August 2024

August’s outreach was focused on building momentum for our 'Co-ops on the curriculum' campaign. We are in the early days of this campaign and are trying to fundraise for this vital piece of work through which we aim to get the co-operative model on every business curriculum in UK higher education (for starters!). With the exception of our imminent partnership with the University of Dundee, the opportunities to learn about co-operative enterprise within higher education in the UK are woefully lacking. In August we met with teams from five business schools to understand what they need to give their students the opportunity to become the co-operators of the future.

This month also saw the third meeting of 2024 for the Global Co-op College Network (GCCN) which focused on developing case studies that encapsulate how each organisation approaches co-operative education. In anticipation of the UN Year of Co-operatives in 2025, the network started to think through how we could curate a lineup of speakers who could contribute valuable insights and experiences in co-operative education.

Among many things, the GCCN  is about fostering a culture of shared best practices. The aim is to create a vibrant, collaborative environment where learning and mutual knowledge sharing is key.

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July 2024

While many have been on holiday, we’ve been busy welcoming a number of co-operators and like-minded guests to our office at Holyoake House this month as we firm up plans for the year ahead.

Our Principal, Ali Longden, and our CEO, Jacqui Thomasen, hosted Emma Hoddinott, Assistant General Secretary at the Co-operative Party, to celebrate their achievement with a record number of Co-op MPs in Westminster following the May election, as well as making plans to work more closely together.

We also welcomed Debbie Robinson, CEO of Central Co-op to talk about next steps with Our Malawi Partnership and share some of the latest thinking and developments in our learning portfolio.

And finally we hosted Nick Money and Dr Paul Jones of Swoboda, a specialist credit union research organisation to explore how collaborating might benefit our stakeholders and extend our own learning.

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Jacqui and Ali are keen to build our network of partners within the co-op movement as well as with those who share our values – please get in touch with us if you would like to explore opportunities for collaboration.