Co-op News, May 2022

MAY 2022
A NEW DIRECTION
FOR THE WALES
CO-OPERATIVE CENTRE
Plus … Solidarity in times
of war: interview with Coop
Ukraine’s Illia Gorokhovsky
...How is co-operation
communicated in different
countries? ... The co-operative
summer camp experience
ISSN 0009-9821
770009 982010
01
£4.20
www.thenews.coop

In the run up to their AGM, members
of the Co-operative Group will again
be asked to vote on continuing the
partnership with the Co-operative
Party.
For over 100 years, the Co-operative
Party and the co-operative movement
have worked in partnership to build a
society where power and wealth are
shared. We are the political voice of
the co-operative movement, taking cooperative
policies and principles from
the shop floor to the places where
laws are made.
We are your voice at decision-making
tables across the country: working
together we have promoted new
protections for shopworkers, food
justice, protection of community assets
and fairtrade. But for that work to
continue, we need your vote.
To keep this historic and powerful link
and to continue the amazing successes
we’ve achieved together, Vote Yes to
Motion 9 at the Co-op Group’s AGM.
Since last year’s vote, we have:
Supported shopworkers facing skyrocketing levels of
violence, threats and abuse by winning further legal
protections for shopworkers. In Westminster, our campaign
had a massive win with tougher penalties for assaulting
public-facing workers like shopworkers. In Scotland, the
Protection of Workers Act came into force, which saw 300
offences reported in just the first three months.
Fought for food justice by helping to increase the uptake of
Healthy Start food vouchers in every area of England and
Wales; backing local food poverty solutions such as Food
Champions, food partnerships and community fridges;
supporting the expansion of Free School Meals; and
leading a national conversation on a legal Right to Food.
Protected the co-operative and mutual movement by
standing against the takeover of historic mutual insurer LV=
and helping to prevent its sell-off to an American venture
capital firm.
Tackled the scandal of tax avoidance by winning on
campaigns such as bringing in a register of overseas
owners, backing the Biden Plan for a global minimum
corporation tax and supporting councils to increase
tax transparency. The Co-operative Group and the Cooperative
Party continue to both be accredited by the Fair
Tax Foundation, because our movement will always be
proud to pay our fair share.
Put co-operation in power across the country by having
our most successful set of elections yet in 2021, which saw
our representation grow to over 900 councillors, 11 MSPs,
16 MSs and 5 Metro Mayors, alongside our 25 MPs and 16
Peers in Westminster.
Am I eligible to vote?
If you are eligible, you should have received your ballot by email or post. Check
your inbox for an email from vote@agm.coop.co.uk, or check your eligibility
online at membership.coop.co.uk/eligibility-to-vote.
You have until midday on Monday 16th May to cast your vote.
Co-operative Party Limited is a registered Society under the Co-operative and Community Benefit Societies Act 2014. Registered no.
30027R. Promoted by Joe Fortune on behalf of the Co-operative Party, both at Unit 13, 83 Crampton Street, London SE17 3BQ.

Communicating the co-operative
difference
CONNECTING, CHAMPIONING AND
CHALLENGING THE GLOBAL CO-OP
MOVEMENT SINCE 1871
Holyoake House, Hanover Street,
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Andy Bellis | andy@thenews.coop
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(vice-chair); Sofygil Crew; Victoria
Green; Tim Hartley; Phil Hartwell;
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Secretary: Richard Bickle
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To those involved in the movement, that co-ops have a different
approach to running a business is well-known. But how can this be
communicated to those outside the movement? The International
Cooperative Alliance recently launched a global survey of co-operators,
asking how well the co-op identity is defined and understood. The findings
will inform the work of its Cooperative Identity Advisory Group (p29).
An important element of communication is engaging youth. The Singapore
National Cooperative Federation is doing this via its social media channels,
and we speak to its marketing executive Sng Ler Jun to find out how the
apex changes its language to suit its target audience (p40-41). Another
example of youth engagement is the Cooperative Leadership Camp, run by
the Cooperative Council of North Carolina (p32-33).
In a big, diverse country like Canada, communicating the co-operative
difference goes hand in hand with working with regional co-op federations.
Co-operatives and Mutuals Canada runs several national campaigns to
promote the sector while engaging with senior government officials to raise
awareness about the role of co-ops in providing essential services (p30-31).
Meanwhile, Wales Co-operative Centre has rebranded; we speak to CEO
Derek Walker to find out the reasons behind the move (p42-43). Branding
is important, because communicating co-op values can bring market
advantage – our coverage of the SAOS conference looks at how farm co-ops
can gain leverage through industry-wide marketing initiatives (p26-27).
There is also room for co-ops to work with other organisations to spread
the word about mutuals. “Mutuals across a range of different businesses
including co-ops and friendly societies can work together on the challenge
around helping people understand the mutual difference,” says Hilary
McVitty of the Building Societies Association (p38-39).
And while there are many good co-operative stories to tell, such as ICMIF’s
centenary (p36-37) or Coop Ukraine’s efforts to serve its communities
despite the Russian invasion (p22-23), co-ops are not immune to scandals.
We look at how Yorkshire County Cricket Club handled its recent racism
scandal, changing the structure of its co-op governance (p34-35).
ANCA VOINEA - INTERNATIONAL 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.
MAY 2022 | 3

ISSN 0009-9821
9 770009 982010
01
THIS ISSUE
CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT:
Shirine Khoury-Haq, interim CEO of the Coop
Group, presides over this year’s annual
results (p5; 48-49); Scotland’s farm co-op
body SAOS holds its annual conference
(p26-27); Wales Co-op Centre rebrands as
Cwmpas (p42-43); the US tradition of cooperative
youth camps (p32-33); Ukraine’s
co-ops keep up the war effort (p46-47)
MAY 2022
A NEW DIRECTION
FOR THE WALES
CO-OPERATIVE CENTRE
Plus … Solidarity in times
of war: interview with Coop
Ukraine’s Illia Gorokhovsky
...How is co-operation
communicated in different
countries? ... The co-operative
summer camp experience
£4.20
www.thenews.coop
COVER: CWMPAS LAUNCH
Wales Co-operative Centre, the UK’s
biggest co-op development agency, is
rebranding after 40 years, taking the
name Cwmpas to reflect its national
heritage and its “next chapter as
a development agency working for
economic and social change”
Read more: p42-43
22-23 MEET ... BAHMAN ABDOLLAHI
Insights from the president of the Iran
Chamber of Cooperatives
24 RIGHT TO SAVE
Labour/Co-op MP Gareth Thomas wants a
law to help people save with credit unions
26-47 COMMUNICATING CO-OPERATION
26-27 SAOS CONFERENCE
Scottish farm co-ops discuss ways to
market sustainability and collaboration,
all through the supply chain
29 FROM THE SAME HYMN SHEET?Does
the movement have a common
understanding for co-op messaging?
30-31 NORTHERN STARS
How Coops and Mutuals Canada ties a
complex national movement together
32-33 MOVEMENT’S FUTURE TENTS US
and Canadian co-op put their own spin
on the summer youth camp
34-35 PUTTING ON A CO-OP SPIN
With clubs in debt and the shock of the
Yorkshire racism scandal, can the county
cricket co-ops save the game through
values of equity and membership?
36-37 MUTUAL MILESTONE
ICMIF celebrates its centenary
38-39 MUTUAL BENEFIT
Helen McVitty of the Building Societies
Association on its co-op values
40-41 SCALING UP
Ler Jun Sng, from Singapore’s co-op
apex, on its multi-channel messaging
42-43 MORAL CWMPAS
New brand, new name for the Wales
Co-operative Centre
44-45 RECOVERY WORK
How co-op values have driven disaster
relief –from 19th century famine to 21st
century typhoons
46-47 VOICE FROM UKRAINE Interview
from the war zone with Illia
Gorokhovskyi, chair of Coop Ukraine
48-49 NUMBER CRUNCHING
Leigh Sparks on the Co-op Group results
REGULARS
5-13 UK news
14-21 Global news
22-25 Meet, comment, letters
50 Events
4 | MAY 2022

NEWS
RETAIL
Aftermath of Covid crisis hits profits at Co-op Group
Supply chain disruption and the fallout
from the pandemic have seen pre-tax
profits at the Co-op Group drop £70m to
£57m (2021: £127m), although the figure is
up from the pre-Covid 2019 figure of £24m.
Group chair Allan Leighton said: “The
economic headwinds look stark and will
be tricky to navigate, but through our
continued planned strategic investments,
our Co-op is well placed to ride out the
storm and prosper beyond.”
Underlying operating profit in 2021 was
£100m (2020: £235m, 2019: £173m) and
the Group reported an underlying loss
before tax of £32m compared to a £100m
profit in 2020 (2019: £35m profit).
A tax charge of £25m meant the Group
recorded an overall profit of £32m from
continuing operations in 2021 (2020: £72m
and 2019: £49m).
Net debt stands at £920m, (2019: £695m,
2020: £550m) “reflecting various factors,
including increased capital expenditure,
investment in stock during supply chain
disruption, negative cash flow timings
and furlough repayment”. The Group adds
that net debt “has improved significantly
since year-end”.
The figures, in the Group’s annual report
for the year ended 1 January 2022, come as
the UK faces a tough economic outlook,
hit by the disruptions of Covid-19, Brexit,
the Ukraine conflict and a worsening costof-living
crisis.
Interim CEO Shirine Khoury-Haq said:
“The difficult operating environment
disproportionately impacted our food
business, given its focus on the community
convenience market, with an operating
model that is more reliant on flexibility in
the supply chain.”
But she said the Group is “a business
designed for the long term”, adding:
“We have a platform of businesses in the
right markets to drive change and get
closer to our members, customers and
communities. The significant investment
we have made in recent years now
provides the basis for us to move forwards
in a more efficient manner.”
She said the Group would focus on
accelerating growth in its food business,
expanding its funeralcare, legal services
and insurance arms, and ensuring value
p Shirine Khoury-Haq, who last month stepped up as interim CEO
and affordability as household budgets
come under pressure.
Total sales across food and wholesale
were £9.1bn, up from a pre-pandemic
£8.9bn for 2019: £8.9bn, and down from
2020, when the £9.3bn had a boost from
extra lockdown trade.
For funeralcare, overall revenue is
slightly down on the prior year by £8m
to £264m (2020: £272m), reflecting lower
death rate after the peak of the pandemic.
In the insurance business, a “new
capital-light and customer-centric
business model has driven return to
profitability”. New business sales have
risen to £34m (2020: £6m).
Legal services lifted profit, with overall
revenue up 9% to £39m (2020: £37m).
More new members were recruited
than in the previous two years – 517,000
(2019: 470,000; 2020: 445,000). And 39%
of those new members were aged 35 and
under. Rewards shared to members and
communities totalled £42m (through 2%
returned to members and 2% given to
community groups on purchases of ownbrand
products), and members saved an
additional £10m through digital offers. In
the previous year, members earned £58m
through the 2% + 2% community and
member rewards (2019: £70m; prior to
October 2020 rewards were earned at 1%
(community) and 5% (members)).
Key investments include £140m in the
food store estate, with 50 new stores; 87
store refits; 25 relocations and 15 store
extensions. Supply chain investment,
including the Group’s new depot,
totalled £39m and £20m was invested
on an annualised basis to align frontline
colleague pay to the Real Living Wage.
The Group continued its Co-operating
for a Fairer World strategy, including
measures for the cost of living crisis,
with £8.7m investment across 102 Honest
Value products, “absorption of supplier
inflation on key products” in Food, and
holding prices in Funeralcare.
The Group reached a milestone of £100m
of funds shared with local communities,
causes and charity partners over the last
five years. More than 1 million members
selected a Local Community Fund cause
in the last round of funding and the Group
raised more than £4.5m in 2021 through
partnerships with Mind, Inspire and the
Scottish Association for Mental Health,
helping over 8,000 people.
Two “major new colleague policies”
were launched on domestic violence and
pregnancy loss and the Group continued
its training and tech investment as it
battled an ongoing problem of shoplifting
and attacks on store workers.
And it launched its 10-point climate
plan, with significant commitments
including reaching net zero by 2040 and
becoming the world’s first food retailer to
produce carbon-neutral own-brand food
and drink by 2025.
u More Group news and society results p6-7
u Analysis p48-49
MAY 2022 | 5

RETAIL
First deliveries roll out from Group’s new £45m depot
The Co-op Group’s new regional
distribution depot in Biggleswade,
Bedfordshire, is gearing up to serve
communities with the first deliveries
under way to stores across the south east.
The depot has started delivering
frozen, fresh and ambient groceries to the
convenience retailer’s stores, with the site
set to serve over 600 Co-op Group stores
when it becomes fully operational later
this year.
At 661,000 sq ft, the new £45m depot –
located just off the A1, less than 30 miles
north of the M25 – will become the Group’s
largest regional distribution centre.
The depot has a base build constructed
to BREEAM Excellent and expects to use
100% renewable energy to power the site
which is set to include solar PV designed
into the roof.
It also embraces adaptable and
innovative spaces, both indoor and
outdoor, that focus on wellbeing and
mindfulness for the up to 1,000 colleagues
working at the site. This includes a
contemplation area, outside green space
bordered by a living wall, and its awardwinning
initiative to support and promote
better sleep, diet and mental health in the
industry, known as Night Club.
Supply chain and logistics director Andy
Perry said: “Our new Biggleswade depot
represents a significant investment in our
logistic operations, bringing thousands of
products closer to communities across the
south east.
p The new depot at Biggleswade (Photo: Richard Grange / United National Photographers)
“Serving our members and customers
however and wherever they choose to
shop with us is at the very heart of what
we do. Whether shoppers choose to pop
into their local Co-op, or shop online –
where groceries are picked fresh in the
local store – our depots work to serve and
support our communities and operations.
Our investment in our new Biggleswade
depot forms part of plans to ensure we
have the right distribution facilities in
place to serve our communities, both now,
and in the future.”
In other news from the Group, it has
extended its partnership with the Natasha
Allergy Research Foundation, to mark
Allergy Awareness Week (26-30 April).
The retailer is donating 10% of all sales
of Co-op ‘Free From’ products for three
weeks, from 13 April to 3 May.
Retail co-ops bag Queen’s Award for sustainability work
The partnership, which started in 2021,
is part of the Group’s commitment to raise
£100k for the Natasha Allergy Research
Foundation by 2023.
The foundation was formed in 2019
following the death of 15-year-old
Natasha Ednan-Laperouse, who suffered
a fatal allergic reaction to an undeclared
ingredient in a baguette from a fast-food
outlet. The charity focuses on medical
research as well as education and raising
awareness of food allergies.
Natasha’s parents, Tanya and Nadim,
said: “Once again, we are incredibly
grateful to the Co-op who are helping us
in our mission to make a real difference to
families with food allergies.”
The Group’s Free From range is available
in Co-op and NISA stores and online, and
includes breads and breakfast cereals.
The Co-op Group and Southern Co-op are
among the winners in the sustainable
development category for this year’s
Queens Awards for Enterprise.
The awards, which involve a rigorous
application process, recognised 31
businesses in the sustainable development
category, and 232 businesses overall.
The Co-op Group has led a number
of sustainability initiatives, notably
its 10-point plan on climate change.
Achievements include achieving
operational carbon-neutral status for
all 2,600 of its food stores and 800
Funeralcare homes and introducing a
soft plastic in-store recycling scheme to
make all its own brand food and drink
packaging easily recyclable.
CEO Shirine Khoury-Haq said: “We
are absolutely delighted to receive this
honour, which is recognition of the
great work and achievements of our
colleagues. Sustainability, climate action
and reducing our business impacts are
embedded into the heart of what we do.
“Our approach is to make a sustainable
difference to society and we acknowledge
there is much progress still to be achieved
and we know we can’t do it alone. Cooperating
with our partners, suppliers,
farmers and fellow UK businesses will
make a lasting positive change.”
Southern Co-op CEO Mark Smith said:
“We are honoured to have been awarded
this significant and well-respected title.
“Southern Co-op was originally set
up nearly 150 years ago in response to
the societal challenges of that time –
exploitation, inequality and poverty.
“Many of these challenges sadly still
exist today, alongside environmental
challenges like climate change, declining
natural resources and threatened wildlife/
habitats. We all need to continue working
together to tackle these issues.”
Southern is currently working towards
ambitious science-based targets to cut its
climate emissions.
6 | MAY 2022

RETAIL
Central England hails ‘solid performance’ but warns of challenges to come
Central England Co-op reported a “solid”
performance for the year to 22 January
2022 with a trading profit of £19.9m.
The figure is down 29% on last year
when lockdown sales lifted profits to
£28m, but is up 13.2% on a two-year basis,
says the society in its annual report.
Gross sales from continuing operations
(excluding VAT) grew by 0.7% year on year
to £875.0m (2021: £869.0m) and were up
3.7% on a two-year basis.
Operating profit of £23.2m was up
9.9% year on year (2021: £21.1m). Cash
generation from operating activities stood
at £36.8m, down 26.9% year on year but
up 10.6% on a two-year basis.
Capital expenditure of £21.5m (2021:
£21.2m) saw the society open three new
stores, relocate one other and regenerate
41 sites. The society’s net assets show an
improved position of £275.4m compared
to last year (2021: £208.1m), largely due to
the reduction in the pension deficit.
Food sales were £667.6m (2021: £691.2m)
and funeral gross sales were £43.9m (2021:
£40.7m). The funeral division also took
in 248 new colleagues, 50 new funeral
p Debbie Robinson
homes and two vehicle logistics centres
following the transfer of the funeral
business belonging to Midcounties Co-op.
Colleagues received a £963,000 share
from the annual profit; another reward
included an extra day paid leave to
celebrate the society winning Leading Coop
of the Year in the Co-operatives UK Coop
of the Year Awards.
During 2021, the society awarded
£170,000 in Community Dividend Fund
grants to 136 local causes.
CEO Debbie Robinson said: “As
restrictions eased, we saw a more
challenging second half of the financial
year. We responded to this challenge by
improving our local product offerings
and increasing the number of concession
partners such as Nutmeg clothing and the
Original Factory Shop.”
Looking ahead, she said there are more
challenges to come for the convenience
sector, “including new rules governing the
way we market items to customers that are
high in fat, sugar and salt … This is a real
opportunity to encourage and support
customers to eat better.
“The sector will face increases in
corporation tax from 2023, and disruption
to supply chains continue due to the
impact of Brexit. Inflation has reached
a 30-year high, which will impact on
our cost base and households will face
considerable increases in the cost of
living. We expect to see a significant threat
to household spending and profitability.”
Scotmid announces £5.7m trading profit for 2021
Scotmid Co-op has announced a £5.7m
trading profit in its annual report for
the 52 weeks to January 29 – down from
£6.4m for the 53-week period for the
previous year.
Turnover was £403m, down £6m on the
year before, but net assets increased by
nearly £10m to a record £112.7m and net
debt was cut by £7.4m, to £17m.
Major store refits were completed at
Prestonpans, Barnton, Menstrie and
Barlanark, and a new store was acquired
in Perth. And the co-op relaunched
its Community Connect Scheme with
£84,000 shared between 12 good causes;
it also raised £220,000 for its charity of the
year partners.
Chief executive John Brodie said the
impact of the pandemic on the society’s
businesses has “unwound” as the country
emerges from the crisis.
Scotmid’s food convenience stores
saw trade fall off from the peaks of the
lockdown in early 2020, he added, but
its health and beauty chain Semichem
“made significant progress on the journey
to recovery”.
Semichem had faced significant
challenges during the pandemic and in
April 2021 Scotmid announced the closure
of several branches. The end of lockdown
helped Semichem turn things around, said
Mr Brodie, with stores fully open over the
last 12 months and “a steady improvement
in sales as the year progressed”.
But Scotmid’s food stores – in line with
the wider convenience sector – “had a
reduced local shopping benefit compared
to the lockdown periods in 2020.
“The business also faced challenges in
supply chain and record sickness levels
from the Omicron variant. Our property
business had a resilient performance
coming out of the pandemic and Scotmid
Funerals saw a return of demand for full
service traditional funerals.”
p John Brodie
Mr Brodie said planning uncertainty
had continued to affect business, with
major challenges in the grocery supply
chain, with factors including Brexit and
the shortage of HGV drivers. There are
still inflationary cost pressures to come,
he warned.
MAY 2022 | 7

