Sunday 6 th July 2025, 2pm – 3.45 pm, online

Register: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/manage/events/1394104597379/details

Chair/Introduction: Rebecca Harvey, Executive Editor, Co-op Press

Theme: Public, Private or Co-op? Addressing the Invisibility of the Co-operative movement within a UK mixed economy

Speaker: Professor Colin Talbot

University of Manchester (Professor of Government – Emeritus)

Audience participation

Session Two

Chair:  Rebecca Harvey

Theme: What to be done?

Short presentations/reflections,

• Cheryl Barrott, Chair, Co-ops UK;
• Glenn Bowen, Enterprise Programme Director, Cwmpas;
• Emma Hoddinott, Assistant General Secretary, The Co-operative Party (tbc)
• Rachel Garrick, Monmouthshire County Council

Round table discussion & audience participation

The Labour government came to power in 2024 with the stated aim of “doubling the co-operative economy,” which raises the questions; why? And what exactly does that mean?

One possible answer comes in “Rebalancing Society” which is usually viewed as the balance between Public and Private sectors, and which often excludes a third – usually ‘invisible’ – sector, which includes co-operatives, mutuals, associations, not-for-profits, charities, civic and community organisations, etc.

Drawing upon the work of Prof. Henry Mintzberg, Prof. Colin Talbot will speak about the importance of the ‘Plural sector’, but also about why a balance between the three legs of the social ‘stool’ is critical for the future. And that includes a vital role for co-operative forms of organisation – both in formal Co-ops and in ways of working in Public and private organisations.

Finally, what conclusions, if any, might be drawn in terms of future Manifesto commitments, whilst being supportive of a future legislative proposals arising from the Law Commission Review of Co-operative & Mutual legislation.

Ends

Chair: Huw Irranca Davies MS

Session One 10.00 – 11.05

1. Ultra Processed Food and the health time bomb. What’s to be done?

Prof Christina Vogel, Director, Centre for Food Policy, Professor of Food Policy, City University, London

2. Something Can Be Done: The Good Food Revolution in Schools, Hospitals and Prisons

Prof Kevin Morgan, Prof of Governance & Development, School of Geography & Planning, Cardiff University.

3. Education, Exercise and Services

Debbie Robinson, Chief Executive, Central Coop

Break 11.05 – 11.10

Session Two 11.10 – 12.00

Roundtable with audience participation, chair Cllr Mary Ann Brocklesby, Leader, Monmouthshire County Council

Contact David Smith if further details are required: david@cooperatives-wales.coop

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/a-21st-century-food-scandal-ultra-processed-food-and-the-health-time-bomb-tickets-1303387309529 Robert Owen DaRobert Owen Day 2025y 2025

Cadeirydd: Huw Irranca Davies AS, 

Sessiwn Un 10.00 – 11.05

1. Bwyd wedi’i brosesu’n uwch a’r bom amser iechyd. Beth sydd i’w wneud?

Yr Athro Christina Vogel, Cyfarwyddwr, Canolfan Polisi Bwyd, Athro Polisi Bwyd, Prifysgol Dinas, Llundain.

1. All wneud rhywbeth: Y chwyldroad bwyd dda yn ysgolion, ysbytai, a carcharion

Yr Athro Kevin Morgan, Athro Llywodraethiant & Datblygu, Ysgol Daearyddiaeth a Cynllunio, Prifysgol Caerdydd.

1. Addysg, Ymarfer Corff, a Gwasanaethau.

Debbie Robinson, Prif Weithredwr, Coop Canolog

Seibiant 11.05 – 11.10

Sessiwn Dau 11.10 – 12.00

Sesiwn trafodaeth bord gron efo cyfranogiad y gynulleidfa

Cysylltwch a David Smith am fwy o wybodaeth: david@cooperatives-wales.coop

Robert Owen 1771-1858 – Mab y Drenewydd a ‘thad’ y Mudiad Cydweithredol. Ychydig yn hysbys yng Nghymru ond gydag effaith fyd-eang. https://www.co-operativeheritage.coop/collection-1. O 1844 daeth Co-ops i’r amlwg yn gyflym yn darparu bwyd heb ei lygru, am bris teg, gyda gweledigaeth o gymdeithas amgen yn seiliedig ar egwyddorion cydweithredol. Gweler https://ica.coop/en/cooperatives/what-is-a-cooperative.

