runs on 100% off-grid energy from 

solar, storage batteries and local firewood. 

Its creators fused modern technology 

with traditional Japanese civil engineering 

practices to develop a regenerative model 

of architecture. Key considerations include 

the site’s underground environment as 

well as how water and air flows around 

the landscape. 

Each cabin is raised from the forest 

floor, allowing air to flow underneath 

and avoiding the accumulation of excess 

moisture. Burned wood is placed beneath 

the structures to promote the growth 

of mycelium, the forest’s underground 

fungal network. 

Wooden walkways connect the 

individual and communal areas, taking 

its residents on outdoor walks through the 

forest when moving between buildings, 

and connecting each co-op member to one 

another. 

The co-op was praised for implementing 

“an alternative housing model, fairer 

and more accessible, non-profit, nonspeculative 

and transformative.” 

Two other co-op projects were also 

selected among the finalists: La Borda, 

in Sants (Barcelona) and La Titaranya, in 

Valls (Tarragona). 

Jean-David Malo, director of European 

Innovation Council and SMEs Executive 

Agency said: “We award the prize to find 

the most innovative solutions to societal 

challenges. Effective change requires 

local leadership with a global vision. 

Our finalists are real change-makers, 

raising awareness of energy consumption, 

implementing changes in public and 

private sectors, creating a new, inclusive, 

sustainable, and affordable market.” 

Hubert Gambs, deputy director 

general for Internal Market, Industry, 

Entrepreneurship and SMEs said: “Social 

innovation is crucial to increase resilience 

and support the transformation of our 

The eight co-operators own Sumu 

Yakushima via a joint-stock company, each 

having an equal share. Most decisions are 

made by working groups of three or four 

people, with big decisions made by all 

members at bi-annual meetings. 

Ono said he wanted Sumu Yakushima to 

be a co-op so its way of life can be passed 

onto the next generation – most of the coop’s 

members have young children. 

“Projects like ours tend to be difficult 

to sustain,” he added, “[but] every owner 

will carry out this project for themselves 

and their children, too. This will motivate 

us to keep going. 

“We spend time together at Sumu and 

learn how to interact with nature as we live 

here…We want children to experience it 

and recognize that it is a usual way of life.” 

economies, while putting people first. 

With this competition, which celebrates 

its tenth edition this year, we support 

social innovations that will bring social, 

environmental, and economic value at 

once. The three winners of the 2022 edition 

are social innovators greatly contributing 

through their innovative projects to the 

future of our living.” 

The accolade is not the only one Sostre 

Cívic has received this year. In January the 

co-op was granted the Silver at the World 

Habitat Awards. Granted by World Habitat 

in partnership with United Nations 

(UN)-Habitat, the awards recognise and 

highlight innovative, outstanding and 

sometimes revolutionary housing ideas, 

projects and programmes from across 

the world. 

Sostre Cívic has more than 1,100 

members throughout the territory and 

manages a total of 26 projects, nine of 

them already in coexistence with more 

than 120 homes. 


DR CONGO 

20 agriculture 

managers receive co-op 

development training 

The International Labour Organization 

(ILO) has delivered co-op development 

training to 20 agriculture managers in the 

Democratic Republic of Congo’s (DRC) 

Kasai province. 

Held in the city of Tshikapa from 12 to 

23 December last year, the training looked 

at the ILO’s key tools for co-operative 

entrepreneurship. 

Participants, who will pass on the 

lessons by running training sessions 

at their own organisations, included 

representatives from Kasai province’s 

departments of agriculture, fisheries and 

livestock and community development, 

as well as NGOs working on food security 

issues. 

The train-the-trainer course shared 

a number of co-operative development 

training tools with the participants, 

including Think.COOP, Start.COOP and 

My.COOP. 

The Think.COOP tool provides an 

introduction to co-ops for anyone 

interested in starting or joining one. Start. 

COOP gives guidance on the steps needed 

to set up a co-op, while My.COOP is a 

guide specifically about the management 

of agricultural co-ops. 

Plans are under way for the group 

to receive further coaching, as part of 

the ILO’s wider goal “to put in place a 

sustainable mechanism for improving 

the employability of young people, [and] 

the economic empowerment of rural 

communities“. 

The course was funded by the African 

Development Bank as part of the National 

Road No.1 Rehabilitation Project, which 

will link Tshikapa and Kamuesha. 

The course participants are due to 

receive their certification for participation 

in Tshikapa this month. 

Co-operators in Jordan assess changes to sector law 

A recent event by the International 

Labour Organization (ILO) and the Jordan 

Cooperative Corporation (JCC) looked 

at amendments to Jordan’s co-operative 

legislation. The ILO and JCC brought 

together a range of stakeholders, including 

key ministries and social partners, for the 

technical workshop at the Dead Sea over 

27-28 January. 

Unimed launches new patient services in Florianópolis 

Unimed Grande Florianópolis, a local 

branch of Brazilian medical co-op Unimed, 

has started offering a new range of digital 

services to members. The branch, which 

provides healthcare services within the 

Santa Catarina state started rethinking the 

way it was delivering healthcare in light of 

the surge in admissions and demand for 

services post pandemic. 

State procurement boost for Colombia’s co-ops 

Image: GettyImages 

Colombia’s national government has 

adopted a decree on public procurement 

which includes measures to improve 

to co-operatives’ access to the public 

procurement system, and adds social and 

environmental impact criteria. National 

co-op apex Confecoop said it would help 

promote co-ops “as an option to generate 

income and decent jobs”. 

Brazilian co-ops to trial hydrogen from animal waste 


Two Brazilian co-ops have partnered 

with the German government on a green 

hydrogen project that could produce 

275 tonnes of green energy every day. 

Coopersan and Ambicoop, based in Paraná 

in southern Brazil, signed an agreement 

for the public-private partnership last 

month. The project will convert methane 

from pig manure into hydrogen fuel. 

Filipino electric co-ops asked to explain apparent 

‘lack of transparency’ 


The Philippines’ National Electrification 

Administration (NEA) has issued showcause 

orders asking eight electric co-ops 

to explain “highly irregular process” 

undertaken for the purchase of an 

aggregated power requirement totalling 

to 130MW. 


MEET 

John Brodie 

CEO of Scotmid Co-operative 

John Brodie trained as an accountant and was appointed 

chief executive officer at Scottish Midland Cooperative 

Society (Scotmid) in 2005. He also chairs the Scottish Retail 

Consortium and received an MBE in 2018. 

HOW DID YOU FIRST HEAR ABOUT 

CO-OPERATIVES? 

I was aware of a local co-op department store that 

was at the end of the high street in the town where I 

grew up. I can also recall the jingle that was on the 

local radio station when I was a student studying: 

‘Have you seen the change at Scotmid?’ After I 

married and moved there was a Scotmid with a 

very friendly butcher. That friendly butcher got a 

surprise a couple of years later when I told him I 

was now a colleague! 

HOW DID YOU GET INVOLVED WITH SCOTMID? 

I was a chartered accountant working in practice 

and was involved with a number of co-operative 

clients. I was also involved in preparing a forward 

plan to allow Scotmid to do a banking tender and 

structure its borrowings. Many months after that 

was all complete, I got a call one grey November 

Friday afternoon asking if I would be interested in 

joining. My initial reaction was no, but I agreed to 

go for lunch and find out more. 

By January I had started for what I thought would 

be a couple of years to broaden my CV! 30 years 

later I’m still here. 

One thing that struck me straight 

away was the friendliness of the 

people both within Scotmid and 

in other co-operative businesses 

WHAT DOES A TYPICAL DAY LOOK LIKE FOR YOU 

AS CEO? 

Adding it up I’ve worked for around 7000 days 

and, as yet, I have still to find one that is similar! 

Initially, I thought that there might be a lack of 

variety as with the accountancy profession. I eat 

those words on a regular basis. 

WHAT IS SPECIAL ABOUT THE CO-OP MODEL? 

There is a lot that’s special. One thing that struck 

me straight away was the friendliness of the people 

both within Scotmid and in other co-operative 

businesses. The culture and purpose were there for 

everyone to see and from a business point of view, 

being able to take a long-term view. At our 150th 

anniversary I can recall saying that we are just 

custodians for a short space of time. Even after 30 

years, you realise that it’s not a long time when the 

society has existed for over 160 years. 

THIS IS YOUR 30TH YEAR WITH THE SOCIETY. 

WHAT HAVE BEEN THE BIGGEST CHANGES IN 

THAT TIME? 

In many respects, there are too many changes to 

mention—some good and some not so good. 

The ones I would highlight are: 

• We closed on Wednesday and Saturday 

afternoons 

• We had large non-food stores and large food 

stores 

• We had massive computers spitting out green 

and white paper 

• We had a questionable reputation that is nowhere 

as good as it is today 


On change, I saw a stop start pattern and since 

becoming CEO have pushed the continuous 

improvement philosophy that change is never 

ending and we must, however unpleasant, keep 

changing and adapting to our members’ and 

customers’ needs. 

WHAT ARE YOU MOST PROUD OF? WHAT HAVE 

BEEN SCOTMID’S BIGGEST IMPACTS? 

That’s an easy question to answer. Without doubt 

I am very proud of my colleagues, whether elected 

members or our employees who turn up day in 

and day out to do a great job for the society. They 

adapt when required and put the society before 

themselves. They live and breathe our core purpose, 

‘To serve our communities and improve people’s 

everyday lives’. On specifics, the acquisition of the 

Spar chain Botterill’s in 2012 where I shook hands 

with the seller in a McDonald’s in the West of 

Scotland on a £20m plus deal! 

That allowed us to expand into Southwest 

Scotland and when the opportunity to merge 

with Penrith Society arose it made the case much 

more logical. Also, Scotmid being in the Guinness 

book of records [for the largest Burns’ Night 

Supper, hosted in January 2020] as well as getting 

mentioned on Songs of Praise recently by a former 

Prime Minister are special. But the thing that makes 

me equally proud is when we do our membership 

and community report at our general meetings, and 

you can reflect on what a difference we make as 

an organisation. 

WHAT HAVE BEEN THE BIGGEST CHALLENGES? 

Not surprisingly there have been a few challenges 

including the rise of discounters, Shoprite and 

Kwiksave, the financial crash, the 2014 issues 

in Manchester, the pandemic and now the costof-living 

crisis... Not to mention a few internal 

challenges to deal with as well. 

WHERE DO YOU SEE THE SOCIETY IN ANOTHER 30 

YEARS? 

An even bigger and better society but still true to its 

values and being guided by its core purpose. 

Competition 

Win £50* 

JOSÉ MARÍA CÁRDENAS CAMACHO/EL OJO DEL CIMARRÓN 

More than ever, 

the New Internationalist 

is a crucial alternative to the 

hegemonic media landscape. 

Here’s to another 50 years 

of telling it like it is. 

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Co-operative Press Rules Review Consultation – 

Deadline for responses: Friday 30th March 

Dear Members, 

As reported at last year’s AGM, Co-op Press has been working on proposals for a complete amendment of the rules 

of the society to bring to an SGM. 