EDUCATION
Tuition platform opens
£300k fundraising drive
Platform co-op MyCoolClass has launched
a share offer to raise £300,000 and grow
its business.
The teachers’ co-op, which launched
last year, hopes the funds will leave it
better placed to benefit from the soaring
revenues in the UK’s online education
and training sector – which are expected
to reach £3.8bn in 2021.
Anyone in the world can invest in the
offer, and UK investors can seek up to 50%
tax relief. Individuals can invest between
£100 and £25,000, while organisations
can invest a maximum of £100,000.
Interest of 5% will be paid annually from
year one onwards.
“We need the money to be able to market
and compete and drive the students to the
platform,” said co-founder John Hayes.
MyCoolClass will have three types of
members – teachers (user members),
worker members, and investor members.
UK investors will be able to invest in the
co-op via Ethex while those in other
countries will be able to invest directly via
the share offer on the co-op’s website. UK
investors will get a 50% tax break on their
investment.
Since its launch last June, MyCoolClass
has enrolled over 300 teachers who have
delivered over 700 classes via its online
platform. The co-op also hired 20 staff to
deal with the admin side of the business.
“Most of our teachers knew nothing
about co-ops,” said Mr Hayes. “We’re
trying to get the point across that we’re
not backed by venture capital. A lot of
them have the expectations of us as a large
company, and that’s unrealistic right now.”
In addition to the share offer, the co-op
is raising money via a loan stock issued
in January 2022 to help sustain operation
costs until the launch of the share offer.
MyCoolClass receives donations from
individuals and co-operative support
organisations and has received a £5,000
grant from Solidfund to help fund
marketing and purchase business grade
Cloudflare and Encrypted Cloud Storage.
The co-op worked with Dave Boyle
from the Community Shares Company
to develop its share offer, as well as
co-operative organiser Siôn Whellens. It
also had support from the Hive, the cooperative
development programme run
by Co-operatives UK, through which it
covered consulting costs associated with
launching a community share offer.
Teachers will be able to pitch courses
to the co-op’s in-house curriculum team.
If approved, teachers will earn royalties
from sales of their course.
RESEARCH
UKSCS calls for papers as it prepares to revive in-person conference
The UK Society for Co-operative Studies
(UKSCS) is back with an in-person
conference for 2022, to be held from 26--28
August at the University of Lincoln.
A call for presentations, papers and
panels has gone out, with a focus on
consumer co-operatives – past, present
and future. Proposals can be oriented
towards generating debates and engaging
members, facilitating experiential
learning activities or reporting the
findings of research studies.
Organisers say that they are particularly
welcoming contributions by practitioners
who wish to share developments within
their co-operative enterprise and/
or network on the emergence of new
thinking.
This includes how now thinking has
been applied to accounting, management,
marketing, governance and other issues
in co-operatives; how new practices
have impacted on consumer co-operative
members but also on members of producer
and worker co-operatives, and other
organisations who organise as societies
for mutual benefit.
UKSCS also welcomes contributions on
the position/contribution of consumer
co-operation in the wider co-operative
movement at regional, national or
international level.
The conference will follow four tracks:
T1 – The context of consumer cooperation,
looking at issues such as the
policies and politics of consumer cooperation,
the response of consumer
co-operatives to the changing nature of
work, the issue of capital accumulation
in consumer co-operatives, and intercooperative
structures.
T2 – Consumer co-operatives across
time, space and sectors, looking at
consumer co-ops across regions and/or
countries; across economic sectors; in
historical accounts and in terms of future
developments.
T3 – Lessons learnt: what works in a
consumer co-operative, focusing on the
identification of effective co-operative
practices, including: best practice and
how to attract young co-operators to form
start-ups.
T4 – Open Track: Proposals for
presentations, paper panels or practical
activities that do not fit naturally into one
of the above tracks/themes.
u For more information and submission
guidance, visit bit.ly/3EU3ahM
8 | MAY 2022

BANKING
Ecology appoints new CEO as annual report hails assets milestone
Ecology Building Society has appointed
Gareth Griffiths as its new chief executive,
replacing Paul Ellis who is standing down
after 27 years in the role.
Mr Griffiths, who takes up the next
month, subject to regulatory approval,
joins from Triodos Bank where he is head
of retail banking. Prior to that he held
leadership roles at RAC and HSBC after
beginning his banking career with former
mutual, Bradford and Bingley.
Louise Pryor, chair-designate at Ecology,
led the selection process. She said: “He
emerged as the outstanding candidate to
lead the society, demonstrating a deep
commitment to ethical finance, ensuring
money has a positive impact on people
and planet, combined with significant
banking experience.
“In my new role as chair of Ecology I look
forward to working with Gareth to build
on the society’s excellent performance to
accelerate our mission to build a greener
society while enhancing the services we
provide to our members.”
Mr Griffiths said: “It is an honour to be
joining Ecology Building Society, which
was founded to make better use of natural
resources and reverse environmental
degradation. Forty years on, Ecology’s
p New CEO Gareth Griffiths
mission has never been more relevant,
with the need to address the climate crisis,
deepening financial inequalities and
transforming the UK’s housing stock at
the heart of the sustainability challenge.
“I will be agitating for change in a broken
financial system, which has invested over
£150bn into fossil fuels since the 2015
Paris Climate Accord. At the same time
my focus will be dedicated to supporting
Ecology’s excellent team to continue
delivering award-wining service.”
Alongside Mr Griffiths’ appointment,,
Ecology released its results for the year to
31 December 2021, with a 13.4% increase
in total assets taking it past £250m for the
first time.
The mutual also reported a record
77% increase in new mortgage lending,
enabled by a 15% increase in the number
of members saving with the society. Profit
after tax rose to £1.019m, from £0.524m.
During the year, Ecology says it lent
over £69.4m, supporting 371 sustainable
properties and projects, and ended the
year with a 22.3% growth in mortgage
assets. This growth was supported by the
society’s enhanced capital position as a
result of the core capital deferred shares
(CCDS) capital raise in 2020.
Outgoing CEO Paul Ellis, who steps
down after 27 years in the role, and 40
years with the society, said: “These results
mark an outstanding year of sustainable
growth for Ecology demonstrating, more
than ever, the strength of our lending
model and the importance of finance
that has a positive impact for people and
our planet.
“I am departing Ecology well assured
that I will be leaving the society in the
very capable hands of those who are
determined to build on its legacy as a
leading example of the transformative
power of ethical finance.”
ENERGY
Egni brings the sunshine for Welsh government
Three schools, a care home and a
crematorium in Newport will be among
the first buildings to have rooftop solar
installed under a Welsh government
scheme to expand community renewables.
The panels, which will produce 2MWof
electricity, will be installed by solar
co-op Egni, which has been awarded
nearly £2.35m in funding.
The Welsh government says it is
committed to expanding renewable
energy generation by public bodies and
community groups in Wales by over 100
megawatts by 2026.
Coming in response to the climate
emergency and concerns over escalating
living costs and global energy security, the
overall government project is projected to
save 3,700 tonnes of carbon and realise
significant savings on bills.
Teaching on climate is mandatory in
Wales’ new school curriculum – and Egni
has pledged to reinvest surplus money
from energy sold back to the grid into
further climate change education.
Caerleon Comprehensive School
is already benefiting from an Egni
installation. Speaking on a visit there,
deputy climate change minister Lee
Waters MS said: “Our vision is clear, we
want Wales to generate renewable energy
to at least fully meet our energy needs
and use surplus generation to tackle the
nature and climate emergencies.
“With each IPCC report, the reality of
the climate emergency hits home and we
want Wales to play its part in the global
response by hitting Net Zero by 2050.”
Egni, which will own and manage
the panels, has already connected solar
Photo: iStock
panels producing 4.3MW of energy to
almost 90 buildings in Wales, and last
year became the biggest rooftop solar coop
in the UK.
Dan McCallum from Egni Co-op
said: “We are delighted with this Welsh
government support.
“Egni is already the largest rooftop
solar co-op in the UK which shows how a
co-operative approach can enable Wales
to achieve great things. It’s vital that co-op
based renewable energy scales up rapidly.
Renewables are our energy of freedom and
Welsh people deserve a future free from
fossil fuels.”
MAY 2022 | 9

ECONOMY
Credit unions sound the alarm on cost of living crisis
With soaring energy bills and food
inflation continuing to drive a squeeze
on household budgets, credit unions are
warning of increased pressure on their
members’ finances.
Wales’ Cambrian Credit Union has
told ITV Wales that it has seen a surge in
loan applications – not to pay for one-off
projects, but to cover the cost of everyday
essentials and household bills.
General manager Ann Francis told
ITV: “People are finding just paying for
food is much more of a stretch on their
budget, they’re really concerned about the
increase of gas and electric. A lot of our
members have had the uplift in Universal
Credit taken away ... and they are very
concerned about how they are going to
make ends meet.”
This is particularly acute in the lowincome
areas covered by Cambrian, she
added. “Their affordability is limited
anyway. And it just erodes any kind of
disposable income that they have … They
are literally asking for loans just to survive.”
As well as top-up loans to pay for
household costs, members are looking for
consolidation loans to free up disposable
income and help them keep up with all
their payments.
In Northern Ireland, Ballymena and
Causeway Credit Union has responded
to surging prices – with the cost of home
heating oil doubling in some places – by
dropping the interest rate on its loans.
Marketing manager Julie Martin told
Belfast News Letter: “We always would
have had a home heating loan in place
at a lower rate, which is only for home
heating. We know that times are tough for
everyone at the moment.”
“Our normal rate is 8% and we’ve
lowered it to 4.9%. It was done as a
goodwill gesture, really, to help people
and let them know that we are here.”
She continued: “People are struggling.
We would even find that we’ve had a
few people contact us to say that they’re
struggling with the repayments on their
loans, because of the cost of everything at
the minute. Our home heating loans have
almost doubled in the last month.
“The average member would have taken
out £300 before the increase and now the
average is £570.”
In England, Leeds Credit Union (LCU)
has also raised its concerns. Last month
CEO Paul Kaye warned that chancellor
Rishi Sunak’s spring budget did not go far
enough to help people through the price
squeeze. “Some policies in the spring
statement certainly offer some short term
help,” he said. “However it’s impossible
to believe the new measures alone will
alleviate the negative impact that the
ever-increasing cost of living is having on
ordinary, hard-working families.
“For society’s most financially unstable,
there is still the very real possibility that
they will be forced to choose between
eating or heating which, in 2022, clearly
should not be the case. As a credit union,
one of our greatest concerns is that those
most at risk of falling between the cracks
will be tempted to opt for a short-term
cash injection to help pay their bills and
borrow from high cost lenders or, worse
still, loan sharks. Needless to say, this is
not a route anyone should go down.”
Mr Kaye said people need better
financial education to help them manage
their money, adding that the government
must to do more to support businesses
and help people into work.
Last week a survey of its members by
LCU revealed that, of 2,111 respondents,
28% expect to save no money in the next
12 months, and 43% expect to save less
than they did last year. And 41% said their
financial situation has worsened over
the last 12 months, with 13% saying their
position is much worse.
Almost half (47%) expect their
household economic situation to worsen
and 15% fear it will get ‘much worse’. Only
27% expect things to improve.
Stephen Porter, head of member
experience, said: “While the results aren’t
surprising given the ongoing cost of living
crisis, they are deeply worrying.
“The fact that 28% of respondents said
they don’t expect to save a single penny
over the next 12 months is heartbreaking.
As a credit union, we know only too well
the impact that money worries and a lack
of financial resilience can have on people
and their mental health. Frankly, it is
unconscionable that so many people find
themselves in this position.
“The fact that many ordinary
households are simply planning to stop
spending in order to mitigate skyrocketing
prices is a huge cause for concern too as
it is likely to see any economic growth
struggle to gain momentum.”
For those in trouble, Ms Francis at
Cambrian suggests going to the CAB for
advice or visiting the local credit union.
LCU also highlighted the value of
credit unions. Paul Kaye said: “I would
encourage anyone facing financial
hardship – regardless of their level of
income – to contact their local credit
union, who can offer them the affordable
loans, access to savings accounts, advice
and support they need to make it through
this period of economic uncertainty.
“By helping vulnerable households
plan their finances and assessing their
debts, affordable borrowing can help
people make their money go further at a
time when prudence has never been more
important.”
10 | MAY 2022

CREDIT UNIONS
Serve CEO Paul Norgrove appointed Abcul president
The board of the Association of British
Credit Unions (Abcul) has appointed Paul
Norgrove president of the association.
He takes over from Karen Bennett who
has served as president of Abcul for the
past four years.
Mr Norgrove thanked Ms Bennett “for
all she has done to move the association
and the sector forward in her time on the
board,” adding: “I owe Karen a deep debt
of gratitude for her leadership, vision and
determination to put members’ interests
first at all times.”
Abcul is the main trade association
for credit unions in Britain, representing
the majority of British credit unions
to governments, policy makers and
the media. It is governed by a board of
volunteer directors who appoint officers,
such as the president, vice president,
treasurer and secretary from members of
the board.
“I am truly honoured and proud to
be elected by the Abcul board,” said Mr
Norgrove. “I will do my best to lead the
board in the exciting times ahead and
always seek to improve our service to
members.”
Mr Norgrove’s experience in the credit
union sector spans a decade, and prior
to this he worked in non-profits. He is
currently chief executive of Serve and
Protect Credit Union, which provides
financial services to police, prison,
military, fire and health service personnel
and their families in the UK.
He received the World Young
Credit Union Professionals (WYCUP)
scholarship in 2014 and serves on the
WYCUP Steering Committee. He is cofounder
and former chair of the Abcul
Young Professionals Network.
“Through my experience in the sector,
I have gained a greater sense of the
challenges and opportunities facing
credit unions,” said Mr Norgrove. “I am
very thankful and looking forward to
continuing to work amongst industry
leaders, hear new perspectives and
provide my voice and vision.
“I look forward to leading the board
and working with member credit
unions in the months and years ahead.
Challenges remain in place for the sector
to navigate but we also have hugely
exciting opportunities in front of us.
Let’s grasp those opportunities and work
collaboratively to deliver real change.”
INSURANCE
UK mutuals pay out more than £34m in income protection claims
Members of the Association of Financial
Mutuals (AFM) that offer income protection
paid out 94.1% of claims received in 2021,
up from 93.9% the previous year, figures
reveal.
In total, AFM says its providers paid
out around £34m in claims to 10,300
policyholders in 2021 (including nearly
8,200 new claimants). There had been a
spike in new claims in 2020, and the 2021
volume represents a 17% fall, although
the figure is still 5% higher than before the
pandemic.
Despite the reduction in the number
of claims, Covid-19 continued to have a
prominent effect, with claims related to
the virus accounting for 20% of all claims
– compared to around 25% in 2020.
While the volume of new claims fell
17%, the actual value paid fell only by 7%,
indicating that there was a larger volume
of long-term payments in the year, and
that the costs of claims are rising.
Musculoskeletal problems were the
most common reason for claiming,
amounting to 31% of claims in 2021, with
Covid claims (20%) and mental health
(9%), the other most frequent reasons.
The relatively small number of claims
rejected were typically as a result of not
disclosing key information at the point of
application or claim (39%), or for a claim
that is either for an excluded condition, or
is outside the scope of the policy (37%).
This highlights the need for customers and
intermediaries to provide full and frank
information as early as possible when
completing an application or submitting a
claim, says AFM.
While 5.9% of claims were rejected
overall, only 3% of Covid claims were
not paid, which AFM says shows “the
particular value of a friendly society
provider, as many of their policies will
cover short-term illnesses”.
Mutuals may have a deferred period
of one day or one week, compared to
typically three months or more for a nonmutual,
it adds.
AFM says the mutual product is
particularly important if the illness means
there is no early way to return to work; in
2021, the average claim on a full income
protection policy ran for 29 weeks, though
many claims ran for considerably longer: in
2020, one in seven claims ran for more than
two years. This means that families that
would otherwise be forced to rely on State
support only, can maintain their standard
of living during a protracted illness.
Martin Shaw, chief executive of AFM,
added: “The cost of living crisis, fuelled by
rising bills and high levels of inflation, is a
source of concern for every family. There
has also been a steep rise in the number
of working-age people suffering long-term
illness in the last two years (more than a
third of workers according to the Office for
National Statistics).
“Together, these forces are encouraging
more people to consider buying an income
protection policy. Our latest statistics
show mutual providers can best support
you, in both the short- and the long-term,
as they pay the vast majority of claims.”
MAY 2022 | 11