This is due to the General Election. Most likely this will held on Saturday 31st August 2024. You can still register for the new date using the existing eventbrite link

2024.

The Law Commission is the official law reform body for England and Wales. It has been asked by Government to “review the Co-operative and Community Benefit Societies Act 2014 to see if any reform is needed to ensure that the legislation is fitting to the needs of societies, and that regulation is proportionate and effective”.They will be publishing a consultation paper setting out possible reforms. Everyone is encouraged to respond to that consultation, sharing their views. The publication of their consultation paper, will probably be in the summer. Certainly, after 11 May for a 12-week period. To join the mailing list, please email: coops@lawcommission.gov.uk 

Robert Owen Day online event

Building a Collaborative Future: Law Commission Review: Radical Perspectives

Saturday, 11 May 2024 10 am – 12.10 pm

Organised by Co-ops & Mutuals Wales.

For more details, + to register, visit https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/building-a-co-operative-futurelaw-commission-review-radical-perspectives-tickets-869609022997 or contact david@cooperatives-wales.coop Tel: 07597 008176 – www.cooperatives-wales.coop

Digwyddiad ar-lein Diwrnod Robert Owen

Adeiladu Dyfodol Cydweithredol: Adolygiad Comisiwn y Gyfraith: Safbwyntiau Radical

Dydd Sadwrn, 11 Mai 2024 10 am – 12.10 pm

A drefnir gan Co-ops & Mutuals Wales. Am fwy o fanylion, + i gofrestru, ewch i https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/building-a-co-operative-futurelaw-commission-review-radical-perspectives-tickets-869609022997 neu cysylltwch â david@cooperatives-wales.coop  Ffôn: 07597 008176 – www.cooperatives-wales.coop

Mark is a rare politician who has sought to advance co-operative solutions – and made his actions speak louder than his words. He also understood the importance of co-operative learning in informing and sustaining co-operative action. Mark advocated a cultural shift in the way in which co-operatives are viewed, from a solution of last
resort to co-operative solutions being the model of choice.

Instinctively co-operative in nature, Mark has encouraged and permitted new ideas to be tested and shaped at a grassroots level. Often this went against conventional wisdom and sometimes without input from advisors, some of whom may have been outside their comfort zone.

Hard work, combined with his academic and community work background certainly enabled him to do so and to work with grassroots activists to bring this about. An unconventional politician who understood the need to support change, who was ahead of his time. Referring to St David, Mark recalled, his was  a ‘step by step’ approach
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TYo88LPOI5g

That  is not to say that such initiatives were always successful or that the necessary intermediaries were always best placed to assist. He tried to put co-operative legislation, initiatives, and projects in place, but these require implementation and understanding on the ground to enable this to happen, so this is not a guarantee of success.

But this contrasts with rhetoric about ‘doubling the co-op economy’ without specific plans in place to make this happen. Whilst others had reservations, Mark fully appreciated the crucial role of financial institutions and pressed for solutions by strongly supporting a civic society proposal for a Welsh Community Bank. With cross-party support this is still on track but unfortunately, it will not now launch during his tenure as First Minister.

Resources are not always the barrier to change but in terms of social care, with monopolistic competition dominating the market, change was never going to be an easy challenge.

What is important about Mark’s contribution is that he supported well-argued cases for co-operative solutions and went out of his way to help make sure this happened. As a result, he has started to deliver practical co-operative solutions, which give many hope that he has laid firm foundations for a more co-operative Wales in the future.

David Smith & Chris Hall (published in the Co-op News,  January 2024.

Very pleased to have been invited to speak with Llandridnod Wells U3A on the emergence, philosophy & achievements of British Co-operative movement @MetropoleHotel.

Self-organised adult education at its best.

Thanks to Co-op Heritage Trust for their support.