The SGM is likely to be called for the week commencing 17th April, but before we publish the final proposals, we 

would like to give our members a chance to have your say and ask any questions you may have. 

To that end, we have written a documents that summarises the rule changes, how they differ from the previous rules 

and what the rationale for each change. 

You can also refer to the society’s current Rules and to the full draft of the new Rules. All these documents can be 

downloaded at thenews.coop/2023rulesreview. If you would prefer to receive hard copies of the rule books, 

please email secretary@thenews.coop or give us a ring on 0161 214 0870 and we’ll get some in the post to you. 

This is a genuine consultation. We will respond to your feedback and, where our Board feel it is appropriate, make 

changes to the proposed rules before they are placed before the SGM for voting. 

However, time is tight because of the need to hold our three-yearly board elections at this year’s AGM later in the 

year. For that reason, we ask that you please let us have your feedback no later than 5pm on Friday 30th March. 

Yours in Co-operation, 

Richard Bickle, Society Secretary 

YOUR VIEWS 

New Japanese housing co-op 

built in Yakushima Island’s 

ancient cedar forest 

This is an incredible testament to the 

power of cooperation, and the best kind 

of human innovation, living with nature 

rather than seeking to master it. Bravo! 

Matthew Epperson 

Via website 

Co-op Group to contest £450m legal claim over Somerfiel sale 

This would have taken place during the 

Pennycook era and ‘came out of the blue’ 

as I remember it. The original Somerfield 

purchase was under the Peter Marks 

period. Mr Pennycook was described as 

a financial wizard who we were lucky to 

have and should not really be subject 

to too much scrutiny. PWC are serious 

operators and unlikely to bring frivolous 

claims. My guess is that this case will take 

some time to conclude and may reveal 

whether the scrutiny of Pennycook should 

have been more robust - unless of course it 

is settled with non disclosure clauses. 

Ian Hewitt 

Via Facebook 

Have your say 

Add your comments to our stories 

online at thenews.coop, get in 

touch via social media, or send us 

a letter. If sending a letter, please 

include your address and contact 

number. Letters may be edited and 

no longer than 350 words. 

Co-operative News, Holyoake 

House, Hanover Street, 

Manchester M60 0AS 

letters@thenews.coop 

@coopnews 

Co-operative News 

Correction: Last month’s Co-op News 

article ‘SAOS conference, Scottish farm 

co-ops face up to the climate crunch’ 

reported Alison Hester from the James 

Hutton Institute as saying that the 

organisation wants to make Scotland 

‘a leading hydrogen’ nation; she was 

actually referring to Scottish government 

policy on hydrogen. 


OPINION 

Rethinking economic value and communication: 

the challenges facing consumer co-operatives today 

Jeevan Jones is an economist and elected 

Vice President for Business Performance 

and Strategy of the Co-operative Group’s 

National Members’ Council (writing in a 

personal capacity). 

As we make our way through this year’s 

consumer co-operative conference season, 

it’s timely to reflect on our purpose and 

relevance. 

Two key events in the UK’s co-op 

calendar around this time are the 

UK Society for Co-operative Studies 

conference (24-25 Feb in Lincoln, see p29- 

31) and Co-operatives UK’s Co-operative 

Retail Conference (24-26 March, Cheshire), 

which both bring together theorists and 

practitioners to consider what consumer 

co-operation means today. 

In Lincoln, I spoke about the need to 

change how we think about creating and 

sharing economic value with members 

in modern times. This is particularly 

necessary as consumers struggle in a costof-living 

crisis and retailers face acute 

supply challenges. 

Traditionally, co-operators focus 

on distributing financial surpluses to 

their members. Linking the share of 

this surplus to each member’s spend 

should drive loyalty and ultimately a 

commercial and co-operative advantage. 

But in times that are more prudent than 

prosperous, it helps to rethink. We can use 

a new framework that categorises member 

economic value into five broad categories 

– price, products, proximity, principles 

and proceeds. 

Of the ‘five Ps’, proceeds can be seen 

as ‘below the line’ – the money left from 

sales after all other costs. But the other 

Ps, while they have associated costs, 

can also be seen as creating and sharing 

value for members. Lower prices may 

reduce income from sales, but they can 

benefit members and they may spend 

more. Similarly, a more diverse range 

of products could be what members 

want. Proximity could mean that a coop 

chooses to operate in communities 

where no other retailer would, providing 

benefits to local members. Principles 

underpin the ethical choices that a coop 

makes – whether that’s Fairtrade, 

packaging or campaigns. 

All of these are choices, and all of them 

are ways of returning value to members – 

the ultimate purpose of consumer co-ops. 

But how do they decide which choices 

to make and that they are fair? How do 

they balance the interests of the most 

motivated with the majority of members? 

This is particularly challenging for larger 

co-ops. Look at any democracy to see how 

challenging it is to understand what people 

want and balance competing interests. Coops 

could use more deliberative systems, 

often with elected members’ councils to 

make these decisions, but they risk being 

unrepresentative or disconnected from 

the wider membership. Direct democracy 

is another option, but narrow majorities 

can dominate. Digital technology opens 

up opportunities for more distributed 

decision-making, letting individual 

members take responsibility and decide 

for themselves – with mobile apps we 

could bring co-operation into every living 

room and workplace. 

This brings me to the Co-operative 

Retail conference in Cheshire. Co-ops will 

only be successful if they remain relevant 

to current and future generations. As the 

youngest-ever vice-president of the Co-op 

Group’s Members’ Council, I’ll be joining 

the debate. Our movement has a huge 

opportunity to harness its heritage, values 

and principles – but it must align with 

what young people care about. 

Our ethical choices and campaigns 

should focus on treating people fairly, 

tackling climate change and reforming 

broken markets – a call back to cooperation’s 

radical roots. But it will all 

be for nothing if young people don’t 

understand what we’re trying to say. Our 

movement can’t afford to keep speaking 

to itself in its own language. As well as 

rethinking how we can be relevant, we 

must also challenge ourselves to more 

effectively communicate our co-operative 

difference. We can start by making it 

easier for the next generation to join in 

with these important debates. 


From Crisis to Co-op: 

Future Co-ops 2023 

by Rebecca Harvey 

Illustratrion: paraphrase.studio 

“The best way to demonstrate that co-operatives 

are effective is to see them in action,” said 

Jo White, opening the 2023 Future Co-ops 

conference: From Crisis to Co-op. 

Organised in Oxford by co-op development 

agency Co-operative Futures, the event looked 

at how co-ops and communities can address 

the lack of access to basic needs – including 

housing, food, energy, secure employment and 

digital access – in a fair, equitable, dignified and 

culturally appropriate way. 

Elizabeth Anderson from the Digital Poverty 

Alliance (DPA) painted a stark picture. Over 10 

million people lack foundational digital skills – 

with 2 million over-75s digitally excluded, and 

35% of young people reporting that they cannot 

do everything they need to online because of 

limits to their family’s data allowance. Around 

6% of UK households have no internet access. 

“Being online or offline isn’t a distinction we 

can make,” said Anderson, highlighting how 

without internet access, a child may not be 

able to do homework that has been set online, 

some people will be excluded from booking GP 

appointments, or a family may not be able to 

search for cheaper electricity tariffs. 

DPA is advocating for change by bringing 

communities together and running projects 

for potentially excluded groups, including 

families, teachers and prison-leavers, building 

the business case for why it is so important to 

get online. 

“The rush to digital is leaving people behind,” 

said Anderson. “The co-op movement must seize 

this chance to invest in community locations 

with devices, connectivity, skills and support.” 

Devices, skills and data don’t work without 

each other, warned Kat Dixon, a digital inclusion 

advocate and fellow at the Data Poverty Lab. 

“The internet isn’t a thing, it’s a means to an 

end,” she said, giving examples of effective 

digital inclusion projects, from Chipping Barnet 

food bank providing six months of free data via 

sim cards provided by the National Data Bank, to 

a volunteers in Lancashire who dug cable lines 

and set up their own service provider (B4rn). 

“The idea of spaces for digital access is also 

interesting,” she said. “People need physical 

spaces to learn skills – similar to the original coop 

reading rooms above co-op shops – but also 

private spaces to live their intimate lives online.” 

The conference also heard from Claude 

Hendrickson who in 2020 became the only black 

male accredited community-led housing advisor 

in the UK. “People need a roof,” he said, adding 

that “the anguish communities are feeling now 

makes me feel like we’re back in the 70s: strikes, 

the lack of food, dereliction, communities with 

no hope or aspiration.” 

Hendrickson was project manager on the 

Frontline community self-build scheme in Leeds 

which in 1996 saw 12 unemployed Afro Caribbean 

men and their families build new homes for 


Photography: Co-operative Futures 

themselves. He is now calling for co-ops to help 

solve the housing crisis through community-led 

housing – and stressed the importance of selfhelp. 

“Co-housing, community land trusts, selfbuilds, 

custom-builds – these are all a form of 

co-operation,” he said. “No matter what we do 

to make a change, when people come together in 

the community, that’s a co-operative.” 

John Reacher from Fuel Poverty Action (FPA) 

described his organisation’s campaign against 

the forced installation of prepayment meters. 

It is now advocating for the implementation of 

a universal free band of energy, based on need, 

and has organised a series of direct actions, 

including vigils and ‘warm ups’, where people 

occupy public spaces – such as banks and 

shopping centres – to get warm. 

“We want energy supported as a universal 

right,” he said. “All these crises are interlinked. 

The millennial generation is predicated by 

precarity. We can’t save for the future or put down 

roots – that’s standard for anyone born in the 80s 

upwards. Poverty makes people invisible; the 

effect of poverty is that you have to hunker down. 

The worse the poverty, the less you hear about it.” 

This was a common theme: the 

acknowledgement that crises around food, 

energy and housing are an intrinsically linked 

everyday reality, and often share overlapping 

solutions. That it’s a situation of poverty that 

cuts across sectors, regions and demographics. 

One place where this is abundantly clear is 

South Kilburn, in north west London. One of 

the most ethnically diverse areas in the country, 

with 400 languages spoken, it has multiple 

indices of deprivation. Deirdre Woods, a cofounder 

of Granville Community Kitchen (GCK), 

spoke about how the organisation was set up 30 

years ago by residents to address the entrenched 

deprivation in the area. 

“We looked at all aspects of what a 

neighbourhood needs to be resilient,” said 

Woods, explaining that GCK is part of a larger 

multi-stakeholder co-operative, alongside a 

housing co-op, a mutual support fund and an 

educational charity. 

“There is no such thing as food poverty; there 

is poverty, and people are hungry. We are not in 

a food crisis; we are in a crisis of inequity and 

inequality. But [the Kilburn community] started 

with food as most people are impacted by 

household food insecurity. And they have food 

insecurity because they are cash poor because 

income levels are insufficient. The government 

is violating our right to food right now.” 