BUSINESS
110-year-old Welsh wool mill becomes employee owned
A woollen mill, shop and cafe on the
Pembrokeshire coast has transitioned to
an employee ownership trust (EOT) after
being run by the same family since it was
established 110 years ago.
For the past 35 years Melin Tregwynt has
been run by Amanda and Eifion Griffiths,
who have chosen to step back from the
firm, favouring an employee ownership
model over selling to an outside buyer.
Mr Griffiths said an EOT provided
“the perfect solution” for ensuring the
business remained viable and rooted
in the local community. “We will guide
the new management board through the
transition,” he added. “Most importantly
the 42-strong workforce will keep their
jobs and skills and knowledge will remain
here and be kept alive.”
He added: “We are still very much a
family business. Many employees have
worked here for decades, and we even had
three generations of one family as part of
our team. I am proud to be passing on the
company to the new employee board who
I know will take the business to new levels
of growth.”
Melin Tregwynt received support from
the Social Business Wales programme,
funded by the Welsh government and the
European Regional Development Fund.
The programme is delivered by Wales
Co-operative Centre (now Cwmpas, see
p42-43), whose CEO Derek Walker said:
“It is wonderful to see an EOT being used
to safeguard not only jobs, but also the
heritage. It is a great way to pass thriving
companies onto the next generation and
is why we want to encourage more soon
to be retiring founders and employees to
consider it as an option.”
Louise Clarke, Melin Tregwynt’s retail
manager, said: “Melin Tregwynt has such
a strong base here in West Wales it would
have been a tragedy to see it bought out by
another company and possibly changed
forever, so we are honoured that the
Griffiths family has chosen to trust us as
employees with their family business. I
can’t wait to see what the future holds for
us at Melin Tregwynt.”
ENVIRONMENT
Manchester recycler Emerge launches a community share offer
Emerge Recycling, a community benefit
society providing waste recycling
and reuse services for business and
organisations across Greater Manchester,
has launched a community share offer to
develop its operations.
The social enterprise, which offers
services such as ISO9001 accredited
confidential shredding, waste electrical
goods processing, wood waste collections
and kerbside collections, wants the funds
to develop a new depot, grow its team and
make its operations more sustainable.
It says it is “excited to offer the local
community and the general public an
opportunity to join us in pioneering reuse
and recycling for social good by helping
us to develop our longstanding business
and deliver a revitalised business plan
over the next three years.
“We’re looking for kind and
compassionate investors, who want
to make a difference and help their
community in developing a more
sustainable future.”
The share offer will help to fund a
number of initiatives, including:
• a new depot inside Maynard House
• recruitment
• greener vehicles
• solar energy and biodiversity
• digitisation development to enable
greater operational efficiency
• beginning the process of securing
ISO27001.
The minimum target for the share offer
is £140,000 and the maximum target
is £300,000; the minimum investment
permitted is £200 and the maximum
investment is £30,000.
Emerge added: “We are looking to
attract investor members who support the
purpose of Emerge Recycling rather than
those seeking financial returns. As such,
the level of return is designed to be the
minimum sufficient to attract and retain
the investment.
“Our financial modelling indicates that
we will be able to pay up to 4% interest on
members’ shares from the financial year
2024/5.”
The shares will qualify for social
investment tax relief (SITR), which means
individuals can benefit from 30% income
tax relief on the amount invested (subject
to your personal tax position).
12 | MAY 2022

ENERGY
Edinburgh solar co-op
re-opens its community
benefit scheme
Edinburgh Community Solar Co-op has reopened
its benefit scheme to applications
for grant funding from community
focused organisations in the city.
The energy co-op raises capital from the
public to place solar panel installations
on City of Edinburgh Council buildings
(schools, leisure centres and other council
owned buildings). As well as paying
annual returns to investors, it allocates
part of the profits to community causes
that benefit the people of Edinburgh.
In the latest round of this community
funding, applicants can apply for a
minimum of £1,000 and a maximum of
£5,000. Eligible organisations can apply
for the full cost of a project or a smaller
contribution to a larger project. The
average grant is likely to be in the region
of £1,500.
Funds for larger projects will not
be released until the applicant can
demonstrate that they have the remainder
of the funds in place.
Applications are now open with a
closing date of 30 June 2022.
Eligible organisations include schools
and leisure centres, sports clubs,
registered charities or community
organisations with a focus on: children
and young people; the environment and
sustainability; and outdoor education.
• Suitable projects would focus on:
• Environment/sustainability education
• Environmental improvements to
buildings used by communities
• Health, wellbeing and inclusion (for
example community gardens, healthy
eating programmes, or improved access
to facilities for people with additional
mobility needs)
• Small-scale renewables/activities that
reduce carbon
• Initiatives that address fuel poverty.
Channel Islands Co-op to hold quiet hours for autism
Channel Islands Co-op is to hold quiet
hours in its stores to help customers with
autism. The hour, developed with charities
Autism Jersey and Autism Guernsey, runs
every Monday from 3-4pm at the St Helier,
St Peter, St Martin and St Sampson stores.
Measures include dimmed lights, turning
off music and tannoys, and quiet tills.
Scotmid Co-op begins search for new charity partner
Charities are being invited by independent
retail co-op Scotmid to become its new
charity partner for 2022/23.
The society says it is looking for an
organisation that shares its values and
passion for supporting local communities
and would like to build a creative partnership
to encourage participation and fundraising
from staff, members and customers.
Southern Co-op backs nature project on the Isle of Wight
Work to help nature recover in Portsmouth
is being extended to the Isle of Wight,
thanks to funding from independent retail
society Southern Co-op.
Hampshire & Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust
hopes to replicate the success of its ‘Wilder
Portsmouth’ project – also supported by
Southern Co-op and which has helped
build a nature recovery network across
the city – on the island.
Lincolnshire Co-op rewards colleagues with awards week
Colleagues at Lincolnshire Co-op have
been recognised with awards for providing
valued services to their communities and
making a positive difference.
Colleagues Awards Week 2022 sees the
overall Branches of the Year celebrated
as well as individuals and teams given
awards for going the extra mile.
Thieves target Heart of England store defibrillators
Heart of England Co-op is to lock away the
public defibrillators at its stores outside of
trading hours, following a spate of thefts.
Thieves have been using crowbars to
remove the life-saving devices from several
of the society’s sites. In response, the co-op
will have to lock the surviving defibrillators
away and the public will only be able to
access them during opening hours.
MAY 2022 | 13

GLOBAL UPDATES
GLOBAL
Co-ops mentioned in ILO report on SSE
The International Labour Organization
has published a report on Decent Work
and the Social and Solidarity Economy,
which highlights the sector’s contribution
to empowering workers around the world.
The report mentions how the SSE – which
includes co-ops, mutuals, associations,
foundations, social enterprises and selfhelp
groups – promotes international
labour standards and compliance with
the fundamental principles and rights in
the workplace .
The document mentions some of the
contributions of the SSE to decent work,
such as facilitating access to social
protection for their members, empowering
informal workers, fostering social
dialogue, promoting gender equality and
enabling women take leadership roles.
Furthermore, the report explains that
the SSE can also create jobs through
worker-owned enterprises such as worker
co-operatives, which, it adds, “can
be an effective strategy for generating
employment and supporting livelihoods,
especially among informal workers”.
There is a still a problem, the report
adds, because the term SSE lacks universal
acceptance. Other closely associated terms
include “social economy”, “third sector”,
“social enterprise”, “non-profit sector”,
”solidarity economy”, “alternative
economy” and “popular economy.
The report tries to help define the SSE
by providing a set of values distinguishing
it from other subsets of the economy:
social or public purpose; prohibition
or limitation of profit distribution;
democratic and participatory governance;
voluntary cooperation; and autonomy
and independence.
In terms of challenges for the
sector, the report adds that despite the
growing momentum around the SSE,
several barriers continue to restrict its
development. It suggests developing an
enabling environment for the SSE through
tripartite participation with representative
organisations of employers and workers,
as well as in consultation with other
relevant and representative organisations
of persons concerned.
Recommendations in the report include
ensuring a conducive environment to
ensure a level playing field for SSE and
other enterprises and adopting SSE
legislation that explicitly recognises SSE
values and principles provides a strong
basis for promoting the SSE.
The report was produced for the 110th
session of the International Labour
Conference in Geneva, in June 2022, which
will focus on Decent Work and the Social
and Solidarity Economy.
CANADA
Federal
government launches
biggest co-op housing
drive in 30 years
Canada’s federal 2022 budget pledges
to allocate new funding to expand the
country’s co-operative housing sector.
The Canadian government’s budget
proposes to reallocate CA$500m of
funding on a cash basis from the National
Housing Co-Investment Fund to launch a
new Co-operative Housing Development
Program. National sector apex the Cooperative
Housing Federation will codesign
the programme with involvement
from the co-operative housing sector.
The budget also pledges to allocate CA
$1bn in loans to be reallocated from the
Rental Construction Financing Initiative
to support co-op housing projects.
“For generations, co-ops have offered
quality, affordable housing to Canadians,
while empowering their members through
inclusion, personal development,
and security of tenure through their
community-oriented model of housing,”
read a government statement. “While coops
are home to approximately a quarter
of a million Canadians, not enough have
been built in recent years.”
The government estimates that 6,000
units will be constructed under the
scheme, making it the largest investment
in building new co-op housing for more
than 30 years.
Reacting to the budget, the executive
director of the Co-operative Housing
Federation of Canada (CHF Canada), Tim
Ross, said: “Today’s federal budget is
a turning point, as it acknowledges the
unique value of co-operative housing and
commits to its expansion.
“Starting with 6,000 new homes over
the next five years, we are optimistic the
new Co-operative Housing Development
Program will kick-start the development
of the next generation of co-op housing
at a scale that will help solve the housing
crisis. Co-op housing is affordable, secure
and enables the development of strong,
inclusive communities, all of which we
need more than ever.”
The government is also carrying out
a programme of repairs, refurbishment,
and climate-friendly retrofits on existing
housing co-ops.
14 | MAY 2022

EUROPE
Coops Europe’s response to the EC’s Social Economy Action Plan
Cooperatives Europe has released
a position paper on the European
Commission’s Action Plan for the Social
Economy, which was released in 2021.
The apex, which represents co-operative
enterprises across the continent, made a
series of recommendations while raising
concerns about certain aspects of the plan.
This includes the need for a common
understanding of the social economy so
that a coherent set of initiatives can be
built. Coops Europe says the Commission
should establish clear guidelines
common to all EU member states to
avoid differences in implementation, or
implementation “in silos” across actors.
Its paper adds that the need for
clarification also applies to the
definition of some entities, especially
social enterprises, whose method of
organisation and ownership is described
as “democratic or participatory”.
Coops Europe argues that the
governance pillar is just as important as
the objectives or missions in other forms
of enterprises.
When it comes to legal frameworks,
Cooperative Europe says there are vast
inequalities among member states,
which remained unaddressed. Member
states should therefore be encouraged
to promote all types of co-op, in all
sectors of the economy, through adequate
legal frameworks, policy support, and
financial support.
The apex also raises concerns about
the lack of common understanding of the
social economy, labels and certifications,
which, it says, could create confusion
when implemented nationally.
While the use of social clauses in the
Commission’s own tendering procedures
can help grow the sector, Coops Europe
says “a more binding and ambitious
approach was expected with specific
targets and benchmarks”. And the apex
praises the Commission’s efforts to boost
the social economy in regions and rural
areas but says this should also include
allocating resources to well-established
rural businesses in rural areas, such as
agri co-ops.
The Action Plan does not pay enough
attention to international co-operation,
the apex warns, adding: “The actions
foreseen by the Commission are limited
in scope – to social enterprises – and
in space to the western Balkans, the
southern neighbourhood, and the eastern
partnership”.
As such, it calls for actions related to
international co-operation to go beyond
these regions and encourages the
adoption of concrete measures.
CZECH REPUBLIC
Automation rolls
on with unmanned Coop
store in Strakonice
Czech retail chain Coop has opened a new
concept store in Strakonice city centre,
where customers can shop 24/7.
To shop outside of standard opening
hours customers, need to install an app on
their devices, which after the first log-in via
their bank identity will generate a unique
QR code each time they visit the store,
enabling them to enter. Payment is made
by card through self-service cash registers.
“We want these stores to be for everyone”
said Lukáš Nemcík, development and
marketing director, who opened the store.
“Of course, within the standard opening
hours, the store will continue to be staffed,
but outside this time it will operate in
automatic mode.”
Coop, which plans a second store of this
format in Ceský Krumlov in the coming
months, was inspired by Scandinavian coops,
which operate similar format stores.
“We think that the concept of automated
stores has the greatest potential in small
and medium-sized cities due to the
changing structure of customers, most of
whom require the most flexible services,”
said Mr Nemcík.
“In addition, in these localities,
for example, only large shops on the
outskirts, which are often only accessible
by car, are often open in the early evening
or on weekends. For fast shopping, a
constantly open automatic store within
walking distance is an ideal solution.”
These types of stores are particularly
suitable for customers wishing to make
small purchases.
“We also consider our focus on regional
food to be important. For example, we sell
bread from local bakeries or cold cuts from
local butchers. It does not make sense for
this type of goods to be difficult to travel
around the country, as is the case with
multinational chains,” added Mr Nemcík.
“Every visitor to the store will be
uniquely identified thanks to this system,
so it is not a problem, for example, if they
buy more than one customer at a time,”
said Pavel Kozler from Knowinstore, the
firm which developed the technology used
in the store. “The customer will be able
to leave the store with the purchase only
after verification of payment.”
MAY 2022 | 15

IRELAND
Irish minister
visits north of England
credit unions
Seán Fleming, the Irish minister of state
with responsibility for financial services,
credit unions and insurance, paid a visit
to the north of England on 15 March where
he met with representatives of British
credit unions.
The exchange was organised by the
Swoboda Research Centre (formerly
operating as the Centre for Community
Finance Europe), which was set up in
2017 to produce, facilitate and stimulate
action-orientated research that supports
the credit union movement.
Along with colleagues from the Ministry
of Finance and the Irish Consulate
overseas trade teams, the minister heard
about the similarities and differences
between the Irish and the British credit
union movements, as well as the Swoboda
Research Centre’s thoughts on issues
around green lending.
p Nick Money (Swoboda), Christine Moore (Manchester Credit Union), Caroline Domanski (No1
CopperPot Credit Union and Swoboda), John Haslam (Abcul), minister Seán Fleming and Paul A.
Jones (Swoboda)
Mr Fleming, who is also Assembly
delegate for the constituency of Laois
Offaly, met CEOs of Swoboda members
Manchester Credit Union and No1
CopperPot Credit Union, Christine Moore
and Caroline Domanski.
They discussed their credit unions’
high loan-to-savings ratios relative to the
average in Ireland, and mortgage lending.
John Haslam from the Association of
British Credit Unions Limited (Abcul)
also joined the meeting for a conversation
on strategic mergers.
“I enjoyed meeting members of the
British credit union movement,” said Mr
Fleming, as he thanking the meetings
organisers, hosts and participants.
“It’s important we share our learnings
and experience to build relationships
and grow.”
FINLAND
Co-op banking
figure to represent
industry on European
sustainability board
In March the European Financial
Reporting Advisory Group (EFRAG)
set up a new Sustainability Reporting
Board, which provides technical advice
to the European Commission on draft EU
Sustainability Reporting Standards.
One of the members of the newly
created board is Annina Tanhuanpää
of the Finnish co-operative bank, OP
Financial Group, who was nominated by
the European Association of Cooperative
Banks (EACB), the European Banking
Federation (EBF) and the European Saving
Banks Group (ESBG).
OP is Finland’s largest financial services
group, with 121 OP co-operative banks,
two million customer-owners, 13,000
employees, and a 38% retail and corporate
banking market share.
Ms Tanhuanpää told EACB: “I am
excited and honoured to join EFRAG’s new
Sustainability Reporting Board. Together
with the wide range of experts of the
Technical Expert Group (TEG), the board
will be building the EU Sustainability
Reporting Standards, which will
subsequently be adopted by the European
Commission (EC) via delegated acts”.
EACB CEO Nina Schindler said:
“The EACB warmly welcomes Annina’s
appointment and is proud that the cooperative
banking networks could present
such a high-level leadership profile.
“We are convinced Annina is an
excellent choice: her profile combines indepth
knowledge of ESG reporting and
of the banking business with political
awareness. I wish Annina and the new
EFRAG board much success in achieving
the EU targets under a tight timeframe.”
The EFRAG Sustainability Reporting
Board brings together representatives
from European stakeholders, national
organisations and civil society
organisations.
16 | MAY 2022

KENYA
Co-operative Bank of Kenya reports record profit
The Co-operative Bank of Kenya increased
its profit by 59% in 2021.
The bank reported a Kshs 22.6bn (£150m)
profit before tax last year, up from Kshs
14.3bn (£95m) in 2020. Meanwhile, its posttax
profit was Kshs 16.5bn (£109m) in 2021
compared to Kshs 10.8bn (£71m) in 2020.
The value of the bank’s assets also
increased by 8% to Kshs 579.8 bn (£3.85bn)
in 2021 while its total operating income
grew by 12% to Kshs 60.4 bn (£401m). The
bank served over nine million account
holders in 2021.
Other 2021 highlights included moving
94% of all customer transactions to
alternative delivery channels including
Internet, mobile banking and e-wallets,
and expanding its 24-hour contact centre.
Since 2018 the bank has also been offering
packages for micro, small and medium
sized enterprises (MSMEs). Over 144,000
customers have taken up the MSME
packages since 2018 and 19,963 have been
trained on business management skills.
Since launching its ECredit solution, the
bank has disbursed Kshs 42.5bn (£282m)
to MSMEs.
Meanwhile the bank’s Foundation
provided over 650 scholarships in 2021,
which included fully paid secondary
education, tuition fees for university
education and internships.
Group managing director and CEO Dr
Gideon Muriuki said: “The Co-operative
Bank Group continues to execute a proactive
growth strategy anchored on a strong
enterprise risk management framework,
and deepening of our market dominance.
Credit: Co-op Bank of Kenya
We shall, riding on the unique synergies
in the over 15 million-member co-operative
movement that is the largest in Africa,
continue to pursue strategic initiatives
that focus on resilience and growth in the
various sectors of the economy.”
Dr Muriuki received the Best Bank CEO
in Africa Award at 2021 EMEA Awards,
where the bank was praised for sustaining
the same level of dividend payments to
shareholders despite the Covid-19 crisis.
GLOBAL
Co-op insurers beat their local markets for growth, ICMIF figures reveal
Co-op insurers have been bucking local
trends for market growth over the last
financial year, according to figures from
the International Cooperative and Mutual
Insurance Federation (ICMIF).
The latest edition of the ICMIF Members:
Key Statistics 2022 report shows that 70%
of ICMIF members exceeded their local
market’s annual growth.
These results follow positive findings
from the ICMIF Members Sustainable
Investment Report 2021, where 80%
of ICMIF members named in the study
exceeded the total market’s annual
premium growth for last year.
The ICMIF Members: Key Statistics 2022
report provides analysis of the collective
performance of the 200 members that
make up ICMIF today and how they
perform against the wider market in both
long-term and short-term comparisons.
Key findings:
• US$247bn (£190bn) in premium income
• US$2tn (£1.5tn) in total assets
• Over 226,000 people employed by
member organisations
• 356 million members/policyholders
served
• 70.3% of ICMIF members exceeded their
local market’s annual growth
In 2020, ICMIF members wrote an
aggregate of US$247bn in insurance
premiums, of which 45% – US$112bn
(£86bn) was in life insurance and 55%
– US$35bn (£27bn) was in non-life
(including health) insurance.
ICMIF members, as a collective, saw
their held assets surpass U$2tn for the
first time in the Federation’s history.
CEO Shaun Tarbuck said: “The findings
of the new ICMIF Members: Key Statistics
report are hugely encouraging and we
can clearly see that the mutual and cooperative
insurance sector is continuing
to grow, with 70.3% of ICMIF members
outperforming their local markets. The 200
member companies of ICMIF have recorded
US$247bn in premium income and they
serve 356 million member/policyholders.
“In 2022, ICMIF is celebrating its
centenary year and to do so knowing that
our members’ held assets have surpassed
US$2tn for the first time in our 100-year
history is an additional reason for us to
celebrate.”
Also included in ICMIF Members:
Key Statistics 2022 is analysis of ICMIF
members based on legal structure,
location, and affinity group, as well as a
list of ICMIF’s 50 largest members today.
MAY 2022 | 17