We’ve just updated our Facts & Figures page with the latest stats, which are from 2022.
(For comparison we’ve kept the 2012 stats at the bottom of the page)

See also the latest World Co-operative Monitor 2023 which has the latest stats on the top 300 co-ops worldwide
https://monitor.coop/en/media/library/research-and-reviews-world-cooperative-monitor/world-cooperative-monitor-2023

2022 Statistics

Worldwide
Co-ops – 3 million
Co-op Members – 1 billion
Co-op Employees – 280 million
Co-op Turnover (Top 300 only) – US$ 2.146 trillion
Credit Unions – 86,000 in 118 countries

UK
Co-ops – 7,586
Jobs – 249,142
Members – 14.3m people – over one in five of the population
Total turnover – £40.9 billion
Consumer co-op turnover – £12.5 billion
Agricultural Co-ops – 61
Agricultural Co-op Turnover – £4.4 billion
Agricultural Co-op Members – 155,000 (half UK farmers)
Worker Co-ops – 396
Worker Co-op turnover – £13.2 billion
Retail Co-operatives (The Co-operative) £16.1 billion
Retail Co-operatives Members – 12.9 million
Building Societies – 43
Building Societies Membership – 25 million
Building Societies Assets – £500 billion
Mutual Insurers – 138
Mutual Insurers Employees 22,563
Mutual Insurers Policyholders – 33.8 million
Mutual Assets under management – £202.1 billion
Community Shops – 392
Community shops Turnover – £58 million
Credit Unions – 246
Credit Unions Members – 1.94 million
Credit Unions Turnover – £2.41million
Credit Unions Total assets of £2.46 billion
Credit Unions Employees – 2,490
Energy Co-ops – 200 +
Energy Co-ops Members – 126,000
Energy Co-ops Investment – £200 million +

Wales
Co-operatives – 521
Employees – 14,000
Turnover – £1.5 billion
Credit unions – 15
CU Members – 80,000
CU savings £53 million

France
Credit Agricole – Biggest retail bank in France
Credit Agricole Turnover US$ 117.01 billion
Credit Mutuel – 3rd biggest retail bank in France
Credit Mutuel Turnover US$ 4.066 billion

Spain
Mondragon – Seventh largest corporation in Spain
Mondragon employees – 79,931
Mondragon turnover – US$3.11 billion
Eroski – third largest supermarket

Netherlands
Second biggest bank in Netherlands – Rabobank

Europe
Housing Co-operatives – 28,000
Housing Co-op Members – 5.1 million
Housing Co-op Employees – 38,000
Dwellings – 28 million

Sat, 1 Jul 2023 09:45 – 11:40 a.m. BST

Pat Juby: Co-ops & Mutuals Wales introduces ’The Co-operative Movement  Needs Women and Women Need the Co-operative Movement’

Session 1 – 10.00 – 10.45 a.m.

Speaker: Debbie Robinson, Chief Executive of Central England Co-operative Ltd. Continue reading →

Funding Our Future

The left must create a sustainable economy by putting all the resources available within society to best use, including those that the market fails to use to best effect.

Robert Owen Day – and the need for a new economic paradigm for the left https://taxresearch.org.uk/Blog/2023/05/13/robert-owen-day-and-the-need-for-a-new-economic-paradigm-for-the-left/

Lively and very relevant contribution with £100 billion available if public subsidies used in in different way. In doing so Richard clearly explains why the rich get richer, the poor get poorer and the blame!

Richard blows away the current HM Treasury pre Kenysian playbook and underlines the need for radical tax changes.

Other valuable contributions from First Minister Mark Drakeford MS, Dr. Sarah Longlands  (CLES), Dr. Liz McIvor (Co-op Heritage Trust) Dr Sue Evans (Cwmpass) at our Robert Owen Day event will be placed on our YouTube channel shortly. All supported by two able chairs: Counsel General Mick Antoniw MS, and Professor Cllr. Jackie Jones.