England as a country is also food insecure, 

added Woods, who is policy co-ordinator for 

the Land Workers Alliance. “We import half our 

food. There are not enough farmers or people 

entering farming, so GCK is also training people 

from an agro-ecological point of view. It’s a 

whole system, about people, culture, care and 

reducing waste.” 

GCK started with free or low-cost meals, 

particularly to women, children, families and 

disabled people, and runs a community garden 

and the Good Food Box – a radical weekly veg bag 

scheme which charges a range of prices based 

on ability to pay and is linked to Healthy Start 

vouchers. They also include veg appropriate to 

different cultures: “No one else is providing 

foods that our communities want to eat”. 

During the pandemic, GCK began a food aid 

scheme, but at one point this was serving over 

1,200 people a week, which was not sustainable. 

“Charity can’t feed people, you need solidarity,” 

said Woods. “We now do a small scheme for 

people who can’t access public funds.” 

She challenged the co-op movement to 

slow down and not rush into unconsidered 

responses. “Co-operatives should move away 

from charitable food aid to co-create solutions 

with communities,” she said. “And particularly 

around food that is affordable, nutritious and 

culturally appropriate.” 

u 

“No matter what 

we do to make 

a change, when 

people come 

together in the 

community, 

that’s a 

co-operative” 


Photography: Co-operative Futures 

Throughout the event, delegates also looked at 

the challenges in different sectors, extrapolating 

practical next steps – mapping available 

support, raising awareness of co-operative 

answers, finding ambassadors, building 

capacity and raising new forms of capital. There 

was also the acknowledgement of the crossover 

of solutions: digital skills hubs could be linked 

with community hubs and places providing 

warm spaces; gatekeeping behaviours need to 

be challenged; and there was a call to support 

the movements and federations already active 

– including Energy For All, Workers.coop, Solid 

Fund and the Union-Co-ops movement. 

There were specifics, too. In housing, there 

was a call for centralised solutions to encourage 

existing owners of property or land to sell to the 

co-op movement – potentially through a renting 

model. The worker co-op movement called for 

an international worker co-op meet-up and a 

rapid response unit to find opportunities within 

businesses being sold or in trouble. 

“Burnout is real, though,” said Nick Greenhill, 

director of Co-op Web. “People who work in coops 

want to give as much as they can. Sometimes 

that ends up being too much.” 

But as Kat Dixon added, co-ops also have the 

capacity to “bring joy to a difficult struggle”. 

From 

Below 

Ahead of the main conference, Future 

Coops hosted a public screening of 

From Below, a documentary showcasing 

mutual aid and grassroots community 

action during the pandemic. 

In a Q&A that followed, Dr Oli Mould, 

a geographer at Royal Holloway, 

University of London and producer and 

lead researcher on the project, said the 

term mutual aid was popularised by 

anarchist philosopher Peter Kropotkin, 

who argued that co-operation, 

not competition, was the driving 

mechanism behind evolution. 

“Pre-pandemic, mutual aid was 

seen as anti-capitalist, with a distinct 

role of over-throwing systems,” said 

Mould. “But during Covid, there was a 

softening of that political edge.” 

In the USA, the term retains a radical 

anti-racist, anti-capitalist edge, he 

added. But in the UK, it now has 

three distinct narratives: mutual aid 

as charitable, contributory (such as 

Alcoholics Anonymous) or radical. 

Also speaking was Nigel Carter from 

Oxford Communuity Action (OCA), 

a black multi-ethnic mutual aid 

organisation formed in 2019 on the back 

of community participatory research 

into men’s health. This research, by 

Healthwatch Oxfordshire, found that 

the disparity of life expectancy for men 

in north Oxford and the south and east 

areas of the city was 15 years. 

“The report anticipated some of the 

issues that came out of the pandemic, 

including how it disproportionately 

impacted the BME communities, many 

of whom were frontline workers,” he 

said. “There is a link to stigma here 

too,” he added, “and links to dignity 

and the right to food.” 

The OCA is “less food redistribution 

centre, more cultural hub,” he said, 

adding that the organisation has 

maintained a genuine sense of mutual 

aid “by focusing on people acting in 

solidarity to meet specific local needs”. 

“Without this focus, there is a danger 

that activity can be co-opted by bigger 

organisations, diverted to a different 

direction or the values can be diluted,” 

he warned. “You also need to be 

cognisant of what tradition you’re from 

and the traditions you’re in.” 

He gave the example of the Black 

Lives Matter movement, and reminded 

delegates that this is the 75th anniversary 

of Windrush. “They brought solidarity 

economics and the values of mutual 

aid from the Caribbean,” he said. “They 

brought Susu, or partner systems [type 

of informal savings club arrangement 

between a small group of people] and 

local credit unions.” 

He added: What is important from 

grassroots organising is to come back to 

the values of people and collective, but 

you also need a steady flow of 

people with ideas and passion.” 


UKSCS conference 

Consumer co-ops as actors for change 

by Miles Hadfield 

q Lincolnshire 

Co-op’s Corhill 

Quarter development 

With the world facing urgent crises around 

issues such as the environment, food and new 

tech, the co-op movement is among those 

jockeying for position to offer a way forward – 

notably in terms the United Nations’ sustainable 

development goals (SDGs). 

But where do consumer co-ops – often 

mistaken by casual shoppers as conventional 

supermarket businesses – fit into this? This 

question was at the forefront of discussions at 

last weekend’s conference of the UK Society 

for Co-operative Studies (UKSCS) in LIncoln, 

which presented academic research alongside 

presentations from prominent co-ops. 

The event was held on the home turf of 

Lincolnshire Co-op, which sponsored the 

event and showed off its substantial efforts to 

regenerate the local economy. It hosted site 

visits to two major Lincoln developments it has 

spearheaded – the state-of-the-art Science and 

Innovation Park and the Cornhill Quarter, which 

has refurbished a historic part of the town with 

properties owned by the co-op retned out to 

retail and hospitality businesses. 

Lincolnshire was among the retail co-ops 

making presentations to the first day of the 

conference. Head of membership Laura Dunne 

and CFO/acting CEO Steve Galjaard said 

retail co-ops are joining a societal move from 

consumerism to citizenship. 

“Co-operation in our world is about bringing 

together partners to make life better for 

communities,” said Dunne. “This is especially 

important for a regional co-op like us.” 

Lincolnshire’s twin flagship developments 

are not the only brick-and-mortar evidence of 

how this can play out: the society has worked 

with communities and members to improve 

local infrastructure – rowing back on plans to 

redevelop a pub in its estate portfolio after locals 

protested; instead it helped them buy the site 

as a community pub. Other projects include an 

upgrade to a GP surgery and the creation of a coworking 

space. 

u 


q Francesca 

Gagliardi; facing 

page, Lakshmi Jayan 

From Central Co-op, CEO Debbie Robinson 

talked the conference through the society’s 

rebrand, which included the adoption of the 

international co-op marque. This fits with 

Central’s activist role, notable in supporting 

development in Malawi; Robinson suggested 

the retail co-op movement could join forces to 

build on this work and even a small commitment 

– perhaps 0.02% of all co-op sales in the UK – 

could generate millions for development. 

Meanwhile, Central continues its efforts on 

colleague pay, energy sustainability – more 

pressing now that soaring electricity costs have 

added £25m to its bills – and store upgrades, 

which offer more public amenity in terms 

of green spaces and benches, child-feeding 

stations and EV charging points. “As co-ops we 

can really lead on the journey towards 15-minute 

liveable communities,” said Robinson. 

In driving these co-op efforts, member 

engagement is crucial; Tara Simmons from 

Midcounties said that for her society, youth is an 

important part of this, with three elected places 

on the society’s member engagement committee. 

Members were also given a leading role as 

the society developed its five-year sustainability 

plan; and helped by innovations like tyhe Your 

Co-op app, the society has seen 55,000 instances 

in a year of members engaging in some way 

other than shopping. The goal, said Simmons, is 

to double that. 

From the Co-op Group, Mark Robinson- 

Field agreed that the shift to citizen culture is 

tech-driven, with brands and organisations 

expected to offer simple forms of participation. 

The Group has spent the last five years looking 

into this, and members came back with a desire 

for participation in terms of learning, choosing 

causes to support, campaigning on issues like 

mental wellbeing, and co-creating products and 

services. In 2022 there were 1.9 million instances 

of member engagement, he added. 

In the open floor discussion that followed 

youth was identified as the key priority. “We need 

to communicate differently to younger people in 

language they understand about membership,” 

said Tara Simmons, who warned that young 

people often f ound t he n otion o f m embership 

as “hierarchical”. Nick Matthews from Heart of 

England Co-op said it would be useful in that 

sense to “think of co-ops as a web of connections 

rather than a pyramid”. 

Tanya Noon from Central said her society 

had carried out extensive school engagement. 

Co-ops also do isocial media engagement but, 

warned Robinson-Field, “unless we’re clear 

on the meaning of ownership it doesn’t matter. 

We are trying to sell something as staunch cooperators 

to people who aren’t going to take the 

time to close the gap in understanding.” 

The second day of the conference put 

this discussion into wider context with the 

presentation of new scholarship on the co-op 

sector. Historian Andrew Bibby presented his 

new book on the pre-1919 tenant co-operators 

movement – an under-acknowledged model 

of housing co-op (see p48-49). 

Co-op historian Tony Webster, from 

Northumbria University, presented his study 

Consumer Co-operation in the 21st Century: Some 

Examples of Strategic Renewal, including fresh 

discussion of the history of the Co-op Group. 

The flaw of the Group’s strategic renewal 

between 2000-13 was that it focused on 

acquisition over governance expertise, he said. 

This triggered the Group’s near-collapse but the 

sell-offs that followed have made planning for 

renewal easier, as there is “less to think about”. 

The governance changes that went with this 

have brought more commercial knowledge and 

skills to the board but there is less power over 

management, he added. But an improved retail 

offer has empowered the Group to launch major 

initiatives like its campaign on loneliness; and 

this gives members more influence over activism. 

Strategic renewals have played out differently 

in other countries, said Webster. In France there 


has been a movement-wide renewal, with the 

emergence of small consumer co-ops, with an 

emphasis on quality and sustainability. 

In South Korea, change was driven in response 

to concern over the purity and sustainability of 

food; lessons here suggest that strategic renewal 

should be flexible and incremental, not a “big 

bang”, said Webster. Pointing to examples of 

what can go wrong – such as Finland’s E Group, 

which hit trouble after o pting f or a t op-down, 

thinly spread, diversified international model 

– he warned: “No plan survives contact with 

reality … they have to be flexible plans”. 

Jeevan Jones, vice president of the Coop 

National Members Council (see p25) said 

the member-led model offers a commercial 

advantage because “we can find out what they 

want and act on that insight”. 

Presenting the Group’s own research, he said 

there is more to member economic value than 

traditional divi model – in terms of special prices 

for members, products that only a co-op can 

offer, proximity to locations where other retailers 

do not want to operate, and principles – such as 

Fairtrade or a living wage,. 

Rory Ridley Duff, from Sheffield Hallam 

University, gave an overview of a recent series of 

co-op seminars which suggested a reinvigorated 

radical edge to the movement with grassroots 

activism leading to new co-ops or other form of 

association. New forms of consumer co-op are 

rising in housing, leisure and sports, he said. 

