cooperatives-wales.coop

HF holidays has purchased Dolserau Hall in the Snowdonia National Park.  The three-star hotel (Visit Wales approved) is set in five acres of grounds just outside Dolgellau, and has a reputation for high quality accommodation and good food – with three AA rosettes to its name.

HF Holidays is the UK’s leading provider of walking, outdoor and leisure activity holidays and operates as a co-operative society. 
Dolserau Hall joins HF Holidays’ existing portfolio of 16 country houses throughout Britain, all in spectacular locations designed to take full advantage of the great outdoors for walking holidays and leisure activity breaks. Continue reading →

A consultation organised by the Union of progressive Co-operators on Robin Murray’s paper was held today (Feb 21st) at the offices of Public Sector Management Wales.

Robin Murray addressed a meeting over almost 30 active co-operators, many of whom were specialists in Health and Social Care. Following a lively and interesting discussion the group have agreed to meet again shortly to take forward the issues raised. In particular issues around social care and protecting the co-operative brand.

Almost 40 people attended the Co-operative Fringe meeting at the Labour Party Wales Conference in Llandudno on February 19th.

Continue reading →

Our International Principal Six Networking meeting with co-operatives from around the world, organised in partnership with Twin Trading on September 15th 2010 in the Mulbery Centre at Abergavenny has been reported in Cafetalero, the magazine of the Peruvian coffee producers union, la Junta Nacional del Cafe. The article gives details of the co-operative movement in Wales, the UK and worldwide.

We are pleased to reproduce the article here:- Cafetalero Dec 2010

Co-ops featured in the recent drama from BBC Wales, as the story of a bakery closure unfolds.

Accompanying the series was a “making of” entitled ‘Baker Boys – how the Co-op started’ which features Robert Owen and his role in the early co-operative and trades union movements, as well as featuring some current welsh co-ops.

The programme and the “making of” are sadly no longer available on BBC iPlayer as their policy is to remove programmes 7 days after the end of the series.

Figures published in a new report from Co-operatives UK have revealed stark differences between public perceptions of PLCs and co-operative businesses. Co-operatives are four times more likely to be described as ‘fair’ and ‘honest’ compared to PLCs. Conversely, PLCs are seven times more likely to be described as ‘greedy’ by consumers.

The report, Good business? Public perceptions of co-operation, compiled on behalf of Co-operatives UK members to track public perceptions of co-operative enterprise, shows that co-operatives are viewed as local, based on sharing profits, honest, trusted and a good way to run a business, while PLCs are widely associated with being global (74%) and cut throat (56%). 

Continue reading →

Last month, the Welsh Assembly Government published a three year Action Plan for supporting the Welsh credit union sector which seeks to build upon the great strides already made in the sector’s development since the devolved administration’s creation a decade ago.

The plan, Raising the profile: meeting the challenges, is backed by £3.4 million in available funding and is based on the findings of last year’s research report by the Cardiff Institute for Co-operative Studies.  It sets out 5 core objectives:- Continue reading →

The Co-operative, Group has announced additional funding for a scheme designed to support a new co-operative business every day in 2011. The Group has an­nounced a 50% increase in its funding for The Co-op­erative Enterprise Hub, which was Iaunched in Wales at the Senedd last year – to £7.5m.

It has set a target of nur­turing more than 350 enter­prises across the UK throughout the year to create and grow thriving and sustainable com­munity-based co-operat­ives. Continue reading →

Co-operatives UK are delighted to announce that Co-operatives Fortnight 2011 will take place from 25 June to 9 July with the theme of ‘yours to share’.

The national campaign, which unites the co-operative sector, will highlight how sharing ownership and profits makes co-operative businesses more relevant than ever.

Ed Mayo, Secretary General of Co-operatives UK, says: “The success of last year’s Co-operatives Fortnight, which involved 2.3million people, came from the enthusiasm and activism of co-operatives across the country.