EUROPE
Co-ops demand
more action on food
sustainability
Euro Coop, the voice of the co-operative
retailers in Europe, has called the
European Commission (EC) to continue
implementing its Farm to Fork strategy to
drive sustainability in the food sector.
In a recent article, the apex argued that
co-operatives can offer higher guarantees
of worker rights, shared benefits, equality
and holistic sustainability “because the
core business operations are based on
principles and led by values, thereby
maximising benefits for the individual
consumer-members (who are the owners
of the business) and their communities,
while being economically viable”.
Urging the EC to step up its Farm to
Fork strategy during the current crisis by
increasing its sustainability ambitions, it
said consumer co-ops have led the way
in sustainable practices and have been
“steps ahead of the strict legislation
requirements on food safety and
sustainability”.
“Being owned by consumers, coops
have a direct and strong interest in
ensuring food safety and sustainability,”
the article says. “This is why Euro
Coop strongly supports the call for the
Commission to keep on track and ensure
the EU food production resilience by
raising sustainability ambitions even
further in a crisis period which exposes
our Bloc’s vulnerabilities.”
Euro Coop expressed concerns over
the EC’s delay in updating the law on the
sustainable use of pesticides and nature
restoration, which is part of Farm to Fork.
The EC blamed the delay on the Ukraine
crisis, which has affected cereal crops –
especially wheat – in Russia and Ukraine,
which is an important global producer.
The apex also warned of the
consequences of unsustainable food
production, such as climate emissions,
water depletion, soil degradation, water
and air pollution and habitat loss.
Cheaper goods produced in this way
mean sustainable farmers face unfair
competition, says Euro Coop, which wants a
number of measures implemented to
ensure a level playing field for EU farmers –
such as a border adjustment tax for
imported products.
Another concern is the impact on staple
grains of financial speculation at the
Seeds Stock Exchange.
Full article at bit.ly/3rMZKZ2
FRANCE
French co-ops represent 25% of the global turnover of top 100 co-ops
New research which compares French
co-operatives to those in Europe and other
countries puts them ahead of those in
Germany, Japan and the US.
Conducted by economist Olivier Frey for
apex Coop FR, the paper looks at the 2014
Global Census on Co-operatives published
by United Nation’s Secretariat Department
of Economic and Social Affairs, which
measured the size and scope of the cooperative
economy in the world.
The World Cooperative Monitor also
provides an analysis of the economic
(turnover, sectors of activity) and social
(employment) weight of the 100 largest cooperatives
at the European and global level.
Mr Frey’s research found that French
co-ops represent 25% of the global
turnover of the top 100 worldwide, with
US$344.75bn, ahead of Germany (15.9%),
Japan (11%) and the USA (10.1%).
Meanwhile at European level, French
co-ops represent with 36.6% of the top 100
co-ops by turnover. The study also found
that in 2019, out of 100 largest co-operative
enterprises in Europe, 23 were French, 14
were German and 12 were Dutch.
The world’s 100 largest co-operatives
p Groupe Crédit Agricole, one of France’s co-op giants (Photo: iStock)
employ almost three million people, 2.5
million of which are in Europe. France
is the second nation in the world top
100 in terms of employment with 613,351
employees in 13 co-operative enterprises.
Germany comes first with 857,964
employees and Switzerland is third with
223,522 employees.
The research points out that French cooperatives
have been covered by the same
law for over 75 years. Their operations
are regularly audited, through what is
known as the “révision coopérative”
– a co-operative audit. At global level
the most represented sectors of activity
among the 100 largest co-operatives
are agriculture and agri-food, trade and
banking; but in France trading co-ops are
the most important in terms of turnover.
The country’s agricultural and agri-food
co-operatives and co-operative banks also
have a significant weight.
The report also points out that new
sectors are emerging, and some of these –
such as renewable energy, health, healthy
food and platform co-ops – might enter
the top 100 in the future.
Other co-operative networks aim to
radically transform the economy, such as
Licoornes in France.
18 | MAY 2022

p US agriculture secretary Tom Vilsack, and the Federation’s Dania Davy and Cornelius Blanding
USA
Black farmer co-ops will get voice in court over debt relief row
The Federation of Southern Cooperatives
been granted a motion to intervene in a
lawsuit which is blocking a US federal
debt relief programme for black farmers.
In 2020, the US Department of
Agriculture (USDA) granted US$4bn in
debt relief payments to black farmers, in
a bid to reverse long-standing economic
injustices, but this has been blocked by
lawsuits on behalf of white farmers who
claim the measure is discriminatory.
One of the lawsuits has been brought in
Texas by Stephen Miller, a former Trump
advisor, against agriculture secretary Tom
Vilsack – and in response, the Federation
has been fighting to make sure the black
farmers are heard directly in court.
After its motion to intervene was denied
by the lower court, the Federation went
last month to the United States Court of
Appeals for the Fifth Circuit – which has
now unanimously granted its motion.
The case, Miller v Vilsack, will be sent
back to the District Court for the Northern
District of Texas to allow the Federation
to formally enter the litigation as codefendants
with the USDA.
Federation executive director Cornelius
Blanding said: “The USA’s administration,
under secretary Vilsack’s leadership, has
consistently expressed a commitment
to racial equity. Working together as codefendants
of the constitutionality of the
debt relief programme will strengthen our
shared goal of seeing the programme fully
implemented as originally announced.”
“This is a critical decision,” said Dania
Davy, director of land retention and
advocacy at the Federation. “For the first
time since these lawsuits … started to be
filed, this appellate court was the first to
seriously consider the devastating impact
of the delayed implementation of the debt
relief program on our member-farmers.
“By guaranteeing the Federation’s right
to intervene, the court ensured that the
ongoing, race-based discrimination our
member-farmers continue to face can be
entered as evidence in the litigation which
will significantly strengthen the defence
of this programme’s constitutionality.”
The Department of Justice, on behalf
of Mr Vilsack, has continued its defence
of the debt relief programme and filed its
motion for summary judgement asking
the judge to allow the programme to be
implemented without a lengthy trial.
The Federation says it will continue to
work with the USDA, its own legal counsel,
partners, and coalitions to protect its
member-farmers – “who should have
received this debt relief last year” – from
the “looming threat of foreclosure and
land loss”.
Other recent advocacy work reported
by the Federation includes assistance
with the development of a co-op of more
than 400 oyster fishers “as they fight
against racial and economic injustice”.
The Federation attended a demonstration
at the Austin HQ of the Texas Parks and
Wildlife Department (TPWD), which
had been closing fishing bays “without
consideration or input from the mostly
Hispanic community of fisher-folk,
by using tactics such as not providing
materials in Spanish” – in violation of civil
rights law.
“The fisher-folk are fighting for the
long-term sustainability of oysters while
protecting their right to earn a living,” says
the Federation, which cited local concerns
that working class white and Latino
fishermen and women are being driven
from the bays by moneyed interests.
It adds: “There are no easy solutions to
this problem, but it has united fishermen
across racial lines and along the coast …
The two days of protest have provided
an important lesson to the fishermen –
standing co-operatively together makes
them stronger. They’re realising their
collective futures are tied and if they cooperate,
they can win.”
Last month, the Federation also held
a listening session with 15 black Georgia
farmer-members as part of its Advocacy
Institute to hear directly from them
on what it will take to keep them on
their farms.
The Federation holds its 55th annual
meeting from 18-20 August.
MAY 2022 | 19

EUROPE
Woccu chief visits Europe to meet
Ukrainian and Polish credit union leaders
The head of the World Council of Credit
Unions (Woccu) is meeting Ukrainian
and Polish credit union leaders in Poland
to discuss the challenges they face after
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Elissa McCarter LaBorde, president
and CEO of the global apex, will also visit
leaders of Credit for Agriculture Producers
(CAP) a USAID-funded Woccu project set
up to strengthen Ukraine’s credit unions
and expand access to agri lending.
She is also meeting representatives of
Kasa Stefczyka, the largest credit union
in Poland, which has begun enrolling
Ukrainian refugees as members, and
Rafal Matusiak, chair of the National
Association of Cooperative Savings
and Credit Unions (NACSCU), which
is Woccu’s direct member credit union
association in Poland.
“Woccu recognises the credit unions we
work with in Ukraine are facing mounting
challenges caused by the Russian
invasion” said Ms McCarter LaBorde. “We
want to know how we can help today and
in the coming months and years. We also
want to make sure that any solutions we
develop are done in coordination with
our member credit union associations
in neighbouring countries like Poland,
which are already doing so much to help.”
Woccu’s charitable arm, the Worldwide
Foundation for Credit Unions (WFCU),
along with USAID, has recently released
the second and final payment from a
US$1m liquidity fund to help credit unions
working on the CAP scheme to resume
agricultural lending and support food
security in Ukraine. The first payment, of
nearly $500,000, was released in April.
The second part, also totalling almost
$500,000, has gone to the Ukrainian
United Credit Union (UUCU) and United
Credit Union of UNASCU (UCU of
UNASCU), the central financing facilities
for Ukrainian credit unions.
This funding is a response to the
demand for loans from agricultural
producers in areas of western Ukraine
less affected by the war. It is also hoped
the measure will tackle food insecurity –
not just in Ukraine but around the world,
given the country’s important role as a
exporter of food and inputs.
Within a week of the Russian invasion,
WFCU launched the Ukrainian Credit
Union Displacement Fund, which has
raised more than $1m.
“We continue to be overwhelmed by the
incredible generosity of our global credit
union movement” said Mike Reuter,
executive director of WCFU. “While it is
not surprising, because we know how our
international community comes together
in times like these, it is humbling and
overwhelming to see so much support
come in such a short period of time.”
The money raised will be used to
support humanitarian efforts in Ukraine
and neighbouring countries.
Donations can be made at bit.
ly/3xBQqLf
RETAIL
New climate change initiatives from European retail co-ops
Two new green initiatives have been
announced by retail co-ops in Europe,
Coop Sweden and Coop Denmark.
Coop Sweden says it is working to make
its new fully automated goods terminal
in Eskilstuna as sustainable as possible.
“Our electric Coop train will arrive at the
terminal with goods several times a day
and with our own photovoltaic system, we
will largely be able to run the trains and
terminal with electricity from the sun,”
said Örjan Grandin, CEO of Coop Logistik.
The solar cell plant will comprise
approximately 14,400 solar panels on
an area corresponding to 38,000 sq m –
making it Sweden’s second largest roofbuilt
photovoltaic plant.
Construction work on the new goods
terminal started in 2020 and it is expected
to be fully operational in 2024.
Meanwhile Coop Denmark has released
a new set of climate-related requirements
for all its major food suppliers, committing
p The new terminal with its rooftop PV and solar-powered train (Photo: Krook & Tjäder /Coop
Sverige AB)
them to ambitious targets for the groceries
they deliver to its stores.
It will primarily apply to the more than
50 suppliers who deliver goods worth
approximately DKK 100 million (€13.4
million) per year and more.
Coop Denmark says it is the first food
retailer in the country to have its climate
action plan approved by the International
Science Based Targets Initiative (SBTI),
which is in line with the Paris Agreement.
Its largest suppliers will now need to
adapt to the requirements of SBTi by 2025.
The move is “a historic commitment”,
said Coop Denmark executive vice
president Per Thau. “We want to send
a signal in the market that in future [a
reduction in climate impact] will be a
prerequisite for the major producers to
deliver food to us.”
20 | MAY 2022

PERU
Credit unions push
for financial inclusion
An alliance of Peruvian credit unions
has launched a project to strengthen
financial inclusion across the country’s
co-operative sector.
The Strengthening Route initiative is
being led by the World Council of Credit
Unions (Woccu) through its Economic
Inclusion Project (EIP), alongside the
National Federation of Credit Unions of
Peru (FENACREP). The aim is to enhance
the credit union sector and increase
financial inclusion across the country.
EIP is a USAID-funded project set up to
support Venezuelan migrants and their
host communities in Peru and Ecuador.
Launched in 2020, it aims to give 100,000
individuals access to new financial
services over a three-year period.
Eight of the EIP’s partner organisations
gathered in Lima on 8 April to launch
the Strengthening Route and discuss
the challenges, opportunities and needs
facing the country’s co-ops. Two key
issues were identified during the talks
– the first a need for the country’s credit
union sector to become more competitive
and modernised, and the difficulties
vulnerable populations face in accessing
the formal financial sector.
Manuel Rabines, general manager
of FENACREP, said: “The needs for
reorganising and transforming credit
unions are becoming more evident
to adapt to the new conditions of the
financial environment and economic
competition.”
Oscar Guzman, EIP’s director, stressed
that financial services “are the basis for
the sustainability of entrepreneurship and
employability programs aimed at migrant
and local populations”.
It is hoped the Strengthening Route
will help credit unions respond to these
challenges by offering more agile, digital
services to members, expanding business
strategies into suitable markets and hiring
more skilled employees to boost growth.
FBI puts agri co-op sector on high cybercrime alert
Ana Aguirre elected ICA Youth Committee president
Pandemic sparks new generation of co-ops in Fiji
African trade expert takes helm of Fairtrade International
Call goes out for credit union researchers
Cybercrime against farm co-ops is
becoming more sophisticated, with a
higher risk in the planting and harvest
seasons, the FBI has warned. Attackers
will use ransomware to disrupt operations
and food supply chains at crucial times
and co-ops in the US and around the
world are advised to maintain strict online
security protocols
The International Cooperative Alliance’s
Youth Committee elected Ana Aguirre as
president with a four-year mandate. Ms
Aguirre is co-founder and worker-owner at
TAZEBAEZ S.Coop, a Basque worker co-op,
where she leads on co-op development.
She currently serves as vice president for
Europe in the ICA Youth Committee.
Fiji’s government received 80 applications
to register co-ops at the height of the
Covid-19 crisis, which saw people return
to their villages after losing their jobs.
The trade minister announced the figures
at a marine conservation event, the
Fiji Seascape Symposium, and said coops
were ideally suited to sustainable
development and were receiving
government support.
Fairtrade International has appointed
Sandra Uwera as its global CEO. She has
held several business roles in eastern and
southern Africa, most recently serving as
CEO of COMESA Business Council (CBC),
“I am delighted and honoured to lead
Fairtrade as it builds on its leading role in
confronting the greatest challenges of our
time, from climate change and poverty to
gender equality,” she said.
The Swoboda Credit Union Research Prize
2022 is now open for applications from
researchers around the world who wish
to contribute to the development of credit
unions in the Republic of Ireland and / or
the UK. Closing date is 6 May; all queries
to Dr Paul A Jones, director of
research: p.a.jones@ljmu.ac.uk
MAY 2022 | 21

MEET
Bahman Abdollahi
President of the Iran Chamber
of Cooperatives (ICC)
Mr Abdollahi has been involved in co-operatives for 32 years. He
was initially involved in housing co-operatives as a director of a
public sector body working with housing co-ops, and is now the
president of the Iran Chamber of Cooperatives which represents
all co-ops in the country. We interviewed him to find out more
about the co-operative sector in Iran. ICC is a member of the
International Cooperative Alliance.
WHAT IS THE CONTRIBUTION OF CO-OPS TO
IRAN’S ECONOMY?
The status of the co-op sector as the second pillar
of the economy is specified in the constitution of
Iran. Also, the co-op movement has a separate
and independent legal identity. Iran’s co-operative
sector, with 95,000 active co-operatives, 11 million
individual members and about 1.8 million workers,
accounts for about 7-8 % of the GDP.
WHAT IS THE ROLE OF THE IRAN CHAMBER OF
COOPERATIVES (ICC)?
ICC was established in 1994. As the apex
organisation of co-operatives, it is responsible for
representing, serving, promoting and developing the
co-operative sector in Iran; as a member of national
and international supreme decision-making and
consulting councils, it plays an important role
in protecting and promoting the rights of the
co-operators.
For example, it has been an active member of
the International Cooperative Alliance (ICA) since
2000. Also, as a member of the board of ICA Asia
and Pacific (ICA-AP) since 2016, ICC has a much
closer relationship with the global and regional
co-operative movement and implemented various
events to empower and strengthen the co-operative
movement of Iran, of which the most prominent
case was the hosting and holding of 13th ICA-AP
Regional Assembly in 2018.
Other promotional activities include holding
events such as celebrating the International Day of
Cooperatives; thematic conferences in the field of
entrepreneurship and women; training courses to
transfer international experiences as well as holding
B2B meetings for business empowerment.
At national level, ICC has 14 specialised
committees which play the role of the think tank
of the Iranian co-operative sector in supporting
co-operatives in various economic fields. For
example, we have the women and knowledgebased
committees, which strengthen the role of
women and support the development of platform
co-operatives. In addition, ICC provides a variety
of services to co-ops – such as specialised training,
dispute resolution, exhibitions, and business
consulting.
WHICH SECTORS HAVE STRONG CO-OP
INVOLVEMENT?
Iranian co-ops are present in all areas and economic
fields of activity. According to the official statistics
(2020), the largest number of co-operatives in Iran
belong to services, agriculture and industry. There
are about 37,000 co-ops in the service sector, about
28,000 co-ops in the agricultural sector and about
18,000 co-ops in industry and mining. The rest
work in areas such as housing and construction, as
well as handicrafts and handmade carpets.
HOW DID CO-OPERATION START IN IRAN?
Articles about co-operatives were included in
the Commercial Code in 1924, but in terms of
registration and actual activity, the year 1935,
when the first rural co-operative enterprise was
established, can be considered as the beginning of
the official activity of co-operatives in Iran.
HOW HAS THE PANDEMIC AFFECTED CO-OPS?
Many co-ops faced declining sales and revenue,
reduced labour force presence, and reduced
22 | MAY 2022

productivity, but they have responded well to this
crisis, changing their production lines and sales
methods as well as related services. They also tried
to minimise the downsizing of their workforce by
adhering to the co-operative identity. They came
out to support the community and through their
actions, helped the needy sections of the society.
Meanwhile, the role of women’s co-operatives
has been very prominent along with other cooperatives.
WHAT ARE THE GREATEST CHALLENGES?
First we need to address the general challenges
facing the world and the global co-operative
movement – first and foremost, the Covid-19
pandemic. The global co-operative movement must
continue to adapt and deal with this crisis, as in the
past, by promoting solidarity at the national and
international levels.
Another challenge is climate change. We in the
global co-operative movement need to adapt and
take measures to curb its negative effects on cooperative
businesses and their members, especially
agricultural co-operatives.
The third global challenge is the issue of job
creation and decent work. This is an issue that
I have repeatedly emphasised at various ICA
events. In 2020, more than 219 million people
were unemployed and 1.4 billion workers were in
vulnerable employment – we are still along way
frrom meeting UN Sustainable Development Goal
No 8 on decent work.
From my point of view, developing the co-op
business model is the best option to overcome
this challenge. On the one hand, it can provide a
unique platform for the development of collective
entrepreneurship and reducing the unemployment
rate, and on the other, since it is based on ethical
principles and values, job creation through cooperatives
brings the international community
closer to SDG8. Furthermore, in the face of
crises and technological changes, co-ops have
the capacity to quickly and easily adapt to new
environmental changes as well as maintaining
decent work in communities by adhering to their
principles.
The global co-operative movement, including
the Iranian co-operative sector, also faces specific
challenges: the ageing of co-operators, poor
enforcement and oversight of co-operative law,
poor collection of macroeconomic statistics on
co-operatives, lack of networking among cooperatives
nationally and internationally, poor
promotion of co-operatives, weak competitiveness
in the economy, and an inappropriate business
environment.
WHAT ARE ICC’S PRIORITIES?
The priority of the ICC is to try to overcome these
challenges and strengthen and empower the coop
movement in Iran. Networking among co-ops
at national and international level; promoting and
deepening the co-operative identity in the country;
strengthening the position of women in the coop
sector; promoting youth and professionalism;
strengthening the co-op brand and promoting
and strengthening environmental protection
approaches, are all among the strategic priorities
of ICC.
Regarding the presence of youth, in addition to
holding promotional events in the co-op sector,
we at ICC have taken the initiative, and in recent
years we have employed professional youth, so that
now, 70% of ICC’s managers and experts are in the
average age group of 35 years.
In addition to establishing a special committee
for women, with the co-operation of South Africa,
South Korea and Japan, we have organised several
promotional events for the empowerment of
women’s co-ops in our country.
On the subject of branding, we have focused on
consumer co-ops, in the form of capacity building
projects, trying to transfer successful experiences
from countries such as Japan.
Around the environment issue, while
accompanying the campaigns of the ICA and
holding a prominent International Day of
Cooperatives 2020 with the theme Cooperatives
for Climate Action, we always strive to promote
the environment in the Iranian co-op movement.
Fortunately, Iranian co-ops welcome this issue. For
example, we can refer to Pishgaman Cooperative
Union (PCU), also a member of the ICA. This cooperative
has been able to produce paper from
stone with a knowledge-based and environmentfriendly
approach, helping preserve trees and
the environment. This is just one example of the
actions of the Iranian co-operatives to protect the
environment.
MAY 2022 | 23