“It’s not a big economic contribution but it’s a 

big grassroots activity.” 

One rising area of activity for consumer coop 

was discussed by Steve Graby, from the 

University of Leeds, who looked at personal 

assistants for disabled people. The prevailing 

model for delivering personal austonomy sees 

disabled people given money by the state to 

employ personal assistants but this has led 

to concern over how to handle issues like tax, 

training and employment law. One answer is 

to form consumer co-ops owned by disabled 

people which employ PAs; successful examples 

include Stockholm Indepented Living (STIL) in 

Sweden and Uloba in Norway. 

The shadow of the pandemic still hangs over 

the consumer co-op and its role in society and 

Claude-André Guillotte, from the University of 

Sherbrooke in Quebec, looked at the impact of 

Covid-19 on the Canadian co-op sector. 

He found that co-op businesses had 

maintained themselves successfully during the 

crisis despite a hit to revenue. It is important to 

talk about organisational resilience as a process, 

he said: how do you cope with a crisis, how 

do you adapt? Co-ops have social resources – 

members, employees, their relationships with 

clients, suppliers) – and also interco-operative 

resources in the shape of co-op federations. 

Looking at the SDGSs, Francesca Gagliardi, 

from the University of Hertfordshire, and Rory 

Ridley Duff presented their study on how these 

tie in with the co-operative principles. 

“It goes without saying in this room that we 

know co-ops are important in the SDG agenda,” 

said Gagliardi, “but it does not go without saying 

in every room.” 

With a billion co-operators around the world 

and a close congruence between the co-op values 

and principles and the SDG agenda, the message 

is obvious but co-ops focus too much on their 

own members and communities, she said.Coops 

can remedy this by stressing their potential 

as institutions for collective action; and their 

“polycentricity” – the valuable position they 

occupy at the centre of complex systems. Co-ops 

should collaborate to report their successes at 

sectoral rather than individual level, she added. 

One way to to demonstrate the co-op effort 

on SDGs was suggested by Lakshmi Jayan, from 

Sree Narayana College, India, who presented 

her work with Abilash Unny (Price Waterhouse 

Coopers, UK) and Raju G (University of 

Kerala (India), on the concept of a Consumer 

Cooperative Playbook. This would be a digital 

knowledge sharing platform which would see 

co-ops supply data on their work which would 

be made accessible to users via AI technology. 

This would need high levels of investment 

and collaboration, she warned, but sectoral 

organisations such as the ICA, ILO and Euricse, 

and large co-operatives, could all contribute. 

“It goes without 

saying in this 

room that we 

know co-ops are 

important in the 

SDG agenda, but 

it does not go 

without saying 

in every room” 


Fairtrade Fortnight 2023 

highlights climate crisis 

Over 27 February – 

12 March 2023, the 

Fairtrade Foundation 

is spotlighting the 

effects of climate 

change on the future 

of our food 

Fairtrade 

Fortnight will 

see individuals, 

community 

groups and 

businesses 

taking action 

across the two 

weeks, from 

film screenings 

to fun runs 

to Fairtrade 

tea parties 

This Fairtrade Fortnight, co-operators are invited 

to celebrate, promote and buy Fairtrade certified 

products to protect the world’s most popular 

foods, such as bananas, cocoa, and coffee. 

Over 27 February – 12 March 2023, the 

Fairtrade Foundation and partners will highlight 

the effects of climate change on the future of our 

food, and how buying Fairtrade products can 

help. 

On 28 February, Fairtrade will launch the 

‘Endangered Aisle’, a pop-up experience in 

London’s Shoreditch that will shine a light on 

the supermarket staples most at risk of becoming 

endangered from the climate crisis, including 

coffee, bananas and chocolate. The experience 

will be open to the public on 28 February, 1 

March and 2 March. 

Fairtrade will also release new research on the 

effects of climate change on the availability of 

supermarket staples, which will be showcased 

at the Endangered Aisle and online, along with 

‘Stories of Hope’ - examples of farmers that are 

working to protect their harvests from climate 

change. 

Jackie Marshall, head of brand and marketing 

at the Fairtrade Foundation, said: “Fairtrade 

Fortnight highlights the urgent threat to the future 

of British staples produced overseas. Without 

our support for fairer prices today, farmers will 

find it even harder to tackle the climate and 

economic challenges of the future. 

“Smallholder farmers have a critical role 

in addressing climate change and have the 

expertise and knowledge to do so – but they 

simply can’t afford to foot the bill for adapting 

to economic and climate change on their current 

incomes. There is a huge amount we can all do. 

Fairtrade is asking each and every one of us to 

act now and shop Fairtrade so farmers can 

keep going through these tough times. ” 

Fairtrade Fortnight will see individuals, 

community groups and businesses taking action 

across the two weeks, from film screenings to fun 

runs to Fairtrade tea parties. 

The Co-operative Group will host activities 

both online and in its stores across the country, 

including Fairtrade treasure hunts, giveaways, 

film and poster displays. On Monday 27 February, 

Fairtrade representatives will come together with 

members in Enfield, London, for an event with 

the local mayor, Doris Jiagge, and staff will hold 

an interactive arcade game event in the Salford 

store in Greater Manchester. 

Individuals can get involved by joining one 

of these events, as well as signing up to one of 

Fairtrade’s online Big Get Togethers, featuring 

Fairtrade farmers and experts. 

People can also spread the word using the 

Fairtrade Fortnight Resource Library on the 

Fairtrade Foundation website, which includes 

campaigner toolkits, social media graphics and 

videos. 

“This year’s campaign will highlight the 

message that whatever your budget and wherever 

you shop, when you choose Fairtrade, you 

support farmers to take care of the environment 

through Fairtrade’s Price, Premium and 

Programmes,” says the Fairtrade Foundation. 

For more information visit: 

fairtrade.org.uk/get-involved/currentcampaigns/fairtrade-fortnight 

Labels to look out for 

The FAIRTRADE Mark can be 

found on single-ingredient 

fair trade products such as 

bananas and coffee. It also 

means the product is fully traceable 

(kept separate from non-certified 

products) from farm to shelf. 

A FAIRTRADE Mark with 

an arrow indicates to 

look on the back of the 

packaging to learn more 

about the ingredients 

and sourcing method. 

The FAIRTRADE Gold 

Mark indicates that all 

of the gold used in an 

item has been fairly 

extracted and traded, as 

well as being traceable 

throughout the supply 

chain. 


You can find Fairtrade staples like coffee, tea and bananas in your local retail 

society – or for something a bit different, check out these Fairtrade finds… 

Food & drink 

Organic Fairtrade 

mango from Tropical 

Wholefoods £3.20 

equalexchange.co.uk 

Hair & body 

Raw almonds from 

Zaytoun £5.40 

zaytoun.uk 

Coconut water from 

Dr Martins £3.29 drmartins.com 

Fairtrade fizz 

from Karma 

Drinks 

From £1.55 

karmadrinks.co.u 

k 

Tech 

Steenbergs Fairtrade 

Organic Mixed Spice 

£2.80 

steenbergs.co.uk 

Apricot body soap 

for sensitive skin £7.95 

fairsquared.com 

Body butter with 

Fairtrade Shea butter 

£13.99 

honeystreethandmade.com 

Goddess of Luck 

lemongrass bath salts 

£15.96 

fair2.me 

Fairphone - the first and 

only smartphone company 

to be Fairtrade gold certified 

£499 

fairphone.com 

Continued overleaf 

The FAIRTRADE 

Cotton Mark 

indicates that all 

of the cotton in an 

item has been fairly produced and 

traded, and is directly traceable 

through all stages of production 

and separated from non-Fairtrade 

cotton during processing. 

The FAIRTRADE Textile Standard 

signifies ethical production of a 

textile or piece of clothing. 

The white FAIRTRADE Sourced Ingredient Marks 

indicate a named ingredient has been sourced 

as Fairtrade within a product containing multiple 

ingredients, e.g. Fairtrade sugar in a chocolate bar 

(doesn’t apply to coffee and bananas). 


Clothing 

Hoodie made with 80% 

Organic Fairtrade Cotton 

£32.81 

cottonroots.co.uk 

Jewellery 

Fairtrade yellow gold 

almond stud earrings 

£92.00 

lebrusanstudio.com 

100% Organic & 

Fairtrade babygrow 

£38.00 

littlegreenradicals.com 

Home 

Organic Fairtrade bedding 

from Lily & Mortimer 

from £40 

lilymortimer.com 

Eucalyptus ring handmade from 

Fairtrade sterling silver and 24ct 

Fairtrade gold vermeil £136 

lizearlejewellery.com 

Space to 

work 

Space to 

grow 

Space for 

change 

Leading the movement in workspaces for those who lead the change, 

with spaces currently available to rent 

Visit www.ethicalproperty.co.uk Email sales@ethicalproperty.co.uk or call 01865 207 810 to find out more 


Co-operatives and USA Black History Month: 

‘Co-op history is Black history’ 


Black History Month is an annual observance in 

the United States that takes place in February – a 

month-long celebration of the achievements and 

contributions of African Americans to the nation’s 

past, culture, and society. 

Like the UK celebration, which takes place in 

October, Black History Month sees events and 

activities held to honour the legacies of notable 

African American figures, and explore the 

experiences and struggles of African Americans 

throughout history. Co-ops have played an 

important role in the history of African Americans 

and their pursuit of economic and social justice; 

during the early 20th century, co-ops were used 

as a means of economic empowerment and 

community building among African Americans, 

who were often excluded from mainstream 

financial institutions and faced discrimination in 

the labour market. 

The Southern Tenant Farmers’ Union (STFU), 

for example, was established in the 1930s to 

represent the interests of sharecroppers and 

tenant farmers in the Southern United States, 

many of whom were African American. The 

STFU established a network of co-operatives that 

provided access to credit, technical assistance, 

and marketing support to its members, helping 

them to improve their economic conditions and 

gain greater control over their lives. That tradition 

continues today with the Federation of Southern 

Cooperatives, which provides resources and 

technical assistance to limited-resource Black 

farmers and landowners. 

In more recent years, US co-ops have also 

focused on promoting economic development and 

building wealth, providing access to affordable 

housing, healthy food, and other essential services 

in underserved neighbourhoods. But, as the New 

Economy Coalition (NEC) reminds us, whatever the 

sector, “Co-op History is Black History”. 

“From mutual aid societies to freedom farms 

and credit unions, Black communities have 

been using co-operative economics as a tool for 

collective liberation, self-determination, and 

to resist the violence of racial capitalism for 

centuries. What we call the ‘solidarity economy’ 

wouldn’t exist without this history and practice. 

We honour these legacies, and celebrate the 

radical Black co-operators in our network and 

around the world who continue to lead the 

solidarity economy movement and make new and 

liberatory worlds possible every day.” 

