Co-operative News - Technology

ICA launches website for Cape Town event

AnthonyMurray — Tue, 23 Apr 2013 11:11:08 +0000

The official website for this year’s biggest global gathering for co-operators has been launched.

Two thousand co-operators from around the world are expected to attend the International Co-operative Alliance’s Global Conference and General Assembly from November 1-5 at the Cape Town International Convention Centre.

South Africa will host the ICA's first General Assembly on the continent, which will be focused on the Blueprint for a Co-operative Decade.

The event’s theme, Co-operative Decade: Growing the Co-operative Movement, will be the common thread throughout the week of meetings of ICA bodies, plenary sessions and the General Assembly.

On the website, the programme outlines a series of meetings between ICA committees and sectoral organisations, alongside a youth conference and the main conference followed by breakout sessions. Also listed are details about booking hotels and organising trips.

During the week there will also be a number of booths selling co-operative books and goods, providing information about co-operatives, showcases, and a number of other side meetings.

The ICA event will be followed by the ICMIF conference, which is the ICA’s sectoral body for the insurance sector, from 6-8 November. The ICMIF event will be a global gathering of mutual and co-operative insurance leaders.

• To find out more about the Cape Town event, visit: www.capetown2013.coop

Event:

ICA's Global Conference and General Assembly

Co-op teaches offenders to 'co-operate out of crime'

Emily Barker — Wed, 20 Feb 2013 15:53:37 +0000

A unique co-operative organisation in Manchester, UK is teaching offenders how to ‘co-operate out of crime’. Co-op News went to find out more.

Two years ago Bobby Unwin was serving a custodial sentence in Styal prison. Within one hour of being released she had been set up with a place to live by co-operative: Ex-Cell Solutions.

“If it wasn’t for Ex-Cell, I don’t think I would be here today, when I came out of jail, there wasn’t any support there;” she explained.

Ex-Cell took her on as an admin assistant, and after realising how well she was working with the offenders, offered her a place on the board of directors.

Bobby now works as the Finance manager for Ex-Cell. She explained that while in prison: “You could just so easily slip, because you’ve been around offenders, it’s just your lifestyle, it’s what you’re used to. If you haven't got that focus of work or something to do in the day, you are going to carry on the way you were.”

Ex-Cell works with offenders and ex-offenders and teaches them the benefits of working co-operatively, encouraging them to set up their own co-operative enterprises. They have helped set up an IT recycling organisation called Recycle IT and a cleaning co-op called Stardust Cleaners - all run by ex-offenders.

Ex Cell became a co-op in 2009 when the staff were facing redundancy. Dave Nicholson, one of the founders, explained: “ we felt that the co-op model was not only a good way of creating your own employment, but for offenders and ex-offenders it provides that additional mutual support for resettlement and rehabilitation.”

Offenders go on a ten-week training course and are taught the benefits of mutualism and self-employment. The project has been very successful. Ex-Cell also have a contract with Co-operative and Mutual Solutions Ltd and the Ministry of Justice to develop co-operative and mutual approaches to reducing reoffending.

Through their work – offenders and ex-offenders work together to offer support and mentoring.

Bobby explained: “We seem to be growing a family of ex-offenders, ready to help other ex-offenders. It works well – they feel welcomed, they volunteer to work with us, they want to work with us, and it’s not something they have to do.”

Ex-Cell works with around 30 people each year and currently has impressive reoffending rate of zero percent. The average reoffending rate in the UK is 26.8 percent.

Dave said: “It’s not a huge number we work with, but that’s one of the strengths because its small numbers and we can work very much on a one to one basis.”

Now their main focus is working with women at Styal with a co-op called WAGES: Women’s Action to Gain Economic Security. Women take the ten-week training course on self-employment and become part of the WAGES co-op.

Bobby explained: “We did a pilot last year for women and it really opened their eyes to working co-operatively, and what we’ve learnt is ex-offenders helping and supporting more ex-offenders seems to work really well.”

From the pilot, three women who were released are currently setting up their own businesses.

Bobby added: “It’s a brilliant programme, the difference in the women between the beginning and the end is huge. Their mind really does open. They’ve got hope that they can actually change something in their lives, whereas at first, they’re sat there with their arms crossed and they feel like they’re going nowhere.”

She recounted the story of Sharon, a drug user with over forty custodial sentences for shoplifting. Sharon had been in and out of jail for years and had always done the art classes.