“This year, Co-operatives UK and the Fortnight’s sponsors want to step it up a gear. Concerns about wealth and fairness are on everyone’s lips. We have a unique opportunity to demonstrate – to customers, employees, members, business leaders and government – that co-operatives are different because they are ‘yours to share.’

“The key to this is co-operatives everywhere getting involved, using the Yours to Share branding and materials to promote how they share ownership and profits.”

Read more, watch the film and share your thoughts at www.uk.coop/yourstoshare

For events in Wales see our ‘Events’ page

What is the way forward for the co-operative sector?

Commissioned by Co-operatives UK, Robin Murray – a co-operative innovator and key thinker behind Fairtrade, Twin Trading and much more besides – has produced a radical vision of the how the co-operative sector can expand in the 21^st Century.

Co-operation in the age of Google shows that we are living at a time of profound transformation. The information and communication revolution, widespread concerns about private sector greed, public sector finances and impending climate chaos present a wide range of possibilities for co-operative expansion. Continue reading →

The “Friends of the Robert Owen Museum” was officially launched on Thursday November 11th at the Museum in Newtown with a short presentation by Professor Chris Williams of Swansea University on the relationship Robert Owen had with Newtown, the place of his birth and death, and the relationship it’s citizens had with him and his memory.

Over 30 people crowded in to the Council Chamber above the Museum to enjoy this event and the liquid refreshements generously provided by the Co-operative Group.

The Museum is open all year round, and is run entirely by volunteers. It receives visitors from all around the world as well as many from across Wales and the UK.

More information on how to support the Museum, which has plans to improve and update this unique exhibition of Robert Owen’s life can be found at: http://robert-owen-museum.org.uk/friends 

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“There is but one mode by which man can possess in perpetuity all the happiness which his nature is capable of enjoying – that is by the union and co-operation of ALL for the benefit of EACH”

Shaping The Future of Care

Can Co-operative forms of organisation help us to deliver sustainable services and healthy communities against a back-drop of so many challenges? Should Co-operative models become a valued part of Welsh health and social care provision/

These questions are explored in the Report of a Study Day organised earlier this year by the Health Social Care and WellBeing Network (supported by WCVA).

The Report:-

• explains what is meant by Co-operation and co-operative models
• details the current Welsh social care policy context
• gives examples of co-operative social care in action
• summarises key presentations and delegate feedback
• lists organisations representing or supporting ‘Co-operation’ in Wales
• sets out five recommendations for action

Altogether the Report makes a compelling argument for the encouragement of co-operative solutions to many of the problems facing social care in Wales today. It should interest anyone wanting to explore ways of delivering health and social care services which empower citizens and communities.

Download the report here:-
Shaping the Future ~ Oct 2010
Llunio Dyfodol Gofal ~ Hydref 2010
 
Further information from:- 
Andi Lyden
Chair, Network 3
The Health, Social Care and Wellbeing Network
WCVA
Baltic House
Mountstuart Square
Cardiff 
CF10 5FH

Despite the criticism aimed at other banks for lending less and less to businesses, even where they are in profit and expanding, the Co-operative Bank is bucking the trend.

Since 2007 it has increased lending to businesses across the UK from £6.2 billion to £8.7 billion, an increase of 40%. Over the same period they have received a threefold increase in business deposits to a high of £4 billion.

Neville Richardson, Chief Executive commented “Our presence in the corporate market has benefitted from a strong financial position that has supported growth when our competitors were scaling back …We plan to capitalise on our success and further strengthen our position in the market”.

Andrew Davies AM has recently published an article on the “New Mutualism” in which he sets out his position on this important debate.

Andrew was elected to the Assembly in May 1999.  He was a prominent member of the “Yes for Wales” Campaign and co-ordinator of Labour’s Assembly referendum campaign in 1997. Andrew served as a member of the Cabinet for ten years from the Assembly’s inception in May 1999, as Assembly Business Manager (Trefynydd) from 1999-2002; Minister for Economic Development from 2002-2007, with Transport added from 2003; and as Minister for Finance and Public Service Delivery between July 2007 and December 2009.

Read the article at http://waleshome.org/2010/10/the-new-mutualism/