NEC is a membership-based network 

representing the solidarity economy movement in 

the United States. It recently published a resource 

list for anyone wanting to learn more about Black 

co-op history – and between December 2022 and 

January 2023, its Black Solidarity Economy Fund 

working group redistributed US$300,000 to 51 

Black-led solidarity economy projects. 

“Black co-operative economics has delivered 

justice, prosperity, and security when it has been 

systematically denied to Black communities. All 

this has occurred despite a system that denies 

Black communities critical access in the realm 

of funding, ideas, leadership, and capacitybuilding,” 

says NEC, describing the fund. 

“Guided by our Black-led member organisations 

and a sincere desire to take immediate concrete 

steps towards rectifying this inequity, we are 

acting to redistribute the power of money and 

ideas by investing a portion of our budget to 

support the power of Black-led organisations, 

organisers, and ideas – which are too often 

ignored, silenced, and appropriated.” 

To access the NEC’s ‘Co-op History is 

Black History’ resource list, visit bit.ly/3Y5umly 


Women and the 

digital divide 

Co-operating for a fairer digital future 

“Globally, 

women earn 

only 77 cents 

for every US 

dollar earned 

by men” 


p Under the theme 

“DigitALL: Innovation 

and technology for 

gender equality”, 

the United Nations 

Observance of 

International 

Women’s Day 2023 

will highlight the 

need for inclusive 

and transformative 

technology and digital 

education. Image: 

UN Trust Fund/Phil 

Borges 

International Women’s Day – 8 March – is a 

global celebration of women’s social, economic, 

cultural, and political achievements. It is also a 

day to raise awareness about gender inequality. 

Despite progress in some areas, women 

around the world continue to face barriers to 

full participation in society, with gender-based 

discrimination and violence persisting in 

many forms. These challenges are particularly 

acute for women and girls in low-income 

countries, indigenous communities and 

marginalised groups. 

Globally, women earn only 77 cents for 

every US dollar earned by men. Moreover, 

women comprise only 24% of parliamentarians 

worldwide and hold only 23% of senior 

management positions globally. There are 

also significant issues around digital poverty, 

with women often disproportionately affected 

by a lack of access to digital devices, data or 

skills – essential to participate fully in modern 

life. This has been recognised by the 2023 UN 

International Women’s Day (IWD 2023) theme: 

“DigitALL: Innovation and technology for 

gender equality”. 

Women, particularly those in low-income 

countries and marginalised communities, 

often have less access to technology and digital 

platforms, which limits their ability to generate 

and utilise data. This can result in data gaps 

that affect their ability to access services, make 

informed decisions, and participate in decisionmaking 

processes. Women’s lack of representation 

in data collection and analysis can also result in 

biases and assumptions that perpetuate gender 

stereotypes and discrimination. 

Last year Kat Dixon, Fellow of the Data Poverty 

Lab, published a report – Local communities and 

the internet ecosystem: Scaling solutions to data 

poverty in the UK – which explored the impact 

of data poverty on local communities. Dixon 

recently spoke at the Coop Futures Conference 


(see coverage from p26), where she highlighted 

the disproportionate impact of data poverty on 

disadvantaged groups, including women, people 

with disabilities, and those living in poverty. She 

argued that “addressing data poverty is essential 

for promoting social inclusion and tackling 

inequalities”. 

Although Dixon’s report is based on UK 

research, the conclusions are universal. “Getting 

everyone the internet access they need has to 

be a collective effort,” she says. “In tackling 

data poverty – those being left behind by this 

system – regulation and subsidy must work 

collaboratively with industry to harness market 

forces and find a delicate balance that services 

all UK citizens. This will help us move into the 

future and bring everyone with us.” 

According to the 

Digital Cooperation 

Organization (DCO – a 

global intergovernmental 

organisation that 

aims to enable digital 

prosperity for all), 

women are significantly 

underrepresented in jobs 

involving science, technology, engineering, and 

mathematics (STEM). Globally, they hold only 

two in every 10 STEM jobs and represent just 33% 

of the workforce at the top 20 largest technology 

companies. It too sees collaboration and cooperation 

as key. 

“It’s increasingly essential for stakeholders in 

the digital economy to come together and shape 

a more inclusive vision for our shared digital 

economic future,” says Deemah AlYahya, DCO 

secretary-general. 

She describes how there are several 

co-operation models that governments, 

organisations, and multilateral organisations 

can adopt to work together to enable digital 

prosperity, from co-designing initiatives to 

accelerate connectivity and increase accessibility 

and affordability, to working collaboratively 

to develop innovation-friendly policies and 

facilitate dialogue to share best practices around 

digital transformation. 

The UN Women’s Gender Snapshot 2022 report 

showed that women’s exclusion from the digital 

world has shaved US$1tn from the gross domestic 

product of low- and middle-income countries in 

the last decade – a loss that will grow to $1.5tn 

by 2025 without action. Today, 63% of women 

have access to the internet, compared to 69% 

of men. And women are 12% less likely to own a 

mobile phone. 

“Digitalisation and adoption 

of technology has become 

integral for any enterprise 

to grow and can be driven 

by a lot of factors” 

As part of IWD 2023, the International 

Cooperative Alliance’s Asia & Pacific regional 

office (ICA-AP) is hosting a virtual lecture to 

explore two themes: What do we mean by digital 

inclusion for women in co-op business? And 

how do we protect women’s rights and safety in 

digital spaces? 

“Digitalisation and adoption of technology 

has become integral for any enterprise to grow 

and can be driven by a lot of factors,” says ICA- 

AP. “For co-operatives, this can be driven by 

evolving member needs, increasing competition 

in the market, changing business goals, and 

debilitating external shocks such as the Covid-19 

pandemic. The pandemic has brought to the fore 

the significance of digitalisation and the need 

for digital inclusion for everyone, especially 

women and marginalised 

groups.” 

The lecture will be given 

by Anuradha Ganapathy 

and Malavika Rajkumar, 

two women associates at 

IT for Change, an NGO 

based in Bengaluru, 

India, which “aims for a 

society in which digital technologies contribute 

to human rights, social justice and equity”. They 

argue that women need to be a fundamental part 

of the shift towards digitalisation a s they form 

a large part of co-operative businesses. And cooperative 

businesses themselves are governed 

by the value of equality and the principle of 

educating and training everyone involved, so 

they can develop the co-op and promote the 

benefits of co-operation (principle 5). 

In the Asia and Pacific region, a large number 

of co-ops are in rural areas where technology 

and data are not easily accessible, members 

may be semi-literate and are not trained or 

comfortable using technology, and women’s 

access to technology may be mediated by their 

families. In addition, ICA-AP believes members 

and management are middle-aged and often 

reluctant to switch and adapt. 

“But bringing women into technology will 

result in more creative solutions and will also 

have more potential for innovations promoting 

gender equality and meeting women’s needs,” 

says ICA-AP. 

The ICA-AP IWD 2023 Virtual Lecture on 

“DigitALL: Innovation and technology for gender 

equality” takes place on Tuesday, 7 March 

at 11am-12pm IST (5.30-7am GMT). To register, 

visit bit.ly/3F3cG3J 


A co-op solution 

to securing better livelihoods 

for waste pickers 

by Anca Voinea 

p Marco Tulio Giraldo 

and his son Elkin 

Mauricio (image: 

Cooperativa Planeta 

Verde) 

In a few months, Marco Tulio Giraldo, a 48-yearold 

waste picker from Ríonegro city in Colombia, 

will be handed the keys to his first house. As a 

member owner of Cooperativa Planeta Verde, 

he has been able to save a deposit and secure a 

home as part of a government-funded housing 

subsidies programme. 

His son Elkin Mauricio, 21, who was a child 

when the family settled in the area after being 

displaced by the civil war, works with his father 

at the co-op, which has 94 member owners. 

“All my knowledge and training has been 

acquired through this co-op,” says Marco. “I 

feel so grateful for all the knowledge I was able 

to gain and for being able to support my family. 

Right now, I am a qualified forklift driver, welder 

and recycling centre assistant. 

“I feel very proud about this enterprise and 

my work as a waste picker. This is how I earn a 

living. Right now, I am very happy about being 

close to securing a home and this shows how 

much can be achieved by working here.” 

Planeta Verde was set up 22 years ago by a 

group of business administration students at 

the Catholic University Luis Amigo who wanted 

to create a business that made a difference and 

supported disadvantaged people. 

“My fellow students and I were about to 

graduate and our dream was to generate 

employment for waste pickers by creating a cooperative,” 

says the co-op’s manager, Martha 

Elena Iglesias. 

Ríonegro is located in the Antioquia region, 

where tens of thousands of people have been 

displaced as a result of the ongoing internal 

conflict. The UN Development Programme 

estimates 44% of Ríonegro’s population is poor. 

“People from villages came to the cities and 

the only job they could get was as waste pickers,” 

says Iglesias. 

The co-op was set up when the dump that 

served Medellin, the capital city of Antioquia, 

was due to close, leaving Ríonegro with no 

option to deal with its waste. 

“We thought it was an opportunity to formalise 

waste pickers and make a difference,” says 

Iglesias. “With workers coming from informal 

sector, it was difficult to convince them that 

together they could do more than individually. 

Waste pickers thought working by themselves 

was their only option but once they found out 

there were other possibilities, we were slowly 

able to convince them.” 

Another barrier was the stigma surrounding 

waste pickers. “They were regarded as worse 


than the waste they collected,” says Iglesias. 

“They were associated with drugs and crime, 

so we had to change the society’s view to 

understand these are honest people, who are 

helping the planet while doing a difficult job.” 

A positive step in this direction was taken in 

2020, when, during the pandemic, waste pickers 

were recognised as essential workers. Since 

waste picker organisations are now recognised 

as a provider of public services, the co-op can 

receive a second payment in addition to the 

one received for selling the materials collected, 

allowing waste pickers to double their income. 

But the pandemic also tested the co-op’s 

resilience. Before the emergence of vaccines, 

exposure presented a high risk to waste pickers, 

especially those in vulnerable categories. So the 

co-op decided that its 35 members over the age 

of 65 would isolate while the rest continued to 

work to guarantee an income for everyone. 

Solidarity did not stop here – the co-op 

provided food parcels to those who were 

isolating, with additional donations from the 

families it served. 

“One of our members, Don Juan, 

who is 70, couldn’t go on his usual 

route because he had to isolate,” 

says Iglesias. “People from whom 

we would usually collect told the 

new waste picker they had saved 

their recyclables for him – and so 

they would give the new person 

what they had saved for him, along 

with money for him for food. 

“People collected for themselves 

but also put some of the waste into 

the joint collection for those unable to 

work. This type of solidarity was only 

possible because we are a co-op.” 

Despite these challenges, she 

thinks the pandemic let the coop 

prove its worth. “Society 

understood that we had to continue to work 

otherwise the system would have collapsed.” 

After the pandemic the co-op felt a glimmer of 

hope but rising inflation and the war in Ukraine 

led to higher petrol prices and operational 

costs. To make matters worse, the co-op started 

receiving lower prices, with some recyclable 

materials dropping in export value. Competition 

with private companies is also fierce, with big 

firms using the latest technology to pick up more 

waste. “When our colleagues take to the streets, 

sometimes there is nothing left,” says Iglesias. 