COMMENT
Right to save with a credit union will help defuse the pensions time bomb
In the Queen’s Speech, the government
should introduce a Right to Save. This
would require all employers to offer their
staff the right to save with a credit union
by a regular deduction from their pay. It
should be compulsory for all employers –
including online platforms such as Uber,
and Deliveroo. One of the many reasons
why the cost of living crisis is set to hit
so many, so hard, is that many in our
country – already very heavily financially
stretched – have little or no savings.
Inflation has soared to the highest it has
been in 30 years and the government is
forcing a huge increase in taxation on even
the nation’s poorest workers, through the
upcoming hike in National Insurance
contributions. With unprecedented
housing costs, routinely increasing travel
costs and energy prices skyrocketing, the
government needs not only to do much
more to tackle the cost of living crisis, but
also turn its attention to what else can be
done to make it a little less difficult to put
money aside for the proverbial rainy day.
Indeed, a survey by the FCA in February
2020 showed that 39% of adults (20.3
million people) said they could only cover
their living expenses for less than three
months, if they lost their main source of
household income. These figures were
echoed by a survey by consumer watchdog
Which? and the Nationwide Building
Society, who also reported that over
12 million adults don’t have the savings to
fall back on if times get tough.
Requiring firms and companies to
offer a payroll deduction service with a
local credit union is one route to helping
employees to save even a small amount
regularly. Having even just a small
amount saved makes it less likely those
in financial difficulty would have to rely
on high-cost loans such as an overdraft or
credit card – or worse, a loan shark.
Although not a new concept, payroll
deduction is growing in prominence as
a mechanism for workers to access loans
and put aside savings. Credit unions
around the world have been delivering
such schemes with employers for decades
and new research has made clear the
effectiveness of payroll deduction at
encouraging greater levels of savings.
39% of adults said
they could only
continue to cover
their living expenses
for less than three
months
Research by the Money and Pension
Service has tested the impact on
household savings and financial resilience
of a payroll deduction scheme operated by
Leeds Credit Union.
The research was delivered with two
large employers: Leeds City Council,
which has operated its payroll scheme
for over 33 years for its 14,500 employees,
35% of whom are already members of the
credit union) and York Teaching Hospital
NHS Foundation Trust (NHS York, which
has been running its payroll deduction
scheme for three years for its 8,630
employees, 1.5% of whom are members of
the credit union). The research conducted
3,000 surveys with workers from across
both employers – together with in-depth
interviews with staff. Among the key
findings of the research is that payroll
deduction is an effective mechanism for
attracting non-savers and converting
them into regular savers.
The findings further suggest that payroll
saving appears to help lower-income
employees and importantly has a positive
impact on mental health, with those
contributing to a payroll saving scheme
reporting being on such a scheme helped
mitigate anxiety when thinking of their
financial situation.
The savings and pensions crisis in
the UK is a ticking time bomb that
threatens our future prosperity – and the
opportunity of a decent later life for far
too many in our country. The government
must do more to tackle this crisis, which
is being exacerbated by ever-growing cost
of living pressures. One simple move with
clear benefits, particularly for those with
little or no savings and on low incomes, is
to create a Right to Save.
Gareth Thomas, Labour/Co-op MP
24 | MAY 2022

01
01
01
01
9
0
YOUR VIEWS
Steve Murrells steps down as Co-op Group CEP
I hope the new CEO doesn’t need AGM
questions butted away for him and relayed
to him by some unelected chair...
Maybe [interim CEO] Shirine [Khoury-
Haq] can successfully state the executive
has met the board’s need for confidence
of return on investment from the Co-op
Live branding agreement.
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.
Nevertheless we wanted executive
reward tied to three-year metrics, this guy
served out a full horizon of what he agreed
to be asked for in his employment so
maybe it will be all right without him.
Luke Blakey
via Facebook
Co-operative News, Holyoake
House, Hanover Street,
Manchester M60 0AS
letters@thenews.coop
@coopnews
Co-operative News
Steve did a good job and was a cooperator,
I hope his replacement really
understands it’s a Co-op SOCIETY and not
a company that she will become CEO of.
Giving up being a non exec of Persimmon
the builders would be a good start.
John Harrington
via Facebook
Wales Co-op Centre rebrand
It’s an organisation that has become less
co-op focused over its history and worry
this could be another step away from the
movement (feature, p42-43).
Iwan Doherty
via Facebook
150 years of independent, co-operative journalism
150 years of independent, co-operative journalism
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‘DEEPENING OUR
COOPERATIVE IDENTITY’
Full coverage of the ICA’s 33rd
JANUARY 2022 World Cooperative Congress
Plus … Launch of the 10th
World Cooperative Monitor …
‘DEEPENING
Interview
OUR
with Rob Harrison,
COOPERATIVE author of The IDENTITY’
Handbook
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Full coverage MPs of debate the debate ICA’s the 33rd
contribution of co-ops and
World Cooperative mutuals to the Congress
UK
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JANUARY 2022
Full coverage of the ICA’s 33rd
World Cooperative Congress
Plus … Launch of the 10th
World Cooperative Monitor …
Interview with Rob Harrison,
author of The Handbook
of Ethical Purchasing …
MPs debate debate the
contribution of co-ops and
mutuals to the UK
Plus … Lessons co-op
organising from Cincinnati …
A co-operative future DECEMBER for the 2021
waterways? … How Blair Ki led
the Co-ops: a review … and
Part 2 of our Co-op Christmas
Gift Guide PEER LEARNING
The strength of co-ops
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affect co-op businesses ...
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RE
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WHY AREN’T
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JANUARY 2021
CO-OPS?
WHY AREN’T
THERE MORE Plus … New international
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... Kay Johnson’s work on food
fairness in Preston ... New York
Plus … New international
working group for taxi UK drivers co-ops launch fundraiser
... Kay Johnson’s for work platform on food co-op
fairness in Preston ... New York
taxi drivers launch fundraiser
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WHAT’S NEXT
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Plus … How Brexit will
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organising from Cincinnati …
A co-operative future for the
waterways? … How Blair Killed
the Co-ops: a review … and
Part 2 of our Co-op Christmas
Gift Guide
Plus … Lessons in co-op
DECEMBER 2021
PEER LEARNING
The strength of co-ops
learning together
Plus … The co-ops tackling
global deforestation ... Mark
Drakeford Robert Owen at
250 ... A new chaper for the
New Internationalist ... Retail
results round-up
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groups, past, present
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JULY
MAY 2021
HOW CO-OP
DEMOCRACY
PLAYS OUT
Plus … Credit unions
consider the merger question
... A globa look at youth
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anniversary of a co-op icon ...
Nigel Todd: A tribute
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IS RESILIENCE
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retai landscape? ... The
humanisation of healthcare
... 90 years of the Rochdale
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wo
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E

Scottish farm co-ops take
a sustainable future to market
Miles Hadfield
Sustainability and net zero were on the agenda
at the annual conference of the Scottish
Agricultural Organisation Society (SAOS), held
in Dunblane last month.
The event kicked off with a presentation from
Mark Brooking, sustainability director at dairy
co-op First Milk, which has 700 members across
England, Scotland and Wales.
Producing 850 million litres of milk a year, the
co-op is continuing to grow, with milk volumes
up 25%, turnover up more than 50%, and net
assets almost doubling to more than £40m.
But Mr Brooking claimed that opponents of
the dairy industry are using climate change as a
stick to beat it with. “There are individuals and
organisations which would like to see no dairy
produced in the UK at all,” he said.
To counter this, he said, the dairy industry
needs to be proactive. “If there are practices
we cannot defend, we need to change those
practices. Every time there is a negative story in
the press someone will stop using dairy.”
In any case, dairy farmers need to act on
climate change, he said. “Make no bones about
it, we have a climate emergency”.
But sustainability also offers opportunities
because consumers “are interested in where
their food is coming from”. Co-op farmers have a
story to tell on this, as “traditional family farms
that care about people, animals, the Earth”.
Net zero is the biggest issue, with 95% of dairy
industry emissions coming from farms, and First
Milk has set members a series of targets. “It’s a
big challenge,” said Mr Brooking, “and farming
will be different in the future.”
To reach net zero by 2040, farmers must
sequester 100,000 tonnes of CO2 in the soil,
each year, by 2025; and increase milk produced
from forage by 10% by 2025. All transport and
processing must be renewable-powered by 2030.
To drive this, Mr Brooking advocates
regenerative agriculture, a holistic model which
uses animals in the field to help sequester
carbon, and protects the soil, plant diversity and
living roots. Farm data and digital mapping are
crucial tools for this, allowing farmers to measure
carbon levels in the soil and demonstrate “how
we’re helping the planet”.
First Milk now has the biggest soil data set
in the UK, he added; it is also mapping hedges,
watercourses, grazing, cultivation, and the use
of electricity, feed and fertiliser.
“We’re collaborating for success through the
whole supply chain,” he said, with a positive
response from First Milk farmer members: more
than 90% have signed up.
In a separate discussion on data, George
Noble, data and connectivity manager at SAOS,
said the organisation is developing systems such
as CarbonPositive and Smart Rural, gathering
u SAOS chief
executive Tim Bailey
opens the conference
26 | MAY 2022

information from ground sensors, weather
stations, energy monitors and cattle GPS; and
biodiversity monitors are being developed, that
can listen to birdsong or detect types of pollen.
The key lesson, he said, is “keep it simple.
Data is there to tell us how time is best spent and
how we can make improvements.”
This is farmer-owned data which can help
in many ways, from improving the picture of
calf mortality to reducing the cost of regulatory
compliance. SAOS can help, he said, by “getting
the right people round the table, helping people
plan around data governance and use, and
giving farmers a say in the creation of value from
the data they supply”.
John Hutcheson, chair of SAOS and director
of GrainCo oat producer group, also discussed
the way farmers are collaborating to drive
sustainability at scale. This is increasingly
market-driven, he said, noting that Quaker – one
of GrainCo’s main customers – has asked for
auditable sustainable production so it can show
food provenance on its packaging.
Sustainable grain production can be a
challenge in Scotland, with wet weather harvests
meaning more energy is needed to dry the crop.
But Matt Waldie, one of GrainCo’s farmers, is
leading the way in finding solutions, chairing a
group of farmers – 4 Front Farming – who share
equipment to drive savings and collaborate on
eco-friendly farming techniques, such as using
cover crops like clover which feed the soil, create
organic matter, reduce fertiliser inputs, protect
soil over winter and feed wildlife.
Farmers are also reaching out to the public to
drive better understanding of the land. Graham
Barr, chair of Pentlands Land Management
Association, discussed problems in Pentland
Hills Regional Park – which comprises 9,000ha
of land on the urban fringe of Edinburgh.
The park has 600,000 leisure visitors a year,
but funding cuts mean there are only three
rangers, with no visitor education. As a result,
rubbish is left, fires are lit, trees are chopped,
gates are left open letting livestock loose, and
livestock is attacked by dogs.
This is harming farmers’ mental health, said
Mr Parr. To help manage the situation better,
SAOS has been facilitating discussion between
landowners, councils, the emergency services
and politicians, and providing a collective voice
to drive visitor engagement and education.
Later the conference looked at how farm coops
can communicate their values to gain market
advantage. Amanda Brown, project director for
the SF&D Partnership’s Knowledge Bank, said
Kantar research shows a third of shoppers are
The key lesson is “keep it simple. Data is
there to tell us how time is best spent and
how we can make improvements”
– George Noble, data and connectivity manager at SAOS
actively interested in sustainability: a spend
worth £36bn in the UK, and £3.3bn in Scotland.
One problem is that price and convenience
form barriers to shoppers looking to do the
right thing – a problem set to worsen with
the cost of living crisis. Still, there is scope to
“commercialise what we are doing right back
through the supply chain”, she said.
Marketing expert Anna Davies, from rural PR
specialists Scene and Herd, said collaboration
through industry-wide marketing initiatives,
such as Food and Drink Scotland, is important.
“We all want farming to be seen in a positive
light,” she said. “We all stand to benefit from
consumers understanding what we do.”
She said farmers should use all channels to
promote what they do and tell positive stories
– social media, print, podcasts, and broadcast.
And it is important to share and spread content
– whether it is a tweeted photo or a short Tik-Tok
film – to ensure the message does not get stuck
in a social media bubble.
“A little bit more action on everyone’s part
will do a lot,” she said. “We need to support
each other – if we see something on Facebook
that another farmer has posted it’s a good idea
to support it. Consumers want information on
production methods, conservation, animal
welfare. We need to tell them these stories.”
p 4 Front Farming
is finding new ways
to collaborate in
agriculture
MAY 2022 | 27

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Common identity, common language?
Rebecca Harvey
The number of co-ops around the world stands
at around 3 million different organisations
– but many of these businesses may not selfidentify
as co-ops, or promote themselves as
such. As discussed previously in Co-op News,
sometimes this is because they don’t want or
need to associate with a formal declaration of
co-operation, and sometimes because they may
not realise they are a co-op in the first place.
The question of co-op identity, mutuality
and how this is demonstrated and promoted
by organisations – is still one that is fiercely
debated, and in this issue, we look at two
organisations (Yorkshire Cricket Club and the
Building Societies Association) and their they
approaches to this.
It’s also a question that the International
Cooperative Alliance continues to explore. It
has recently launched a survey to find out how
familiar respondents are with the Statement of
Cooperative Identity, the Cooperative Principles
and the Guidance Notes to the principles,
and asks for ratings and remarks on a number
of statements around the effectiveness and
relevance of these documents.
“With the 33rd World Cooperative Congress,
held in December 2021 in Seoul, Korea, the
ICA launched an extensive reflection and
consultation intended to deepen our cooperative
identity and to explore how well
the Statement has stood the test of time,” says
Alexandra Wilson, chair of the ICA Cooperative
Identity Advisory Group.
“[The consultation] will address such
questions as: Is the co-operative identity
adequately defined? Is it widely understood?
Are co-operatives operating in a manner
consistent with it? If not, why not? Is a fresh
interpretation of the Principles needed in light
of contemporary challenges and opportunities?
Are any changes to the formal expression of our
identity required? Can other tools be developed
to enhance co-operatives’ understanding of the
co-operative identity and stimulate action on
their part consistent with it?”
One tool used by organisations globally is the
International Day of Co-operatives (IDC), which
takes place annually on the first Saturday
Our co-operative identity is never more
important than in times of crisis, such
as today”
– Alexandra Wilson, chair, ICA Identity Advisory Group
of July – but although this is strong day of
communication and action, it is just one day,
and there is little other co-ordinated action.
In the UK, Co-operatives Fortnight takes
place in the two weeks leading up to the IDC,
and although efforts are being made to develop
shared language to promote co-operative ideas
during this time, the diversity of co-operatve
sectors, organisational types and geography,
even within a single country, makes this a very
tricky process.
Meanwhile other countries celebrate co-ops
at different points in the calendar. The USA,
for example, celebrates Cooperative Month
each October. In India, Cooperative Week is in
the middle of November and Nepal celebrates
National Co-operative Day every 2 April.
But as Ms Wilson highlights, wherever you
are in the world, “our co-op identity is never
more important than in times of crisis, such
as today. The participation of the global cooperative
community in this consultation to
deepen our identity is vital.”
u www.surveymonkey.com/r/RFFDFGJ
p Alexandra Wilson,
chair, ICA Identity
Advisory Group
MAY 2022 | 29