How big things get done! Robert Owen Day

 Saturday 13^th May 2023 10 am -12.30 pm online

Session One 

10.00 – 11.10 am

• Key Note contribution, Mark Drakeford MS, First Minister, Welsh Government
• ‘A new economic narrative for the left’ with Richard M Murphy, Professor of Accounting Practice, Sheffield University
• Chair: Mick Antoniw MS, Welsh Government Counsel General

11.10 – 11.20 Short break

Session Two

• 11.20 – 12.30 am – Driving Community Wealth Building – Owen and Co-operation

• ‘Owen & his theory of community wealth building today?’ – Liz McIvor, Manager, The Co-operative Heritage Trust
• ‘The Power of Community Wealth Building’ – Sarah Longlands, Chief Executive, Centre for Local Economic Strategy
• ‘The trade union role in developing networks & initiatives’ – Cllr Laura Smith, Political Consultant, Communications Workers Union
• ‘Wales’ perspective’ – Sarah Evans, Commercial Director, Cwmpas
• Q&A Panel Chair: Cllr. Jackie Jones with audience contributions

Continue reading →

We now have a new date. Thanks for your patience. Continue reading →

You can download the presentation here

Robert Owen – Neil McInroy

Explore the roots of Community Wealth Building / Foundational Economy a quarter of a millennium after his birth. Free online event ‘Robert Owen’s Impact: Learning lessons for co-operation and education’ with Prof. Chris Williams, University College Cork, Cork. Book here: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/pioneer-robert-owens-impact-learning-lessons-for-co-operation-education-tickets-318910819847  A Taster…

 “Among the many movements and ideas that Robert Owen inspired and influenced, co-operation has a claim to be the longest-lasting and most important. The co-operative movement in Britain pre-dated Owen but, from the 1820s, it was infused with his optimism that a better world could be organised around, as he put it, ‘principles of union and co-operation’. Such principles took many forms: communitarian experiments, producer associations, the ‘labour exchange’ movement, and ultimately, the foundation stone of British co-operation, the co-operative store. Although Owen, in this as in so many other cases, moved on rapidly to other enthusiasms after the mid-1830s, his ideas continued to function as a touchstone for co-operators for generations to come. More than a quarter of a millennium after his birth, Owen continues to offer much food for thought for twenty-first century co-operators”

FREE ONLINE EVENT: Saturday, July 2nd, 2022

Download the event programme (English, pdf) | Lawrlwythwch rhaglen y digwyddiad (Cymraeg, pdf)

Register for your FREE ticket on Eventbrite.

Lecture: ‘Robert Owen & co-operation’

by Prof Chris Williams with audience’s contributions to promote his ideals within our national curriculum

International Co-operators Day – online event

Programme

Saturday 2nd July 2022, 9.55  – 11.10 am

Robert Owen’s Impact: Learning lessons for Co-operation and Education

Welcome: Mick Antoniw Labour & Co-operative MS for Pontypridd, Counsel General for Wales https://en.wikipedia. org/wiki/Mick Antoniw

Speaker: Professor Chris Williams, Head of College, College of Arts, Celtic Studies and Social Sciences, University College Cork, Cork http://research.ucc.ie/profiles/A019/chris.williams@ucc.ie

‘Robert Owen and co-operation’ – Among the many movements and ideas that Robert Owen inspired and influenced, co-operation has a claim to be the longest-lasting and most important. The co-operative movement in Britain pre-dated Owen but, from the 1820s, it was infused with his optimism that a better world could be organised around, as he put it, ‘principles of union and co-operation’. Such principles took many forms: communitarian experiments, producer associations, the ‘labour exchange’ movement, and ultimately, the foundation stone of British co-operation, the co-operative store. Although Owen, in this as in so many other cases, moved on rapidly to other enthusiasms after the mid-1830s, his ideas continued to function as a touchstone for co-operators for generations to come. More than a quarter of a millennium after his birth, Owen continues to offer much food for thought for twenty-first century co-operators.

Chair: Chris Hall, Chairperson Co-ops & Mutuals Wales

Joseph (Joe) Reeves was born on 28 January 1888 in Camberwell, London. His childhood was impoverished and he left school at 13. He was a conscientious objector during World War I.  Joe was Education Secretary of the Royal Arsenal Co-operative Society (RACS) from 1918-1938. He believed that ‘the dynamic of education must be altered from individual assertiveness to service on behalf of the community’. While Reeves was secretary the Education Committee expanded its activities and provided equipment and premises for classes as well as holding drama groups and orchestras. In 1945 he was elected as a member of parliament for the Greenwich Constituency, until 1955. He also served on the RACS Political Purposes Committee from 1946-1953. https://archiveshub.jisc.ac.uk/search/archives/1421fc6e-153c-3142-8ae9-ddcaf00e00f3