Still, the co-op is able to maintain its member 

benefits. These include providing some free 

“People 

collected for 

themselves but 

also put some 

of the waste 

into the joint 

collection for 

those unable to 

work. This type 

of solidarity was 

only possible 

because we are 

a co-op” 

healthcare services such as glasses and 

dental prostheses, holiday bonuses, regular 

food parcels, social security and pensions. In 

December 2021 the co-op celebrated its first 

member retirement with a big party. Members 

also get training and skills: around 98% of its 

members can now read and write. 

Going forward, Iglesias says the co-op will 

focus on growth, and would like to be more 

involved in industrialisation processes, building 

on the 2,500 tons recycled by the co-op each 

year – 70% paper and cardboard, 15% plastics, 

10% metals and 5% glass. 

Another area of focus will be 

raising awareness of the role 

waste pickers play to ensure they 

are included when big decisions 

around recycling are taken by the 

government or local authorities. 

Research conducted by Women in 

Informal Employment: Globalizing 

and Organizing (Wiego) and its 

Inclusive Cities partners found 

the economic crisis caused a 

marked drop in demand for and 

price for waste. At the same time, 

newly unemployed people entered 

the profession creating more 

competition. 

Wiego’s regional coordinator for 

Latin America, Federico Parra, says that social 

and solidarity economy models such as cooperatives 

and mutuals can give workers in the 

informal economy access to the formal economy. 

With this come several benefits, from being 

formally employed and having social security to 

receiving training and being able to specialise. 

The latter is important for waste pickers who are 

elderly and can no longer work long hours on the 

street collecting waste. 

Parra says waste pickers play two important 

roles: preventing contamination of the 

environment and providing raw material to 

industry. In Colombia where he is based, u 

p Some of the co-op’s 

members (image: 

Cooperativa Planeta 

Verde) 


“Despite the 

crucial role they 

play, waste 

pickers receive 

the lowest 

payments in the 

value chain” 

p (left) One of the 

co-op’s members. 

(right) A member of 

the co-op at work (All 

photos: Cooperativa 

Planeta Verde) 

40% of the cardboard and paper comes from 

recyclables, most of it from the hands of waste 

pickers. Wiego has developed tools to show the 

waste pickers how their activities cut greenhouse 

gas emissions. But despite the crucial role they 

play, waste pickers receive the lowest payments 

in the value chain. 

“You can work for 18 hours and collect 200 

kilos of different materials. You want to sell one 

kilo of cardboard and you receive a 50 US cents 

– but the intermediary people sell it for 75 cents 

and the company or the corporation that uses 

the material can pay $1.50 per kilo.” 

As members of a co-op the waste pickers can 

sell more together and gain some bargaining 

power. But of the 20 million people working 

as waste pickers around the world, only four 

million are in formal employment. 

“Those waste pickers that were not organised 

continued to pick up waste during the pandemic – 

and being on the frontlines were among the most 

affected by it,” says Parra. 

But in the co-op, waste pickers understood 

that together they could lobby the government 

and fight for access to the vaccine. The crisis 

also led to having an internal culture of selfprotection. 

Challenges included not being able 

to meet in person with many waste pickers 

lacking smartphones, internet or mobile data to 

be able to join online meetings. 

Inflation was another challenge. “In 

Argentina, one US dollar before the pandemic 

was 40 Argentine pesos, now it costs 200. In 

Colombia a dollar used to cost 1,700 pesos and 

now it’s 5,000. This implies reduced capacity to 

buy food. Co-ops tried to solve this by providing 

food for workers,” he said. 

There were also issues around the price of 

structural materials such as glass, which became 

cheaper while being difficult to transport. 

“So waste pickers have to choose – do we have 

to continue collecting glass? It is so expensive 

to move but so cheap! A lot of industrial centres 

that used to process recyclable materials 

closed – so they had to export recyclables. That 

transport puts an additional cost in the value 

chain process. And the waste pickers suffer the 

consequences of this price reduction.” 

Once lockdown ended, the waste pickers 

realised there was even more competition in the 

informal economy because more people had lost 

their jobs and entered the market. 

Regulation also changed in many countries 

with more governments adopting Extended 

Producer Responsibility strategies, which means 

all the environmental costs associated with a 

product throughout its life cycle are added to its 

market price. 

Wiego warns that many Extended Producer 

Responsibility systems “don’t accept or recognise 

the role of co-ops”. 

“It became a new business niche for many 

private corporations who started to do recycling 

– and not recognising that there were waste 

pickers’ organisations that had been doing this 

for ages,” says Parra. 

He adds that a just climate transition will need 

to take waste pickers’ livelihoods into account. 

In the meantime, Wiego intends to continue 

supporting workers in the informal economy as 

they try to secure their livelihoods – and wants 

more positive action from government to help. 

“According to the ILO, 64% of the world’s 

employed population are informal workers,” 

says Parra. “They have no formal ways to 

organise themselves other than social and 

solidarity economy. Governments need to accept 

that co-ops are the future for these 64%.” 


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Supporting 

co-operation 

Co-operatives UK’s new secretary 

by Susan 

Press 

Claire Dalton is enjoying a new professional 

challenge: after almost 17 years as a senior 

advisor on governance to the Co-op Group, she 

was in December appointed society secretary to 

Co-operatives UK. 

Born in Oldham, Claire has spent all her 

working life with the co-op movement. 

“Growing up in Oldham we shopped at the 

co-op, had a family member who worked at CIS, 

had our insurance there,” she says. “And with the 

Co-op being such a huge employer locally, most 

people had a connection.” 

After a law and French degree at Manchester 

Metropolitan University, in 2005 she got a job 

in customer contact at the CIS call centre while 

deciding the legal route she wanted to take. “I 

liked the people, the organisation and the way 

it looked after its staff,” she says, “so I stayed. I 

moved on to become a trainer and it was only then 

that I realised just how large the co-op movement 

was and how vast its family of businesses was. 

“In 2006 I came across a job in what was then 

the CWS governance department as a trainee 

company secretary supporting the assistant 

secretary and everything else followed from 

there. Not long after I started there was the 

merger with United Co-op and we went from 

300/400 subsidiaries to nearly 900. Then we 

had to undertake a large and long restructuring 

process to rationalise the number of subsidiaries 

down to a more manageable level so by the time 

I left it was more like 60.” 

As a highly qualified and experienced chartered 

secretary, Claire’s knowledge of the ramifications 


of legal and regulatory corporate governance and 

compliance requirements is not just impressive – 

it’s an absolute necessity given the complexity of 

co-operative organisations. 

Her remit in her many years as a senior adviser 

to the board secretariat of the Co-op Group 

included everything from support on technical 

changes of legal status to corporate restructures, 

incorporations, mergers and acquisitions – 

and also the complex business of winding up 

co-op entities which had run their course and 

redeploying their assets. 

As company secretary to numerous subsidiaries 

in the Group, she was also responsible for the 

preparation of board papers, minutes and 

resolutions, assisting in the preparation of 

annual reports and 

accounts for the Group 

and its subsidiaries, and 

ensuring compliance with 

statutory obligations with 

bodies like Companies 

House and the Financial 

Conduct Authority. Tasks 

which most of us would 

find impossibly daunting, but Claire likes “things 

to be organised and in good order”. 

“My husband always says I enjoy a good 

sort-out which says a lot!” she adds. “For me, 

it’s always been about finding co-operative 

solutions and troubleshooting in a co-op way. 

I feel in some ways we are only scratching the 

surface of what co-ops can provide. When you 

have lot of companies not really doing anything 

there is still a large administrative burden and 

accounts have to be prepared. It all boils down 

to good governance. 

“Looking at things through a governance 

lens – i.e. with the example of restructuring and 

rationalising – if you want to change a corporate 

structure, there are lots of positive options 

available.” 

After almost 17 years at senior level with the 

Group, Claire decided last summer to move to Cooperatives 

UK after a spell on secondment. 

“The Co-op Group had a good relationship with 

Co-ops UK,” she says. “When the former secretary 

moved on to another role they approached us 

and said would someone like to come and do a 

secondment. I have done secondments before 

and always enjoyed doing different things so 

when I was approached I didn’t hesitate. I thought 

it would be good to get some new experience and 

it just went from there. Things worked out really 

well. I was invited to apply and got the job.” 

Another string to Claire’s bow is her long 

involvement with the Co-operative Credit Union. 

“We are led by our values 

and ethics and I want to 

do everything I can to 

support all the organisations 

in Co-ops UK” 

“I’ve been a member of CCU since I started work 

in 2006. I was secretary/director for a time and 

joined the board in 2014,” she says. “I stepped 

down towards the end of 2017 when I went on 

maternity leave and I’m happy to now be back in 

the fold as secretary after taking a break.” 

The role of credit unions is very much in the 

spotlight, given the state of the economy. “Every 

business the length and breadth of the country 

has been affected by the cost of living crisis” says 

Claire, “and people need the support of credit 

unions more than ever. 

“We are worried and want to look at what we 

can do to support them so in the last year we have 

introduced a hardship fund. It’s always a balance 

about what we can do to support members and 

support sustainable 

business but we are doing 

our best.” 

More recently, Claire 

was appointed as a trustee 

of the Co-op Heritage 

Trust, which takes care 

of the co-operative 

movement’s archive and 

key sites like the Pioneers Museum in Rochdale. 

Three months after her formal appointment 

at Co-operatives UK, Claire is enjoying her new 

role and its demands. “Coming into a smaller 

organisation is quite different from being in a 

large organisation like the Co-op Group,” she 

says. “The focus may be narrower but it is more 

in depth. Being part of the leadership team is also 

something quite different for me but obviously 

there are lots of similarities. I am still dealing with 

boards and directors and different organisations 

and there is still a lot of contact with people. 

“The challenge for me is getting under the 

bonnet of everything. There are many longstanding 

organisations in Co-ops UK and you 

cannot come into an organisation and not be 

mindful of that. Co-ops look to us as the apex 

co-op entity as we represent Britain’s co-op 

organisations.” 

As Co-operatives UK enters the lead-up to its 

elections and AGM, Claire is now familiarising 

herself with procedure and assessing whether 

there is scope for improvement. 

“The challenge is always about our values and 

principles and what stakeholders want to see and 

what we can reasonably do in the context of good 

governance,” she adds. 

“We are led by our values and ethics and I 

want to do everything I can to support all the 

organisations in Co-ops UK and to be looked upon 

as an example of good governance. I am proud to 

be part of the movement.” 


Co-ops and corporations 

Is there room for more collaboration to drive the UN’s 2030 Agenda? 


p Daniela Bas, 

director of the Division 

for Inclusive Social 

Development of 

the Department of 

Economic and Social 

Affairs (DISD DESA) of 

the UN, addressing the 

meeting 

With the UN’s sustainability agenda for 2030, 

launched in 2015, nearing its halfway point, co-op 

leaders met with private corporations to find 

ways to speed up the effort. 