The co-operative difference
in Canada: how CMC promotes
the sector
Anca Voinea
With a relatively small population – 38 million
people – spread across the second largest
country in the world, speaking two official
languages alongside several indigenous ones,
Canada poses some tough challenges when it
comes to national messsaging.
For the co-op movement, things are even
trickier: of the country’s 7,500 co-ops, only 100
are registered at federal level; most operate at
provincial level.
Between 2010 and 2015, the Canadian Cooperative
Association – in partnership with four
Canadian universities – conducted research
on the social, economic and environmental
impacts of co-ops on Canadians and their
communities. The project was funded by the
federal government and found that co-ops
enrich their communities, particularly in sectors
like housing and renewable energy and created
jobs at five times the rate of the overall economy.
As the national apex representing all
provincial co-operative federations across the
country, Co-operatives and Mutuals Canada
(CMC) works to raise awareness about co-ops
as well as bring the various co-op sectors in
different regions together.
Its initiatives to build a more cohesive
movement include sending a newsletter, holding
a national congress on a yearly basis, and
organising various webinars.
In April 2017 a private members’ bill
recognising the importance of co-ops in Canada
passed through the Canadian parliament. The
ripple effect from that was the commissioning
of a series of consultations by the federal
government, which showed a need for more
awareness about co-operatives.
The government paid for a one-on-one course
on co-ops to be developed and delivered to 500
public servants involved in frontline economic
development, says Daniel Brunette, director of
advocacy and partnerships at CMC. He thinks that
such initiatives are crucial to growing the sector.
Awareness is also an issue when it comes to
the transfer of enterprises.
In 2019 CMC commissioned a national survey
of 5,000 Canadians to explore public attitudes
about the economic system, broader public
concerns, and what role co-operatives could play
in addressing those concerns. The study found
that 30% of Canadians are members of a co-op –
but only 10% say they are very familiar with the
co-operative business model, with another 37%
saying they are ‘pretty familiar’. Furthermore,
three in four Canadians are unaware that the
largest financial institution in Quebec, the
Desjardins Group, is a co-operative. This figure
includes half of Quebec residents.
CMC was involved in Coop Convert, a research
project examining the process conversion to
co-operatives. One of its findings was that only
7% of business owners had already considered
converting to co-op while 17% were somewhat
likely to have considered it.
“Business owners and entrepreneurs are not
necessarily familiar with the co-operative business
model,” says Mr Brunette, adding that the model
30 | MAY 2022

should be taught in schools – as actually happens
in Quebec, where the high school curriculum
includes running unincorporated co-ops.
To address the lack of awareness around cooperatives
at a national level, CMC tried to engage
with groups such as the Women’s Economic
Council and the People Centred Economy Group
to run joint advocacy campaigns and awareness
raising initiatives.
A bilingual association, CMC was formed in
2014 through the merger of the Canadian Cooperative
Association (CCA) and the Conseil
Canadien de la Coopération et Mutualité (CCCM).
“The purpose of that was to establish one
strong Canadian voice: everything we do is
bilingual,” says Mr Brunette. In addition to
French and English, some provincial associations
operate in local dialects, particularly in Arctic
communities. CMC aims to help connect these
different provincial co-operative associations
and Francophone and Anglophone co-op
organisations.
“Some co-ops are at the heart of the
community because they provide access to
essential products and services,” says Véronique
Boucher, communications manager at CMC.
Explaining what a co-operative is to the
national press is not without challenges. Large
newspapers with business sections are less
likely to cover co-ops than local papers, says
Mr Brunette. “It really depends on who you’re
talking to. In many places across Canada co-ops
are omnipresent.”
Such is the case of Quebec, a province that is
home to over 3,000 co-ops and mutuals. Quebecbased
Conseil Quebecoise Coopératives et de la
Mutualité (CQCM) ran a bilingual campaign
to promote co-ops called Co-op Effect, which
managed to attract coverage in the local press.
There is also competition from non co-ops.
“Some people have appropriated some of the best
practices of co-ops but at the end of day, they’re
still for profit,” says Mr Brunette. “So there’s that
the ‘I don’t know enough’; versus the ‘oh, I have an
erroneous assumption of the co-op is so it’s more
than an affinity purchasing programme’.”
CMC’s priorities are helping the social
economy and co-ops to secure investment and be
prepared to receive it, doing feasibility studies,
making sure that social economy investors know
about co-ops, and co-ops are aware of available
funding. Rather than trying to engage with the
wider public, CMC is targeting specific groups
such as women in business or young people.
“Just putting money out for front page ads on
national newspapers is not going to solve the
[awareness] problem,” warns Mr Brunette.
Individual co-ops also help to spread
awareness about the sector. Some co-operatives
actively promote their co-operative identity –
including via their branding. Among these is
Sollio Cooperative Group, which rebranded
in 2020 from La coop fédérée. “They’re trying
to showcase the co-operative difference in
everything, from their message or media
messaging to their packaging,” says Mr Brunette.
Canada also celebrates its national Co-op
Week in October. For this, CMC prepares a
standardised national message which is then
picked up by provincial associations. This
Some co-ops are at the heart of the
community because they provide access
to essential products and services”
– Véronique Boucher, communications manager,
Co-operatives and Mutuals Canada
gets the attention of provincial newspapers,
particularly in areas with a rich co-op history
like Quebec, with occasional mentions in the
national press as well.
Mr Brunette says promoting the co-operative
difference “comes down to more strategic
conversations” with government officials – and
it’s important to run the campaign properly,
because messages from big flash campaigns
could be forgotten if they are not repeated.
Ms Boucher adds that, for most consumers,
what matters most is that their needs are
fulfilled. “If the co-ops are doing a good job, they
will get clients who will come back,” she says.
When they get clients the co-ops will be able to
share their message.”
t Véronique Boucher
(left) and Daniel
Brunette
MAY 2022 | 31

Experiencing the co-op difference:
co-operative summer camps
Alice Toomer-McAlpine
Summer camps are places of discovery for
young people, so it is unsurprising that coop
organisations in North America have been
offering a co-op twist on the experience to help
share the movement’s values.
One example is the Cooperative Leadership
Camp, run by the Cooperative Council of North
Carolina (CCNC). Now in its 85th year, it hosts
up to 100 teenagers from across the state, giving
them the opportunity to experience life running
a co-op, alongside traditional camp activities
like canoeing, hiking and archery.
This year the camp runs from 20-24 June at
Camp Monroe in Laurel Hill. Throughout the
week, young people are thrown into a simulation
of building and managing a T-shirt worker coop,
where they must apply co-op principles and
values them while responding to challenges.
“It’s a really crazy week,” says Emily Nail,
CCNC’s executive director. “The biggest thing
that comes out of it is they learn what a co-op is.
A lot of these students don’t understand that a
co-op is a business option, and they don’t have
that education in their high school curriculum.”
Ms Nail says CCNC’s summer camp is a “handson
experience ... like a cultural immersion.”
This is different from communication through
other means, such as social media, because it
is woven into a life experience that involves not
only a focus on co-ops, but a chance to develop
socially in a new environment, mixing with
young people from different parts of the state.
Attendees say the camp has had a profound
effect on them. One young person, Gabbi, came to
camp in 2018 and said at the end: “Before I came
[to camp], a leader to me was doing all the work
and telling people what to do. But here it’s like
everybody’s a leader and everybody takes charge.”
Attending the same year was Abbie, who said:
“I’ve noticed that when working in groups there’s
times when you step up and take the lead and
times when you don’t. You’ve got to recognise
those times you do take the lead, recognise your
I know I will never forget
my time at CYL ... I will
probably end up choosing
co-op business as a career
32 | MAY 2022

strengths and weaknesses and notice when
somebody else is stronger at something than you
are and let them take the lead.”
Another young person, Hope, said camp had
“taught me more about co-ops ... I met a lot of
new interesting people who were like-minded
and we talked about goals in life. I thought that
was an interesting thing to see, that there’s other
people my age that want to go and do great
things in this world.”
Ms Nail has seen the camp “opening students’
eyes” to co-ops. Many go on to participate in the
movement, from supporting co-op brands to
joining as members or employees. She tells the
story of Marshall Cherry, who was sponsored by
Roanoke Electric Coop to attend the camp as a
teenager, and this year became its CEO.
“He went to camp back before I was born,
and was sponsored by Roanoke Electric, went to
camp, had no idea what a co-op was,” says Ms
Nail. “He went back to school, went to college,
came back home and went to Roanoke and
said, ‘You sent me to camp when I was a high
schooler. I know what the co-operative is. I know
what the co-operative difference is. Do you have
a job for me? And so they hired him. And now a
couple decades later, he is their new CEO. And
has stayed with Roanoke the whole time.”
She adds: “These students are going to be our
future leaders and several of our more rural coops
want them to come back with an interest in
making their community thrive, and continuing
that business model.”
In Canada, the Alberta Community & Cooperative
Association (ACCA) has been running
the Co-operative Youth Leadership programme
since 1957, inviting 200 teenagers a year to
Nordegg in the Rockies for a week of outdoor
adventure and co-op activities.
ACCA says the camp “motivates youth with
living examples of how local co-operative
and agricultural organisations are influential
key players in building and maintaining
communities.” They encourage co-ops to
sponsor participants’ places, adding: “Many of
these youth will become active members in your
co-op or credit union and active volunteers and
influencers in their community.”
Canada’s longest running co-operative
summer camp is run by the Saskatchewan Cooperative
Association (SCA), now under the
banner of Camp Kindling. In 1928, SCA set up a
summer Co-op School to communicate how coops
support Saskatchewan farmers. Sharing the
benefits of the co-op model with young people
was seen as essential to the continuation of the
movement in Saskatchewan.
In the 1970s, the programme changed its name
from Co-op School to Saskatchewan Co-operative
Youth Program, marking a shift from formal
teaching to hands-on immersive experiences
with a greater focus on personal and collective
development within a co-operative context.
Now with almost 45,000 alumni, Camp
Kindling says the camp’s longevity is “an
unmistakable sign that the programme has truly
touched the lives of Saskatchewan people”.
Another camp, Co-operative Young Leaders
(CYL), is run by the Ontario Co-operative
Association. The week-long summer camps take
place at the Co-operative Education Centre near
Aylmer Ontario, at the Gay Lea Dairy Museum.
Over 3,500 young people aged 13 to 18 have
attended since 1967.
Ebony, a senior participant in 2019, said in a
testimonial: “I know I will never forget my time
at CYL and that I will probably end up choosing
co-op business as a career path. [The camp
director], the other facilitators and the program
of CYL has inspired me to use my life this way.”
Ebony’s remarks resonate with others who
spoke about what they got from attending a
summer camp – the value of a shared human
experience. Young people who attend these
camps gain their understanding of the cooperative
difference from these collective
experiences, and the memories they take away.
MAY 2022 | 33

Testing times: Can memberled
values revive county cricket?
Miles Hadfield
p Allegations by
Azeem Rafiq of racist
bullying at Yorkshire
shook the cricket
world and prompted a
restructure at the club
(Photo: Dave Morton/
Wiki CC)
The racism scandal at Yorkshire County Cricket
Club has led to a high-profile member vote on a
series of reforms – a reminder of the co-operative
model used in the county game.
Yorkshire is one of more than a dozen clubs
in the county cricket network to use the co-op
model but this has not kept the game out
of trouble over recent years, with declining
participation and rising debts.
Meanwhile, onlookers have pointed to a low
turnout in the vote on Yorkshire’s reforms, with
ESPN’s cricket editor David Hopps writing that
this “underlines that Yorkshire have suffered
both from a flood of member resignations or
non-renewals”.
The row stems from complaints by former
Yorkshire cricketer, Azeem Rafiq, who said he
had been subjected to racist abuse and bullying
during his two spells at the club, between 2008–
2014, and 2016–2018.
Accusing the club of being institutionally
racist, he complained officially in 2018, but
an independent inquiry was not launched
until 2020, leading to criticism of the club for
its handling of the affair. Its chair resigned in
November 2021, being replaced by Lord Kamlesh
Patel, who drew up plans to restructure the club.
Of the club’s 6,000 members, only 3,000 are
full voting members; of those, only 1,100 voted,
in person or via proxy, at an emergency general
meeting. Held at the club’s Headingley ground,
it saw 80% vote in favour of the changes.
There were three votes at the meeting: one
to ratify Lord Patel as chair; one to release
Patel and others from personal liability on
decisions taken, after threats of legal action; and
finally one to restructure the board to include
independent members.
After his plan was accepted by members,
Lord Patel said: “We welcome the outcome of
this EGM and thank the members for their full
and proper consideration, an open exchange of
views, and their votes. It means Yorkshire can
stage internationals against New Zealand and
South Africa this summer, in the process averting
a major financial crisis. It is an overwhelming
vote for positive change.
“This support will help Yorkshire County
Cricket Club to be an inclusive and welcoming
place and gives us the clarity and certainty we
need to keep building this great club..”
The England Cricket Board (ECB) said: “We are
pleased that Yorkshire members have given their
overwhelming support to these reforms. This is
34 | MAY 2022

an important step forward in bringing about real
change and setting the club on course for a more
inclusive future.
“We welcome the progress made by Lord Patel
so far, as well as his commitment to making the
club one which everyone, from all backgrounds,
can be proud of. ”
But the changes did not come without dissent
– even though failure to ratify them would have
cost the club the right to host international
matches, threatening its survival. At one point,
Lord Patel threatened to resign, warning that
failure to ratify the vote would leave the club
unable to compete in the domestic season or pay
its players.
Opposing him, former chair Robin Smith had
led a rearguard action with threats of legal action
against the reforms, arguing that the ECB was
threatening the club’s independence. He accused
Lord Patel of behaving undemocratically and
called for his removal; but Yorkshire says the
restructure follows Sport England guidelines.
The row goes to the heart of the club’s co-op
status: Mr Smith is unhappy that the new board
will have eight independent members, not
drawn from the club membership, alongside two
board members from the membership, plus the
CEO and director of cricket.
“A four to one ratio of outsiders to members
as non-executives on the club’s board would so
change the character of the club as to render
it unrecognisable as a Yorkshire institution,”
wrote Mr Smith in a leaked letter to Patel.
But the reforms also had outspoken
supporters. Julian Metherell, chair of the
Professional Cricketers’ Association, backed the
changes when he appeared before MPs on the
Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) select
committee in February, and has accused Mr
Smith of “combative” behaviour.
Another former chair, Colin Graves, also
supported the reforms – even though they
reduced his own influence at Yorkshire. The
Graves family trust is owed £15m by the club
and, until Lord Patel’s changes, had a veto on
board appointments and dismissals.
A third ex-chair, Roger Hutton, had complained
to the DCMS committee that Mr Graves, who was
executive chair between 2012 and 2015, had too
much power at the club.
These questions of control and governance
have come at a crucial time for Yorkshire –
and for county cricket in general, with falling
participation in the sport and the pandemic
worsening the debt affecting many clubs.
Problems in the game make an engaged,
supportive membership vital – for instance, in
It doesn’t matter who you are, where you
are from, which background you come
from, or how big your bank balance is. If
you want to access cricket, you should be
able to access cricket”
its annual report for 2021, Yorkshire said that
“a significant proportion of members donated
their annual membership fees, together with
a large proportion of members donating the
ticket money from their purchases, and notable
additional donations from members who wanted
to help further.”
The livestreaming of matches on Youtube
is also helping to make the county game more
accessible. Clubs are also streaming their AGMs;
last week, Surrey County Cricket Club posted
its AGM online – and directly addressed the
scandal at its northern rival. CEO Steve Elworthy
said times are changing for the game – from the
“brutal” pandemic season and the job losses it
had brought, to changing audience demands.
“People’s values have changed,” he said. “We
need to reflect that we’ve got probably hundreds
of thousands of people coming through the gates
this year, and we need to make sure that we can
reflect those changes.”
He saluted Azeem Rafiq’s “incredibly powerful
testimony” and committed his own club to
increasing diversity and equity. “It doesn’t
matter who you are,” he said, “where you are
from, which background you come from, or how
big your bank balance is. If you want to access
cricket, you should be able to access cricket.”
Mr Elworthy said his club should also
be ambitious on sustainability and carbon
neutrality, and improve member engagement.
Board member Ebony Rainford-Brent, chair
of Surrey’s Culture and Values Board, gave a
presentation on the ACE programme, a response
by the club to the falling numbers of cricketers
from Afro-Caribbean backgrounds. Working
in partnership with other clubs – including
Yorkshire – and backed by ECB and mutual
insurer Royal London, the programme also
targets other under-represented groups such
as white working class people and those from
eastern European backgrounds.
“Let’s change it from a narrative of ‘we wish’ to
‘let’s make something happen’,” she said.
MAY 2022 | 35

100 years of ICMIF
Anca Voinea
p Shaun Tarbuck and
Hilde Vernaillen
The International Cooperative and Mutual
Insurance Federation (ICMIF) celebrated a
milestone on 25 April – 100 years since its launch
on the same date in 1922, in Rome.
In those 100 years ICMIF has grown from a
group of five European mutual and co-operative
insurers to an apex of more than 200 member
organisations in 61 countries, representing
US$247bn in premium income and US$2tn in
total assets.
While its global headquarters are in the United
Kingdom, ICMIF has regional associations in
the Americas and Japan, bringing together 200
values-based insurers in 61 countries.
Its current chair, Hilde Vernaillen, is also
the president and CEO of one of its founding
members, the P&V Group (Belgium).
During a special interview with ICMIF’s
CEO, Shaun Tarbuck, Mr Vernaillen referred to
P&V’s role in creating the global apex. She also
explored ICMIF’s relevance today.
“Joseph Lemaire, the then CEO of la
Prévoyance Sociale (now known as P&V) in
Belgium, had a vision to create a platform where
purpose-driven insurers – co-operatives and
mutuals – could share their strategies and ideas
in a non-competitive environment,” she said.
“He brought together five organisations –
including those now known as Folksam
(Sweden), Unipol (Italy), Achmea (Netherlands) –
and together they agreed to share knowledge,
ideas and become a support for one another as
inspirational leaders who wanted to use insurance
to do good for the communities they served.
“Fast forward 100 years, and that vision
and purpose remains as true today. ICMIF’s
members have collectively achieved so much for
the insurance sector through their willingness
to share strategies and support each other
and by focusing on the long-term needs of the
people they serve, whether they are employees,
communities or strategic partners.”
This purpose is paying off: Ms Vernaillen
added that more than 70% of ICMIF members
have exceeded their local market’s annual
growth over the past financial year.
“The leaders of these exceptionally well-run
organisations are passionate about putting
people first and each day they demonstrate
their commitment to a sustainable future for the
people they serve.
“What I am most proud of is that our recent
ICMIF Members Sustainable Investment Report
2021 demonstrated that US$576bn of our
36 | MAY 2022

members’ assets are aligned to sustainable
investment frameworks and that members
named in the report outperformed their ICMIF
peers in annual premium growth comparisons
against both the total market and their local
markets. They also exceeded the five-year
premium growth of all ICMIF members by almost
11 percentage points.”
Since the 1960s, ICMIF has also supported
the creation of new co-operative insurers in
emerging markets, helping to set up more
than 25 mutual insurers, including successful
organisations such as NTUC Income (Singapore),
CIC Insurance Group (Kenya) and Cooperativa de
Seguros Múltiples (Puerto Rico).
As part of its co-operative development work,
ICMIF is also scaling up microinsurers in some
of the world’s most high-risk countries. The
initiative forms part of ICMIF’s 5-5-5 Mutual
Microinsurance Strategy and has resulted in
insurance cover for 14.3 million of the world’s
poorest people over the last five years.
As to the future, Ms Vernaillen said that a key
focus for member would be risk prevention.
“If preventing risk means reshaping their
organisation away from a policy-focus towards
risk-mitigation and
education around
prevention, then
that’s what they will
do. I am proud of our
partnerships with
the United Nations
which have resulted
in the development
of the world’s first
prevention hub,
an open-source
repository of more
than 50 cases studies,
searchable by specially designed prevention
mechanisms. Anyone has access to these. It is a
gift to the insurance industry.
“So, there is so much to be proud of but we
cannot afford to stand still. The world is fragile
and needs more great leaders who focus on
putting people first; who drive purpose into
their cultures and decision-making; and who
selflessly share their knowledge and expertise to
help make the world a safer, kinder place.”
She added that ICMIF would continue to play
a key role in helping them achieve this.
“ICMIF members will do this together. Because
that is our strength, we really are stronger,
together,” she said.
ICMIF’s celebrations will culminate with a
centenary conference in Rome on 25-28 October,
which will be hosted by the Unipol Group.
Under the theme of “Leading with purpose”,
the conference will explore a range of strategic
topics including the leadership role that mutual/
co-operative insurers can play in tackling
global issues, driving sustainable practices and
transitioning to a net-zero future.
In a recent interview with AM Best, ICMIF CEO
Shaun Tarbuck said that insurance is a long-term
industry – adding that mutuals and co-ops act as
the guardians of the future of the communities
they represent.
Since the 1960s ICMIF has also supported
the creation of new co-operative insurers
in emerging markets, helping to set up
over 25 mutual insurers”
He explained that the conference would be “a
big celebration of mutuality” and invited other
mutuals and co-ops from other sectors to take
part in it. Mr Tarbuck added that the core values
and mutual and co-operative insurers had
stayed the same, the sector had become “more
innovative and smarter” over the last couple of
years. He argued that mutuals had an advantage
of already being “purpose-led”.
He said: “The ICMIF Centenary Conference in
Rome (25-28 October 2022), hosted by the Unipol
Group, one of our founding members, will be the
high point of our centenary recognition year and
we hope to see as many members as possible
join us for this face-to-face event.”
MAY 2022 | 37