The discussion – held at a side event of the 

61st Session of the UN Commission for Social 

Development of the UN on 8 February – brought 

delegates from around the world to look at issues 

such as biodiversity and rural poverty. 

Organised by the UN Department of Economic 

and Social Affairs, in collaboration with 

Committee for the Promotion and Advancement 

of Cooperatives (Copac) and the Permanent 

Mission of Mongolia, the event looked at how 

co-ops and corporations work together on the 

SDGs – notably those on reduced inequalities 

(10) and decent work and economic growth (8). 

Daniela Bas, director of the Division for 

Inclusive Social Development of the UN 

Department of Economic and Social Affairs 

(DISD DESA), highlighted the importance of 

SDG17 on co-operation and partnerships. 

“Our goal is to identify how corporations and 

co-operatives can partner to maximise their 

impact in promoting employment and reducing 

inequalities,” she said. “Let us emphasise the 

importance of finding common ground and 

leveraging each other’s strengths and expertise.” 

There is scope for fruitful collaboration when 

it comes to sourcing goods and services, she 

said. Joint ventures could develop new business 

opportunities and create employment, support 

sustainable production and marketing practices, 

promote fair trade and ethical sourcing, and 

drive community development initiatives. 

For example, the Body Shop has entered a 

partnership with 20 co-ops around the world 

through its community trade programme. 

Enkhbold Vorshilov, Mongolia’s permanent 

representative to the UN, described his 

country’s recent initiative to amend co-operative 

legislation and develop guidelines to help 

companies, corporations and other companies 

to disclose their sustainability practices. 

Kenya’s cabinet secretary for labour and social 

protection, Florence Bore, also highlighted the 

role of co-operatives in her country’s economy. 

“We believe that the future of Kenya depends 

on the strength and vitality of our co-operative 

sector,” she said, adding that co-ops and 

corporations could work together on community 

development initiatives or form joint ventures 

and partnerships to pool resources, expertise 

and market access. 


Corporations can also provide training and 

support to co-operatives to help them build 

capacity and become more competitive in 

the marketplace, she added. “Co-operatives 

and corporations are both important players 

in their economy and their collaboration can 

have a profound impact on the development of 

communities.” 

The event also featured a panel discussion 

with corporate and co-operative representatives. 

Adinan Kielb, administrative director of 

Cresol, the third largest credit co-op in Brazil, 

gave an overview of its work. Cresol has 734 

branches, represents 78,000 co-op members and 

manages US$4.7bn in assets. It provides micro 

credit for small farmers and small companies 

and has a number of partnerships with insurance 

companies and public and private banks. 

Aldo Uva, CEO of CSM Ingredients, shared 

some of his organisation’s 

projects with co-ops, 

including its Ancient 

Grains initiative, which 

is helping farmer coops 

plant rare ancient 

grains. This encourages 

biodiversity and creates 

opportunities for farmers 

– and through co-ops, 

farmers can work with corporations directly, 

cutting middlemen from the supply chain. 

“The more co-operatives are there, the more 

frameworks that encourage co-ops, the more 

corporations can add value to the full ecosystem, 

and to the full value chain of food,” added Uva. 

Bruno Roelants, director general of the 

International Cooperative Alliance (ICA), who 

was also representing Copac, which the ICA 

currently chairs, said co-operatives contribute to 

SDGs 8 and 10 by having a lower than average 

income gap, redistributing profits according to 

members’ transactions, and fostering knowledge 

and innovation in their communities. 

“Co-operatives naturally promote the SDGs 

and they had been doing so even before the SDGs 

came into being,” he said. “Co-ops tend to create 

networks of enterprises among themselves and 

with the rest of the corporate world, and we have 

a lot to gain from stronger co-operation between 

co-ops and the rest of the corporate world.” 

The two types of enterprises could work 

together more strongly on the SDGs on the 

agenda 2030, added Roelants, and they can also 

start “thinking beyond the 2030 agenda.” 

Meanwhile, Angus Rennie, partnerships 

manager at UN Global Compact, said it was 

important to continue to “lift up co-operatives 

“The more co-operatives are 

there, the more frameworks 

that encourage co-ops, the 

more corporations can add 

value to the full ecosystem, and 

to the full value chain of food” 

as leaders in really living those values of 

partnership and resilience”. 

The UN Global Compact intends to launch 

a call on companies everywhere to commit to 

a living wage. “I think this is something that 

partners in the co-operative sector might also 

already be able to demonstrate,” said Rennie. 

Larger co-ops are also leading the way when 

it comes to partnering with small and medium 

enterprises (SMEs), he thinks. UN Global 

Compact is to launch a pilot project encouraging 

partnerships between some of the larger 

multinationals and SMEs. 

The event ended with a Q&A session, where 

Matthieu Cognac, senior multilateral cooperation 

specialist at the New York office of 

the UN International Labour Organization (ILO), 

said co-operatives are important because of 

their role in decent work and supply chains, and 

the way they “promote 

democratic values at 

the local level and at the 

country level”. 

In 2002 ,the ILO adopted 

Recommendation 193 

on the Promotion of 

Cooperatives, which 

has been used by 117 

countries to revise their 

co-operative policies. 

Lucas Tavares, senior liaison officer at the 

UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), 

pointed out that rural areas are home to more 

than 80% of the world’s extreme poor – many 

of them family farmers who lack access to loans, 

inputs or markets, “Co-operatives are a means to 

grant them this access,” he said. 

The FAO is working with the Latin American 

Parliament (Parlatino), a regional, permanent 

organisation representing the countries of Latin 

America and the Caribbean, to create a draft 

model law for the region’s agri food co-ops. 

Access to land is another issue. Dr Ify Ofong 

of Women in Development and Environment 

(Nigeria), convenor of the Women and Habitat 

Africa working group, which forms part of the 

Habitat International Coalition, argued that cooperatives 

could enable women’s access to land 

in countries where this is an issue. 

“With the right legal framework we do create 

the conditions for co-operatives to grow, to 

bridge co-ops and corporations, and achieve the 

benefits we are looking for,” she said. 

In her concluding remarks, Daniela Bas said 

the meeting would be followed by specific 

thematic workshops to further explore the issues 

raised during the meeting. 


Circular 

economy 

strategies 

and 

business 

models 

resonate with co-operatives 

in Quebec 


A new study by HEC Montreal business school 

provides insights into circularity strategies of cooperatives 

in Quebec. 

Titled Circular Economy and Cooperatives—An 

Exploratory Survey, the research draws on an 

exploratory database of 165 co-operatives, 48 of 

which responded to a survey carried out by the 

team from HEC Montreal. 

The researchers aimed to find out which 

strategies and business models co-operatives 

pursue; how they view their advancement in 

relation to these strategies and business models; 

how strategies and business models are related 

to types of co-operatives and sectors; and what 

co-operatives need to advance circularity. 

The analysis of the responses suggests 

that the circularity strategies and business 

models resonate with co-operatives across 

strategies and business models. Forty-nine 

per cent of respondents indicated more than 

one circular economy business model fitting 

their approach. These include ecodesigners 

who develop, produce, and sell products made 

from recuperated materials; mutualisers who 

coordinate the sharing of tools and products 

with a view to increasing their use within a 

community; second-hand shops; logisticians 

that offer waste management; repairers who 

offer their services to extend the life of a product; 

recoverers who offer a service in the collection, 

sorting, and preparation of ‘waste’ materials so 

that they become reusable again; transformers 

who offer industrial services by creating new 

products out of waste; craft hubs which offer 

citizens access to tools and training for repairing 

and making products in a workshop; and 

reduction at the source businesses, who offer a 

service based on the elimination of non-essential 

and harmful materials and in the value chain. 

Fifty-five percent (n = 26) of respondents 

identify with the mutualiser model as their 

primary business model, followed by 8% 

for reduction at the source and logisticians, 

respectively, and 6% for consultants in circular 

economy. Another 8% of respondents identify 

with the reduction at the source models and 

logisticians models. Examples of reduction 

at the source businesses surveyed include a 

consumer co-operative and a solidarity cooperative 

focused on bio products and the sale 

of products in bulk, a producer co-operative 

offering bike-powered delivery services, and 

a worker co-operative farm offering certified 

bio products. Logisticians include solidarity 

co-operatives, three of them organising the 

availability of locally and ecologically produced 


agricultural products as well as one co-operative 

focused on waste reduction (helping restaurants 

and their clients to avoid plastic waste when 

ordering food). 

Other examples provided in the study include 

the solidarity co-operative Centrale Agricole, 

which brings together urban agricultural 

producers (including several co-operatives) to 

share material and immaterial resources on its 

site in Montréal. The research found that the 

co-operative “actively fosters circular synergies 

between its members”. For example, the ‘waste’ 

of a coffee roaster on its premises provides an 

input for the mushroom cultivation of another 

organisation on its site. 

Another case study mentioned in the research 

is Sollio Cooperative Group, which has been 

working to improve how its deals with organic 

‘waste’. Sollio formed a partnership with an 

enterprise specialising in insect farming, which 

produces proteins and flour from insects fed by 

recuperated organic waste. The initiative led to 

a 56% reduction of organic ‘waste’ sent to the 

landfill, and has reduced trucking trips, costs, 

and GHGs emissions. 

Another co-operative featured as an example, 

Retournzy, offers a turnkey service for the rental, 

collection and washing of returnable containers 

for restaurants and lists circularity among its 

values: “we encourage a circular economy of 

sharing reusable containers as an alternative to 

single-use containers” it says. 

The study notes that a circular economy 

strategy and business model discussion among 

co-operatives, small and large, would be 

relevant and supported by the sixth co-operative 

principle of co-operation among co-operatives. 

It also points out that a co-operative might not 

use, or not even have heard of circular economy, 

but it may still implicitly advance the goals of a 

circular economy. 

“We interpret the mutualisation at the core 

of the co-operative model as a deep, implicit 

support potential for circular economy,” reads 

the paper. 

Despite being prone to adopt circular economy 

approaches due to their business model, cooperatives 

remain constrained by policies that 

support the linear economy. “We argue that cooperatives 

need to move towards explicit goals 

and strategies to ensure and sustain social and 

ecological ‘circular’ impact, and to avoid mission 

drift towards the linear model,” adds the paper. 

The study concludes that while “there is a 

structural link between the co-operative model 

and circular economy, this is not a matter of 

either/or (circular/no circular).” The research 

also argues that co-operatives need to move 

towards explicit goals and strategies to ensure 

and sustain social and ecological “circular” 

impact, and to avoid mission drift towards 

the linear model, in line with the seventh cooperative 

principle of co-operation among cooperatives. 

In light of these findings, the paper suggests 

practical recommendations to advance a cooperative 

embedding of circular economy in the 

light of current needs: support for the integration 

and improvement of circularity strategies and 

associated socio-technical questions, support 

with business model development and finance, 

as well as promoting circular economy education 

and enabling peer exchange. Furthermore, 

argues the paper, because co-operatives have 

greater longevity than private enterprises, 

advancing their circularity can be expected to 

have a more lasting effect. 

The study forms part of a larger project of 

creating a collection on circular economy and 

co-operatives which started in 2022. The online 

collection includes a toolbox section, which 

provides co-operatives with tools to advance 

their circular strategies; a knowledge section, 

which provides access to research articles 

and policies, and an examples of circular 

co-operatives section, which showcases cooperatives 

that are pursuing circular strategies. 

We interpret the 

mutualisation 

at the core of 

the co-operative 

model as a deep, 

implicit support 

potential 

for circular 

economy 

p Circular Economy 

and Cooperatives – An 

Exploratory Survey 


INTERVIEW 

Learning from the legacy of co-operative housing 

Andrew Bibby on his new book, These Houses Are Ours 

by Natalie Bradbury 

The provision of housing is one of the less wellknown 

aspects of the co-operative movement’s 

history, but a new book by Andrew Bibby revisits 

precedents in the nineteenth and early twentieth 

centuries to highlight their commonalities with 

community-led housing today. 

These Houses Are Ours explores a legacy of cooperative 

housing development between 1870 and 

1919, particularly ‘co-partnership tenant societies’, 

which were established to provide good homes 

at affordable rents in tenant-run communities. 

Although the mainstream co-operative movement 

didn’t engage in housing to the same extent as 

co-operatives in other countries, a number of copartnership 

societies were formed around the 

country. Often, development was funded through 

philanthropic or private investment in a way that 

Bibby likens to today’s community shares model. 

Bibby describes this historical movement as “an 

attempt to do something practical in response to 

the really major housing problems at the time”. At 

the same time, he says, by providing modern homes 

and shared amenities such as sports facilities, 

meeting rooms and social clubs, it “allowed 

ordinary working-class people to have some of the 

pleasures in life that the rich took for granted”. 

Bibby’s book involved research in local and 

national archives, as well as looking at the minutes 

and record books of individual societies. In addition 

to telling the story of these societies, a number of key 

personalities emerge, who had the means and the 

The market isn’t meeting the 

need, so we are asking what can 

communities do for themselves. 

It’s providing affordable housing 

that a generation ago local 

authorities would have provided 

motivation to support the development of cooperative 

housing. While some were individuals 

Bibby had previously encountered during his 

research into the co-operative movement, others 

were members of what Bibby calls the “great and 

the good”. These include well-known figures 

such as Fred Bulmer, the cider producer, who 

established Hereford Cooperative Housing Ltd, and 

the playwright George Bernard Shaw, who invested 

a considerable amount of money in co-partnership 

housing. 

Bibby explains that “what Shaw was doing was 

very similar to people who invest in community 

shops, community energy and community pubs 

today. He wanted to achieve something with his 

money that was a financial return but also a moral 

return. He didn’t want it just sitting on the stock 

exchange.” 

Another individual whose contribution Bibby 

feels deserves to be recognised was Sybella Gurney, 

who studied at Royal Holloway University at a 

time when it was difficult for women to get degree 

status. “She was very involved in the co-operative 

world,” Bibby says. “She put her money where her 

mouth was.” 

A gazetteer at the end of the book shows how 

widespread the movement was, with around 

150 places either establishing or discussing copartnership 

societies. In the course of his research, 

Bibby visited the majority of those which remain 

tenant-managed today, although he admits 

that they weren’t easy to track down. Speaking 

to management committees enabled him to 

understand how they have survived and how they 

handle governance, tenant representation and 

participation today. 

“Amazingly, there are still ten tenant 

developments functioning,” he says. “This is an 

astonishing achievement when you think about 

how things have changed in the past 100 years in 

terms of housing policy and government policy 

and the risk of demutualisation. Societies evolve, 

housing evolves and housing requirements evolve, 

but it demonstrates there is still life in the model.” 

Bibby notes that many of the co-partnership 

developments remain highly attractive places 


to live. These include Burnage Garden Village, 

established by Manchester Tenants Ltd in south 

Manchester, which incorporates facilities such 

as tennis courts, as well as Broadway Garden 

Village in Fairfield, east of Manchester, which was 

designed by the renowned architect Edgar Wood 

for Moravian Tenants. The co-operative housing 

movement was closely linked with the garden city 

and garden suburb movements, and incorporated 

amenities such as playgrounds and green spaces. 

Even in those developments that are no longer 

co-operative societies or tenant run, he has found 

that residents were proud of their history and 

“know there’s something special about where 

they live”. 

Bibby is a founder trustee and volunteer 

with Calder Community Land Trust, whose first 

development, bungalows for older people, was 

completed in 2020. Community land trusts, he says, 

provide a way for people come together to “create 

decent housing through community endeavour”. 

This is an idea which is very closely linked to the 

co-operative movement, as a grassroots movement 

founded on self-help that seeks to find bottom-up 

solutions to social and economic issues. 

“We have a problem, the housing crisis, and we 

aren’t building the houses that are desperately 

needed,” Bibby explains. “The market isn’t meeting 

the need, so we are asking what can communities 

do for themselves. It’s providing affordable housing 

that a generation ago local authorities would 

have provided.” 

He is interested in what contemporary 

community-led initiatives can learn from the 

experiences of earlier societies. As the book shows, 

many of today’s challenges are strikingly similar 

to those facing nineteenth-century reformers, 

from a shortage of affordable housing at decent 

standards to tourism and second home ownership 

– something that remains particularly acute in 

areas such as Cornwall and the Lake District. 

“What is extraordinary is how similar what 

community land trusts are doing today is to what 

was being done 100 years ago,” Bibby observes, 

“We have the same desires, the same issues and 

the same dilemmas, for example, how do you 

raise the money? We can learn from some of those 

early examples.” 

Community land trusts can also encourage a 

different and less reactive approach to planning, 

he argues, where people feel more empowered to 

have a say and communities get the opportunity 

to discuss and decide how towns and villages can 

develop to meet their needs, rather than being 

shaped by outside developers. 

Bibby is encouraged by a sense that co-operative 

housing is “back on the agenda in a big way”, for 

the first time in 20 years, and hopes that his book 

will provide a source of inspiration. 

“I hope that those involved in co-operative 

housing, co-housing or community land trusts can 

get know their history and that they’re not starting 

from scratch,” he says. 

“They can build on the legacy of hard-working 

people over 100 years ago and learn from what 

they did right, as well as from what they didn’t do 

so well. Lots of people are now getting involved in 

bottom-up, community-led housing ventures and 

I hope this history can directly affect what we’re 

doing and have meaning and relevance for our 

efforts today. We can’t create as many houses as 

are needed but we can create really good quality, 

decent housing and show the way to the type of 

housing we’d like to have in the future.” 

p Andrew Bibby (pictured 

far right) 

Purchase These 

Houses Are Ours 

by Andrew Bibby via 

Gritstone Publishing 

Co-operative at 

gritstonecoop.co.uk/ 

product/ab-houses 

Co-op News readers 

can get a £2.50 

discount with the code 

COOP2023 


DIARY 

Do you have a co-operative 

event – taking place in person, 

online, or as a hybrid – to be 

featured? 

Tell us at: events@thenews.coop 

Fairtrade Fortnight 

27 February - 12 March (international) 

This year’s annual fortnight of Fairtrade 

campaigning aims to spread a simple 

message: making the small switch to 

Fairtrade supports producers in protecting 

the future of some of our most-loved food 

and the planet. 

bit.ly/41jJEWY 

Women’s Voices at Central Coop 

8 March (Staffordshire, UK) 

To celebrate international Women’s Day 

2023, Central Co-op is again hosting its 

annual Women’s Voices event, at the 

National Memorial Arboretum, with 

workshops and guest speakers including 

Dame Pauline Green and Dame Margaret 

Beckett. 

bit.ly/3XMzZoM 

Co-op Women’s Voices Webinar: Cath 

Muller 

15 March (12pm GMT, online) 

Co-hosted by Co-op News and the Co-op 

College, Co-op Women’s Voices will be 

speaking with Cath Muller, who came to 

co-operative living and working in the 

mid-90s via eco-activism, Cornerstone 

Housing Co-op and the Radical Routes 

federation of co-ops working for radical 

social change. What has her co-operative 

journey looked like? Who has inspired her 

along the way? And what advice would 

she give to other women in the co-op 

movement? 

bit.ly/3xHiFXG 

Abcul Conference 

10-11 March (Manchester, UK) 

The largest event in the British credit 

union calendar, Abcul’s conference 

provides the opportunity for credit union 

board members, staff and volunteers 

to hear from a wide range of speakers, 

discuss the issues that are important to 

them and network with others from the 

movement. 

bit.ly/3ILCFPl 

Co-op Retail Conference 

24-26 March (Cheshire, UK) 

The Co-operative Retail Conference is the 

only annual event designed specifically 

for co-operative retailers. It attracts 

leaders, managers and directors of 

consumer owned retail co-operatives from 

across the UK. 

uk.coop/crc 

Playground for the New Economy Festival 

19-20 May (Manchester, UK) 

Stir to Action’s annual festival is heading 

to Stretford Public Hall, for two days of 

panels, workshops, local DJs, and food. 

stirtoaction.com/festival 

Co-op Congress 

June (date and location TBC) 

Co-op Congress brings together those 

working to build a fairer economy to share 

ideas, get inspiration and take action. 

Details TBC 

International Day of Cooperatives 

1 July 

ICA CCR Global and European Cooperative 

Research Conference 

10-13 July (Leuven Belgium) 

The overall theme of the 2023 conference 

is ‘Governing cooperative innovation’ and 

will bring together academia, researchers, 

and co-operative practitioners from all 

over the world, as well as policy-makers 

at the EU and international level, to 

discuss the latest research and policy 

developments in the area of co-operative 

governance. The event is hosted by 

the Centre of Expertise for Cooperative 

Entrepreneurship (KCO KU Leuven), a 

research and teaching centre. 

info@icaccr2023.com 

2023 World Credit Union Conference 

23-26 July (Vancouver, Canada) 

The premier global credit union education 

and networking event offered by the 

financial services industry is returning to 

Canada. Organised by the World Council 

of Credit Unions and the Canadian Credit 

Union Association (CCUA), the event will 

hear from global industry experts on a 

variety of topics. The extensive educational 

program includes 32 concurring breakout 

sessions, workshops, keynote sessions 

and a Solution Center geared towards 

solving today’s challenges. 

wcuc.org 

Celebrating 20 years of Saint Mary’s 

International Centre for Co-operative 

Management 

21-22 September (Halifax/Kjipuktuk, 

Canada) 

Building on 20 years of co-operative 

education and research excellence, the 

event aims to celebrate ICCM’s collective 

work and amplify its potential for a 

stronger future. 

conta.cc/3Hi8cYv 

Practitioners Forum 

23 November (Manchester) 

One of the leading training and 

development event for people working 

in co-operative businesses – big and 

small – Practitioners Forum is an annual 

sell-out. It hosts around 20 sessions 

across five specialist forums covering 

membership, governance, finance, HR 

and communications. 

Details TBC 


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