Building societies
for the future
Susan Press
u Hilary McVitty,
BSA head of external
affairs
On 26 February 1869, a special meeting
was convened at a small hotel in London to
consider setting up an organisation for the
protection of building societies. Ever since, the
Building Societies Association (BSA) has been
championing an industry firmly rooted in cooperative
values.
As membership organisations, building
societies are owned by their savings and
mortgage customers. Profits are reinvested for
the benefit of members and communities that
Societies serve. Building societies in the UK now
have 25 million members … and growing.
More than 150 years on from its inaugural
meeting, the BSA is the trade association for all
43 UK building societies and six of the larger
credit unions, all of which are mutuals. It is
also a member of the European Association of
Co-operative Banks (EACB).
The BSA conducts research, convenes working
groups, and champions financial resilience,
diversity and inclusion in the workplace. It
also works hard in the expanding field of green
finance and making housing more accessible at
a time when property ownership is all too often
perceived as a pipe-dream.
Hilary McVitty, who has held a number of
senior roles in the building society and banking
sectors, has been BSA Head of External Affairs
since 2011.
“We are all part of the mutual family,” she
says. “We represent all UK building societies and
some of the larger credit unions and do quite a
lot of work with the Friendly Societies. Overall,
there are fewer building societies than there
used to be but they are much larger.”
It is a real marker of the difference mutuality
can make that over the last few years, building
societies have paid out significantly more in
interest to savers than banks have been able to do.
“A business owned by customers doesn’t have
shareholders expecting maximum returns,” says
Ms McVitty, adding that profit is important, but
to re-invest for the future, not to maximise profits
to pay-out in dividends.
“This is how building society savers got
£2.4bn more interest in the last three years than
they would have got at big banks. Everybody is
operating within the overall market rate set by
the Bank of England. It’s now gone up a couple
of times but even so, it is way below inflation
and that sets the overall environment in which
we are setting mortgages and savings.
“The general interest rate environment that
affects everything and everyone is very low. We
need to balance the interest charged to borrowers
and the amount you pay to savers. Savers might
receive a slightly lower income but we are much
steadier and have a particular attitude to risk.”
The first-ever building society – Richard
Ketley’s – was formed at the Golden Cross Inn,
Birmingham in 1775. The story goes that patrons
38 | MAY 2022

waived their last pint and put the money into a
communal pot to build houses. Each home was
assigned to a Society member via ballot, and
the process started again until every member
had a home of their own, sparking the Building
Society Movement.
Then, as now, getting a roof over one’s
head was a major struggle and in 2022 Hilary
acknowledges times are very hard. That’s
why building societies are more likely to help
the self-employed, students, self-builders,
older borrowers and those wanting to explore
intergenerational mortgages to help families
onto the housing ladder.
Building societies are major players in the
provision of shared ownership mortgages:
typically someone buys 25% of their property and
pays a mortgage on that, with the rest generally
owned by a housing association, and they pay
rent on that portion. Over time they can increase
the amount they own up to 100%. Many younger
people are opting for this style of home-ownership
as it gives them a real stake in their homes.
Societies are also leading the charge with selfbuild
homes – the fact they really know their
areas and communities and tend to underwrite
a loan manually means they are well placed to
do this more complex type of lending. The same
goes for lending to the self-employed. Manual
underwriting – when a person considers a
mortgage application rather than a computer
algorithm, allows societies to serve those
underserved in the rest of the mortgage market.
“We cannot control house prices, that’s out
of our gift, but we are lobbying to build more
properties,” says Ms McVitty. “Prices are driven
up because there is not enough housing and we
are looking for the government to have joined-up,
long-term housing policies. We also look at ways
of constructing mortgages that help people.”
Deposits are an issue in pretty much all the
consumer surveys the BSA carries out: “Around
59% tell us raising a deposit is the biggest
barrier. So one of the things the BSA has done is
offer family deposit mortgages, where mums and
dads or an existing borrower can borrow against
equity and give to a family borrower, putting
savings into an account as a level of security.”
Despite the current financial climate, she is
optimistic that building societies can be key in
helping people weather the storm.
“I totally accept it is difficult but this is not
necessarily a new phenomenon. In the late 1980s
to early 1990s, when tax relief on mortgages was
removed, people were scrambling around to get
mortgages. We have also been through negative
equity. There are always all sorts of bumps in the
road. Building societies have been through thick
and thin and adapted to all sorts of changes
and conditions, including world wars and
pandemics.”
At the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, the
BSA did its utmost to keep branches open,
helping people who were vulnerable to access
cash and in some cases, actually physically
delivering it.
During this time, the sector processed
hundreds of thousands of mortgage payment
deferrals for people who were worried about
how they would survive financially.
“Today we have a cost of living crisis and we
are very much involved with thinking about
anyone who thinks they may have difficulty
paying their mortgage. We are keeping a very
close eye on arrears and are mindful it may
become a huge problem. What we do not want
is people to think that if they say nothing their
problems will go away.”
Building societies have ensured generations
are financially safe and secure. In the years to
come, the BSA is aiming to further levels of cooperation
across the mutual sector, engaging
younger people as much as possible, taking
on the challenges around sustainability and
climate change.
“If I talk to my sons about mutuality their eyes
glaze over, but they understand the concept
of customer ownership,” Ms McVitty says.
“Mutuals across a range of different businesses
including co-ops and Friendly Societies can
work together on the challenge around helping
people understand the mutual difference.
“Ownership matters. Every business says it has
customers ‘at its heart’ but mutuals really do. It’s
what staff and customers tell us, because being
customer-owned drives our strategy, culture and
behaviour. Staff working for societies say 39%
of all the value created goes to their customers;
staff at plcs say it’s 19%. Service, trust and
competitive rates get high scores from building
society customers, as does being treated fairly.
Mutuality doesn’t make us perfect, but it means
long-term and daily decisions are for people –
customers, staff and communities.”
MAY 2022 | 39

Communicating the
co-operative difference:
key tips from Singapore
We speak to Ler Jun Sng, executive, Marketing Communications &
Partnerships at the Singapore National Co-operative Federation
(SNCF), an apex set up in 1980 which represents 99% of the
country’s 1.4 million co-operative members.
Anca Voinea
SNCF uses a range of social media channels to
engage with members and non-members, in
addition to trying to secure coverage in local and
national media.
HOW ARE YOU COMMUNICATING YOUR
CO-OPERATIVE DIFFERENCE?
Ler Jun Sng: SNCF shares [news] about the
Singaporean co-operative movement and
stories on our co-operatives/co-operators, both
internally within the co-operative network and
externally, with the general public, through
media features in traditional print media and
broadcast media, content on our website and
social media channels, and events.
SNCF seeks to help co-operatives to
strengthen their co-ops to better serve their
members, the broader community and in
turn transform the national economy. Beyond
offering a suite of programmes and services to
our co-operatives, we also do the bridging role
to connect co-operatives with one another to
explore partnership opportunities to further
amplify and extend the reach of their work.
At SNCF, a huge part of what we want
to do is to engage the general public,
especially the youth, on the co-operative
movement through our social media
channels”
HOW DOES THE LANGUAGE YOU USE CHANGE
DEPENDING ON YOUR TARGET AUDIENCE?
Ler Jun Sng: At SNCF, a huge part of what we want
to do is to engage the general public, especially
the youth, on the co-operative movement
through our social media channels. To cater
to the younger demographics who use social
media extensively as part and parcel of their
lives, as well as those who may not be familiar
with the co-op movement, we use simpler terms
to explain technical jargons and definitions,
choose content that appeals to the youth, engage
with trending topics/conversations, and partner
with public personalities to further extend
our reach to bigger and new audiences. The
communication style is primarily informative
through the use of bite-sized content and adopts
a fun and less formal tone. We sometimes
incorporate light-hearted humour through the
use of memes.
IN ADDITION TO COMMUNICATING TO YOUR
MEMBERS, HOW ARE YOU TRYING TO REACH
OUT TO THOSE OUTSIDE THE MOVEMENT?
Ler Jun Sng: We work on creating content that
aligns with common values to better connect
with audiences who are not within the co-op
movement. With growing interest and more
40 | MAY 2022

conversations on inclusivity and sustainability,
we also curate content on these topics as we want
to get them to engage in social conversations
or act on it (e.g. doing their part to save the
environment). We also partner with personalities
who fit the themes we have identified and work
with them to feature their stories on social
media. At times, we also leverage social media
channels of key stakeholders and co-operatives
to further broadcast the stories to their followers.
WHAT MEDIA CHANNELS DO YOU USE?
Ler Jun Sng: For social media we use Facebook,
Instagram, Twitter and LinkedIn. In terms of
traditional media, we use print, online, and
broadcast channels (radio, TV).
HOW DO YOU ENGAGE WITH JOURNALISTS/
MEDIA PROFESSIONALS?
Ler Jun Sng: Our team comprises members who
have handled media relations or worked closely
with media professionals previously. Typically
we will craft the media angle and narrative,
prepare the media release or fact sheet as well
as preparing the spokespersons/profiles for
interviews, before pitching a story to the editors/
reporters, and work with the reporters closely
on queries they may have. We also pitch stories
to vernacular media to cover reach to different
audiences.
WHAT CHALLENGES HAVE YOU FACED WHEN
DOING SO? HOW MUCH DO JOURNALISTS
KNOW ABOUT CO-OPS?
Ler Jun Sng: Journalists often do their due
diligence as part of their research work to find
out and understand what a co-op is and how the
co-op model works. We try to make it easier for
them to educate the public or their audience to
digest the co-op model by furnishing them with
additional information which may comprise
sound bites, quotes or sharing of case studies.
WHAT ARE YOUR TIPS FOR OTHER CO-OPS?
Ler Jun Sng: Take the time to plan your
content calendar; we suggest doing it quarterly
and reviewing from time to time. Figure out
which personalities (including co-operators,
public figures, opinion leaders or advocates
championing social causes) may resonate with
the co-op brand and are suitable for content
collaboration and feature. It is useful to also
engage with the youths, who are avid social
media users, for content ideas and suggestions.
We work on creating content that aligns
with common values to better connect
with audiences who are not within the
co-op movement.”
MAY 2022 | 41

Cwmpas: a new direction for
the Wales Co-operative Centre
Rebecca Harvey
The Wales Co-operative Centre was founded
forty years ago and now runs multi-millionpound
projects that support co-operatives and
social enterprises, and promote social and
digital inclusion. As part of a major strategic
review, the organisation has just launched a
five-year strategy and a brand new look and feel,
including a new name: Cwmpas.
Over the last 12 months, the organisation
has been working with the New Economics
Foundation (NEF) to develop the strategy.
“This process involved a lot of research,
conversations and consultation with members,
clients and employees,” says Derek Walker,
Cwmpas CEO. “During this time it became clear
our current name and branding weren't working
in the way we wanted them to. So we thought,
well, it's our 40th birthday year, we've done a
big review, let's follow what people are telling
us. Let's look at our branding.”
During the consultation, the organisation
“tried to think about what we wanted to achieve
over the next five years”.
“We started very much with the ‘why?’ and
then looked at the ‘what?’ – and that was really
galvanizing for us,” says Mr Walker. “Why are we
here? What do we want to achieve? We're here
because we believe in an economy and society
that should work differently, putting people and
planet first. So that's our new vision statement
on our strategy.”
Underneath the statement, the organisation
has three missions: creating a fairer, greener
economy; building a more equal society; and
making positive change happen.
“Integral to all of this is being a co-operative,
working co-operatively, and supporting the
growth of co-operatives as we've always done,”
says Mr Walker.
“It feels like the world and people’s needs are
changing so rapidly. We’re not just delivering
services that members want or that we think are
good things, but we’re actually trying to change
things within society much more boldly than
we have done previously. There is also a greater
policy and influencing role coming through this
new strategy than we had before.”
Brand new brand
The organisation worked with Creo, a branding
and design agency in Cardiff, to fulfil a very
specific brief.
“We were trying to meet a very complicated
set of criteria,” says Catherine Evans, policy
and communications manager. “Through focus
groups with members and staff it was clear that
people wanted a shorter name and one that
reflected our Welsh heritage, but also something
that would be easy for somebody who wasn't
a Welsh speaker. It couldn't just be a random
word, it had to be aligned to our values and what
42 | MAY 2022

we're delivering. The brief sounded perfectly
straightforward when we set it out, but it was
actually a really tough challenge.”
This challenge was made even more
complicated by completing the brief in a cooperative,
collaborative way. “It was really
important to us that we involved our members
and our 100 plus staff team,” adds Ms Evans.
“It was vital that everybody had an input in the
discussion, fed back on all the ideas and could
come up with their own ideas. Because of this,
the outcome is really strong.”
She believes that Cwmpas meets all of the
criteria. “It’s short. It is a Welsh word. It is
something that someone who doesn't live in
Wales or speak Welsh can relate to.
“We work with lots of very different clients.
We don’t tell them what they should do or what
their destination should be. We help them
decide on that destination for themselves and
help them get to where they want to be, whether
that is setting up a new co-operative business
or social enterprise, transitioning to employee
ownership or doing something around digital
transformation. So from the point of view of
summing up what we do and how we do it,
Cwmpas felt like the perfect fit. It’s not a direct
Welsh translation of the word ‘compass’, but it
does encapsulate all those ideas of scope and
vision and journey.”
A new look for the future
This is reflected in the organisation’s new
logo, too. “We wanted something that was
really confident and bold and different,” says
Ms Evans. “It’s really distinctive, and almost
looks like a stamp on something. We wanted
something that felt like we were saying, ‘We're
Cwmpas, here we are, this is our mark, and we're
proud to use it.”
“We also really like the way the arrow looks in
the C” says Mr Walker. “It’s almost a secret thing
that you don't automatically see, but which
works with this sort of word.
He adds: “This is a significant change for
us and we wanted to illustrate that we are
an organization that is confident and clear
where it's heading. We wanted a modern look,
something that is different whilst recognizing
that we're still a proud Welsh organisation and
we're still a proud co-operative organisation.”
The team knew they didn't want to go with the
heritage colours seen in a lot of Welsh businesses,
and instead sought a colour palette that was
“approachable and friendly and modern, but at
the same time expert, professional and credible.”
And although it’s not in the new one-word
name itself, “co-operative will be front and
centre of the new brand,” adds Mr Walker. “We
will still be using the .coop domain and for our
website address and on our email stems, and
we will still be making it clear that we're a cooperative
development agency right throughout
our branding.”
As part of the organisation’s birthday year,
it has taken part in a Twitter takeover and
launched an oral history project, collecting
testimony from people who have been involved
with the organization over the last 40 years.
The Co-operatives Europe General Assembly,
which Cwmpas was planning to host in May, is
now taking place online, but the organisation is
looking to host a conference in the autumn, run
a competition with schools, and put together a
film about its history.
This is a significant change for us and
we wanted to illustrate that we are an
organisation that is confident and clear
where it’s heading”
– Catherine Evans, policy and communications manager
“We are also doing some work around tree
planting in Wales to make sure that we're leaving
a sustainable legacy of our 40th year,” says Mr
Walker.
“We have had an extraordinary amount of
support for the changes, but being a co-operative,
and being a co-operative development agency
is extremely important to us and our members,
and our members have made it very clear right
throughout this process that changing the name
doesn't change that part of who we are.”
MAY 2022 | 43

Co-operation in a crisis
When disaster strikes
Alice Toomer-McAlpine
q SEWA played a
key part in the co-op
response to Covid-19
in India
“The trees that grow in stormy climates strike
the greatest roots,” writes a contributor under
the alias of ‘Hopeful’ in an 1863 issue of The
Co-operator. The writer was reflecting on the role
of the co-op movement during the Lancashire
Cotton Famine.
Between 1861 and 1865, members of the
Rochdale Pioneers’ co-operative withdrew
£83,000 to cover living costs in times of
unemployment. Local co-ops also set up relief
committees to support workers and their families
with hardship funds and soup kitchens.
Over the years there have been countless
examples of co-ops stepping up for their
communities in a crisis – through fire and famine
and world wars. Retired co-operative librarian
Gillian Lonergan says: “For me, it all springs
from where co-operatives came from ... they are
set up for the needs of the members, whatever
those needs might be. So right from the early
days, looking after the community, whether it’s
a big or tiny little community, co-ops have been
placed to respond to needs.”
The Philippines is home to a strong co-op
movement: it has over 18,000 co-ops with a
combined membership of 11.5 million members.
In a country that experiences around 25
typhoons a year, this network often plays a role
in responding and building resilience.
Last year, CLIMBS Life and General Insurance
Cooperative launched its enhanced Weather
Protect Insurance product, which uses
blockchain and smart agriculture to offer farmers
protection against extreme weather. Working
with a number of international and national
partner co-ops, they were able process members’
claims within 10 days when Typhoon Rai (aka
Odette) hit the Philippines before Christmas.
Donna Dizon, vice president, administration
and corporate planning at CLIMBS, describes
the launch of this product as a “breakthrough”,
explaining that “our goal is really to help build
resilient co-operatives and communities”.
CLIMBS also provides immediate relief and
support to communities affected by disasters
through its CLIMBS Community Action Response
to Emergency Services (CARES) programme.
“What we call the mutual difference, is
that the owners are the members, so we know
them,” says Ms Dizon. “We have bases in the
communities, so it’s really at grassroots level.”
Co-ops operate in the first instance at a
“barangay”, or town hall, level when disaster
strikes, she adds. During this process,
communication will be made with the co-ops’
member owners and partner organisations via a
range of platforms, including digital.
Sometimes face-to-face communication is the
only way to reach members during an emergency,
adds Rowena Abella, marketing vice president at
CLIMBS. “The areas affected by Odette could not
be communicated with because the lines were
cut, so our president went there, to Bohol, to
physically give the goods.”
Another priority for CLIMBS is inviting more
young people into the co-op, in part through a
range of educational programmes. “Educating
our younger generation on co-operativism is
really important because although the co-op
model is already over 100 years old, it remains a
very relevant model,” says Ms Dizon.
44 | MAY 2022

CLIMBS will soon launch the mobile
KoopSkwela Learning Hub, offering basic
reading, writing and maths lessons to young
Filipino people – a vital provision now that the
pandemic has disrupted schooling.
International communication is also a key
consideration. “CLIMBS is a local product,
but we have gone global,” says Ms Dizon.
The co-op has presented its Weather Protect
Insurance project as its contribution towards
#Coops2030, aiming to address a number of the
UN Sustainable Development Goals, including
climate action, no hunger and zero poverty.
Meanwhile in the UK, an international working
group (IWG) has been established to support the
planning, coordination and delivery of the UK
co-op movement’s international activity. Sarah
Alldred, who sits on the IWG, explains that while
the UK has a track record of being very generous
in crisis, the IWG hopes to provide a space to
tell the stories of this work and show members
where their support goes.
A recent example is a partnership between the
IWG and the Self Employed Women’s Association
(SEWA), in response to the Covid-19 pandemic in
India. Over £100,000 was raised by UK co-ops,
with £70,000 going to immediate relief such as
medical kits and food. The rest is supporting the
development of two new women’s co-ops – a
research co-op and a media co-op.
Mirai Chatterjee, director of the social security
unit at SEWA, said Covid had been the worst
crisis to hit India since partition, but added:
“The solidarity and the support that we got from
the UK co-operative movement has been very
touching ... it has been a true manifestation of the
co-operative spirit, of the spirit of partnership.”
Dr Alldred agrees. “I always go back to the
values and principles,” she says. “It’s a ‘trade
not aid’ approach, it’s working in solidarity with
co-ops around the world. It’s not, ‘we’re telling
you what to do', because we’ve got so much to
learn from them as well.”
But it’s not so clear as to whether the wider
public sees this difference – at least in the UK.
“Co-ops have never been good at shouting
about what they do,” says Ms Lonergan. “At
the time when it was so heavily embedded in
communities, right to the 1920s, 1930s, they
tended to just sort of take it for granted that this
relationship would continue.”
But she believes public understanding of
co-ops is increasing, and that it is stories of
co-operative action that will push this along.
“The stories are so good, the co-operative
movement should be getting better publicity
than it is for what it’s doing,” she says. “And the
more those stories come out, the more people
will understand that co-ops can be useful if
you’re having a hard time. At the moment you
might not think of going to a co-op because
you’re having a hard time, but would you think
of going to a co-op when you’re having a good
time? It’s the same sort of thing.”
When it comes to telling these stories, the UK
movement could turn to these different contexts
around the world and throughout its history for
inspiration. Between 1861 and 1865, as the Cotton
Famine raged through Lancashire, membership
of the Rochdale Society of Equitable Pioneers
grew from 3900 to 5300.
In his History of the Rochdale Pioneers, George
Jacob Holyoake remarks on how co-operation
fared during those difficult times and what
conclusions may be drawn: “Co-operation
proved to be no hothouse plant, requiring hotair
apparatus and infinite watching, forcing, and
coddling; but a hale, hearty, winter shrub, which
will take root in any good soil, enjoys a blast,
and grows strong by exposure.”
p The aftermath of
Typhoon Rai in the
Philippines
MAY 2022 | 45

Solidarity in times of war:
How Coop Ukraine is mobilising
to support those affected
The all-Ukrainian union of consumer co-ops (Ukrkoopspilka –known
as Coop Ukraine) has been working tirelessly to provide products
and services to members and customers, offer shelter to those
displaced and bake bread to feed local communities. We speak to
chair Illia Gorokhovskyi about how Ukraine’s co-ops are faring
“The war has had an impact on every inhabitant
of Ukraine, on every sector of the economy. But we
still do not have information about the misfortune
caused by the war on other co-operatives,” says
Mr Gorokhovskyi. “The situation is very difficult
in cities that have recently been liberated from
occupiers – I am talking about Chernihiv, Irpin,
Bucha, Hostomel, Sumy.
“Mariupol is also our great pain; the city is
practically destroyed. I am constantly in touch
with the leaders of the unions of consumer
societies from these regions. People, who have
gone through the hell of the Russian aggression,
have experienced extreme torment and pain.
Objects of consumer co-operation in such
regions also suffer significant damage; the
infrastructure is being destroyed.
“But all this cannot be compared with the
pain and emotional trauma experienced by our
people. We will find funds, we will repair the
destroyed shops, but who will work for them
if people have nowhere to return, because
their houses are destroyed, there is no water,
electricity?”
In the west of the country, which has been
less affected by the conflict, consumer coop
stores continue to operate. Supply chains
were disrupted but “all these issues have been
resolved, co-operative stores provide people
with basic food,” says Mr Gorokhovskyi.
The region also welcomed more than 10
million displaced Ukrainians from the east
of the country. Many provided food and
accommodation to those displaced while retail
co-ops switched to a 24/7 schedule to be able to
meet demand for bread and to feed the military.
“Our people worked as long as necessary, no
one said that they had exceeded the hours of
work established by law. Many volunteered ... In
such a difficult time for Ukrainians, there is no
question: how many hours should I be at work?
The question is different: what can I do as much
as possible? There are many examples of our
workers taking refugees into their homes.”
Co-operative educational institutions in
regions that have been less affected by the war
have also welcomed displaced Ukrainians to
their student dorms while others received staff
and students from other regions, enabling them
to continue operating from their premises.
Students from co-operative colleges volunteer
and some teachers and graduates have joined
the military.
“There are dead among the co-operators. All
of them are our pride and our pain. The names
of our courageous, brave, best will always be
imprinted in memory,” says Mr Gorokhovskyi.
Coop Ukraine is a member of Euro Coop,
Cooperatives Europe and the International Cooperative
Alliance, through which it is able to
engage with co-operators in other countries.
“I want to thank the leadership of Euro Coop,
Cooperatives Europe, and the International
Cooperative Alliance”, says Mr Gorokhovskyi,
adding that the three organisations had
responded “in a timely manner and with great
understanding”. Some national apexes chose
to support relief work in Ukraine by donating
to organisations such as the Red Cross. But Mr
46 | MAY 2022

Gorokhovskyi is sceptical. “The employees of the
Red Cross, even after 35 days from the beginning
of the war in Ukraine, did not reach those places
where people needed more help – in Mariupol,
Kharkiv, Chernihiv,” he says. He also explains
that the recent meeting between the president
of the International Committee of the Red Cross
(ICRC), Peter Maurer and Russian authorities
“outraged the Ukrainians”.
Mr Maurer had also met with Ukrainian
officials prior to visiting Russia. In an official
statement, ICRC said that as a “neutral,
impartial, humanitarian actor” it needs to speak
with all sides of a conflict.
But Mr Gorokhovskyi says ICRC does not
provide information about how it chooses to
use the funds it receives, including those from
co-ops.
“We realised that the assistance that our
fellow co-operators want to provide us would
be more effective and useful if it is direct and
provided on the principle of ‘from co-operation
to co-operation’. After all, we understand better
than the Red Cross how we should direct these
funds. Everything will be done openly and
transparently. And we are ready to report on
every cent spent.”
Mr Gorokhovskyi believes Russian co-op
members should be barred from international
co-operative apexes. He also questions the ability
of Russian co-ops to follow co-operative values
and principles. “What can today’s Russian cooperation
bring and give to the international
co-operative community? The moral of a country
where the basic principles of co-operation –
freedom and democracy – have been violated for
years?”
He argues that membership fees from Russian
members carry the heavy weight of Ukrainian
deaths and calls on apexes to take action. “I
am deeply convinced that the international cooperative
community must know not only its
heroes, but also its anti-heroes.”
The view is not shared by historian Rita
Rhodes, author of The International Cooperative
Alliance during War and Peace 1910-1950. Soviet
co-ops were allowed to remain in the ICA after
the revolution, she says, for reasons of trade and
to prevent the formation of a Red International
Cooperative Alliance. But Soviet Russia remained
an issue, especially after the Cold War began in
the 1940s and the USSR installed regimes in its
central European neighbours –regimes which
gradually took control of their co-ops.
“This was a big crisis for the ICA. On the
one hand, co-operatives in the Soviet bloc ran
counter to its 1930s definition, and on the other
it became obvious that they were seeking to take
over the Alliance, which they could soon do by
strength of affiliations. There was a real threat
of the ICA becoming ‘the Red ICA’ and it became
a crucial issue in international relations in the
Cold War. North American co-operatives had
played a major role in the Alliance during WWII
and they were still strongly represented. They
could have done so again in the Cold War but
did not.
“Their restraint therefore became a factor in
keeping the ICA together," she says, adding that
another major factor was its administration,
which made some adroit moves.
"Brilliant debates in the ICA Congress and
meetings of its Executive and Central Committees
became important elements. The result was that
the Soviet Bloc co-operative movements were
allowed to remain but as associate members.
“It could be argued that this was another
fudge but it facilitated quick ICA help to those
movements when Communism and the Iron
Curtain collapsed in the late 1980s and early
1990s. They then returned to full membership.
“Because of this complex and at times even
tortured history I trust the ICA will hesitate to
expel Russian co-operatives. They have been
full members for over 30 years and shared the
Alliance’s culture. An important part of that
is its quest for world peace for which it has a
long history. Moreover, war creates tensions
that could prompt unwise hasty decisions. We
do not know the views of Russian co-operatives
to Putin, his war, or Ukrainian co-operatives.
Until we do, I trust the Alliance will retain its
Russian members. It would be so ironic if they
were hastily jettisoned after all the difficulties
the Alliance has experienced in retaining them
and achieving continuity since 1895.”
MAY 2022 | 47

Leigh Sparks
Analysis:
The Co-operative
Group Financial
Results 2021
The period since early March 2020 has been
a turbulent and traumatic one for everyone.
Even now, we are living in the aftershocks of
the pandemic, with a high Covid-19 incidence
in the population and consequent impacts on
demand and supply and business operations,
including distribution. “Living with Covid” is
not as straightforward as some would make out.
The publication of the 2021 financial results
for the Co-operative Group are thus of more
than normal interest. Trading in turbulent times
is not to be taken for granted. The pandemic
affects the assessment of performance. What
is the underlying operational and business
performance and what are pandemic impacts,
shocks or responses? Is our comparator the prepandemic
“normal”, or do we accept that the
world has been transformed and operations
remain essentially short-term and reactive?
For instance, the 2021 sales figure for the Group
is £11.2bn. This is a decline from 2020 when
the figure was £11.5bn. On the surface, this is
disappointing – but 2020 was a very strong year
as lockdowns and other restrictions favoured the
local store model. The last pre-pandemic year
(2019) saw sales at £10.9bn which was itself up
from £10.2bn in 2018 (due in part to the Nisa
acquisition). What is the appropriate benchmark
year? More critically, perhaps, what should our
expectations be in this changed world? Should
we be disappointed in not holding on to the sales
gains of 2020 or should we accept it was never
likely to be sustained?
Table 1 provides the numbers for the (selfidentified)
key performance indicators (KPIs) for
the Group. In this table, the data is taken back to
2018 to allow for a short pre-pandemic trajectory
as well as two years (differentially) impacted
by Covid-19. The data, especially the purely
financial figures, shows two issues.
First, on every measure the results show that
2020 was an exceptional year for the Group.
What caution there is for 2020 comes in the
non-financial figures, where active membership
numbers fell, as did rewards spending (though
the base rate reduced in October 2020).
Secondly, there is the question of considering
2021 against 2020 and/or the years before. Here
the story is not as positive, with figures generally
returning to, or below, the 2019 and 2018 levels.
While sales are greater in 2021, all profit measures
are lower, and debt is now much higher. A
10% increase in Group sales over three years
has not really resulted in any overall financial
improvement. Non-financial measures continued
to decline – for example in active membership,
rewards and colleague engagement.
Almost 69% of the Group’s sales are in the food
sector, with around 15% each in the wholesale
and the federated components; food remains
the driver of the Group’s performance. The store
estate is being remodelled (50 new stores in
2021, plus 87 stores renewed, 25 relocations and
15 extensions), but overall store numbers fell (by
29) and sales floorspace is at its lowest level in
at least five years. There have been investments
in branding and pricing, supply chain (a new
depot) and colleague remuneration (Real Living
Wage), while Covid-19 costs continued (c£30m)
in 2021. The supply chain has struggled to deliver,
especially in the latter half of 2021, possibly due to
new systems but also to wider global pandemicrelated
issues and the consequences of dealing
with fluctuating production and demand. The
amount of stock in the Group had been reducing
(from 16.4 stock days in 2018 to 14.6 in 2020),
48 | MAY 2022

ut it increased in 2021 (to 16 stock days). The
e-commerce food business saw tremendous
growth (reaching £200m sales in 2021 from £4m
in 2019) but from an exceptionally low base.
Roll-out of store focused e-commerce, microdistribution
hubs and the links with Deliveroo,
Starship and (more controversially) Amazon
and Amazon Prime, would seem to be sensible
given the pandemic surge in the local and online
channels. The strategy seems clear.
In presenting the results, the chair accepts
this has been a challenging year but claims
the “continued planned strategic investments
mean… (we) are well placed to ride out the storm
and prosper beyond”. The interim CEO, Shirine
Khoury-Haq, pointed to the long-term strategy,
investment in the business and the values of the
Group as the building blocks for the future.
But is the Group, with its focus on the local
community and convenience market, as well
placed as it might be? This was clearly working
in 2020 as circumstances swung in the model’s
favour. A stronger 2021 operational performance
might have been hoped for. The figures and
comments point to some internal operating
issues in addition to the impact of wider macro
sector effects. Uncertainty hit cashflow and
stockholding, adding to the debt and losing sales.
Competition is not going to lessen, so it is
critical that elements under the Group’s control
are made as effective as possible. The pandemic
has not gone away nationally or globally. The
full implications on supply chains of Brexit
remain to be felt, though they are becoming
increasingly apparent. The war in Ukraine has
caused a range of human and business impacts
there and elsewhere, the full dimensions of
which remain unclear. Individuals, communities
and businesses are being pressured by the
impact of rising costs and altered demand. That
the business needs to be agile, resilient and
flexible in the eye of these various challenges
is heightened, but in an environment the like
of which most have not experienced either as
individuals or business managers.
It is not clear how people will react to these
pressures, problems and difficult times. One
would hope that the values and strengths of
communities and locales would come further
to the fore, as they did in the initial stages
of the pandemic. In this regard, the Co-op
Group is more than a food retailer of course,
and such values and behaviours help people
and the planet. The financial p erformance is
obviously important to allow this investment
in operations and activities within this wider
context (Co-operating for a Fairer World). More
than ever the balance between these aspects
of the Group needs to be borne in mind. But in
the final analysis, if business operations do not
produce enhanced results, then difficult times
and decisions lie ahead.
Leigh Sparks is professor of retail studies at
the University of Stirling. He also runs a
retail blog at www.stirlingretail.com
q Table 1: Key
Performance
Indicators
2021 2020 2019 2018
Underlying Pre-tax Profit (£m) £-32m £100m £35m £33m
Underlying Operating Profit (£m) £100m £235m £173m £97m
Debt (incl leases) (£bn) £2.4bn £1.97bn £2.16bn £0.8bn
Debt (excl leases) (£m) £920m £550m £695m £764m
Revenue (£bn) £11.15bn £11.47bn £10.86bn £10.16bn
Operating Profit (£m) £64m £207m £173m £90m
Profit before Tax (£m) £57m £127m £24m £83m
Active Members (mn) 4.2m 4.3m 4.6m 4.6m
Community Reward (£m) £19m £13m £11m £12m
Member Reward(£m) £21m £45m £57m £60m
Members Sales in Food (%age of total) 29% 30% 33% 33%
Colleague Engagement (%age) 72% 76% 76% 76%
MAY 2022 | 49

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
UKSCS Annual Conference
26-28 August (Lincoln)
The first in-person UK Society for Cooperative
Studies conference since 2019
will take place at Lincoln University. Coop
activists, students and researchers will
meet to explore the theme: Consumer cooperatives:
past, present and future.
bit.ly/3EU3ahM
ICA General Assembly
20 June (Seville, Spain)
Hosted by the Spanish Confederation of
Worker Cooperatives (COCETA) in Seville,
the meeting includes the elections for the
ICA president and board of directors.
bit.ly/3IhUvqu
UK Co-operative Congress
24- 25 June (Birmingham, UK)
Details tbc.
Co-operative Solutions – Fuel Poverty
30 June 2022 (Zoom)
Co-operatives East Midlands & Cooperatives
West Midlands host this online
event 9.30am, following the AGM of CEM.
jdevilliers@btinternet.com
International Day of Co-operatives
2 July
A day of events to mark International Day
of Co-operatives 2022
2 July (Hebden Bridge, UK)
10.45am: Co-operative heritage walk led
by co-op historian Andrew Bibby. Free.
Meet foyer of Hebden Bridge Town Hall.
1.30pm-4.30pm Conference: Co-operatives
work! Another economy is possible, plus
workshops and stalls, at the Waterfront
Hall, Hebden Bridge Town Hall. Free, with
pre-booking advisable
7.30pm Co-operation Concert with the
Commoners’ Choir. Trades Club, £9/£6.
Day’s events organised by Calderdale Cooperative
Association.
caldercoops@gmail.com
Playground for the New Economy
12-14 July (Devon)
Stir to Action’s Playground for the New
Economy Festival is returning to its
residential campus at Selgars Mill in Mid
Devon for three days of panels, workshops,
open space, virtual reality experiences,
sustainable food, and live music.
stirtoaction.com/festival
Federation of Southern Cooperatives
annual meeting
18-20 August (Birmingham, Alabama)
Celebrating 55 years of support for black
farmers, landowners and co-ops in
the southern USA. Includes the Estelle
Witherspoon Lifetime Achievement
Awards, plus an online component.
federation.coop
World Credit Union Conference
17-20 July (Glasgow)
The World Council of Credit Unions will cohost
its conference with the Association of
British Credit Unions Limited (ABCUL).
Speakers include cyber security analyst
Keren Elazari and behavioural science
expert Belinda Parmar.
wcuc.org
Co-op Party Conference
8-9 October (Leeds)
The Co-operative Party’s showcase of
co-operative politics and the largest
political online gathering of the year for
the UK co‐operative movement.
party.coop/event/annconf022
ICMIF Centenary Conference
25-28 October 2022 (Rome)
The ICMIF Centenary Conference will be
an event that stimulates original ideas for
better business performance; that offers
clear insights into the trends that are
shaping the future of our industry; that
provides a full and clear understanding
of the powerful role that the sector too
can play in redesigning insurance. The
Centenary Conference will be hosted
by the Unipol Group, one of ICMIF’s
founding members, in Rome, where the
organisation was founded 100 years ago.
icmif.org/icmif-conference/
50 | MAY 2022

FAIRTRADE
ORGANIC
BIODEGRADABLE
FRESH
IN A BAG
coffee@revolver.coop
www.revolverworld.com
01902 345 345

The Heart of
England
Co-operative Society
opens £2.7 million
Food store in
Warwick.
Customers here will be the first to try the
Society’s own newly-launched Deli. Co range
which includes breakfast, lunch, hot food
to go, snacks, fresh cakes, baguettes and
sandwiches, and fresh tea and coffee.
Services include:
• Indoor seating/outdoor seating
• Amazon lockers
• Electric vehicle charging facilities
• Enhanced gifting area and horticulture area
• Aquavape
• Jimmy’s popcorn
• Gift ideas by Warwickshire-based Prezzybox
• Zero by Queenswood – a zero waste supplier.
The store forms part of a wider £5.5 million
retail park with four units.
www.heartofengland.coop