“When she was on the programme she thought, I might make these greeting cards, I could make a business out of this;” Bobby said; “We’ve been working with her since June last year and this is the longest she’s been out of prison, for twenty years.”

Sharon now runs an art workshop for other ex-offenders and wants to do a course so she can be accredited.

Ormond Williams, another member of Ex-Cell, explained: “Sharon is motivated, she’s focused and we believe Ex-Cell had some part to play in that. She’s concentrating on her strengths, which is being creative and artistic, and not on her weaknesses.”

In Styal they are also working on creating a multi-stakeholder horticultural co-op, which will include prisoners and prison staff. The co-op will join veg co-op Manchester Veg People to give the women opportunities once they leave.

Ex-Cell are the only co-op in the UK to work this way. In a report Dave explains how the Co-op Movement: “pays little, if any, attention to what it could do in prisons, probation and in rehabilitation and reducing reoffending generally.” However, there are similar projects across the world.

The Co-op Bank also supports ex-offenders by being the only bank to provide them with bank accounts. However, Dave said though that work was good, it was different to Ex-Cell.

“What we’re doing is helping offenders to help themselves in a co-operative way;” he added.

Ex-Cell are continuing to grow. Ormond explained what is they key to their success: “We believe anyone can change, anyone…. This co-operating out of crime – that is key. We go on this journey together, Ex-Cell will hold your hand”.

I ♥ Co-ops: Cooperative Business New Zealand

Emily Barker — Fri, 18 Jan 2013 11:44:29 +0000

I ♥ co-ops shows the amazing power of co-operatives in the different trades and sectors throughout the world.

This week we have featured a video of Ramsey Margolis, Executive Director of Cooperative Business New Zealand.

We want to hear from you, if you want to take part in I ♥ co-ops then email us at emily@thenews.coop

Share your story of co-operation! #Iheartcoops

Can mutuality be marketed?

Emily Barker — Tue, 27 Nov 2012 09:35:10 +0000

THE marketing for mutuals “isn’t working” said Marketing Director, Karl Elliot, at the Mutuals 2012 Forum in London.

Three marketing professionals; Karl Elliot, Marketing Director for Engage Mutual Assurance, Liz Cable, Social Media and Digital Community specialist at Reach Further and Marc Bell, Marketing Director at Benenden Healthcare shared their views on the problems of marketing mutuality.

“We simply don’t engage enough with our customers, the marketing simply isn’t working;” said Karl Elliot; “We worry about doing the right thing, we spend ages trying to redefine mutuality and we get lost in all that.

He added: “There are no excuses. The Government is looking for alternative models, it is the first time they have reached out… Mutuality is the purpose, not the result.”

Liz Cable explained that more mutuals needed to embrace new technology, she said: “There is great synergy between social media and mutuality.”

Through social media the customers can offer positive feedback on channels such as Facebook and Twitter. “It is simply not true that people are more likely to be negative than positive online;” she added.

Social media allows customers to express their problems and needs. She explained: “Availability is about visibility online… if they are knocking on your door and they can’t find you, then you might as well not be there.”

Marc Bell, Marketing Director, Benenden Healthcare took a slightly different approach, he believed the mutuals needed to be authentic, have trust, empowerment, have a brand value and innovation.

He said: “Brand value is key, everything we do has to underpin… It’s a key driver of any successful marketing strategy. Brand positioning is extremely important.”

Carbon Co-op holds community energy events

Emily Barker — Mon, 19 Nov 2012 11:15:16 +0000

Community green energy organisation, Carbon Co-op, are holding a number of events to help people learn more about green projects in their area.

Carbon Co-op members can sign up to an exclusive ‘Ask the expert’ web conference, where they put their household energy efficiency questions to retrofit specialists, architects and engineers.

The session will take place between10.30 – 11.30 Wednesday 21 November and will be streamed live and videos archived for later viewing. To participate, sign up for Carbon Co-op membership before Wednesday here: http://www.carbon.coop/user/register

For non-members who are interested in renewable energy, then Carbon Co-op have also organised a Community renewables social called ‘Fuelling Manchester 8’ in association with the Kindling Trust. It will take place between 6pm-8.30pm, Thursday 29th November  at the Buffet Bar, Stalybridge Station, Stalybridge.

For more information go here: http://carbon.coop/news/2012-11-13/fuelling-manchester-8-community-renew...

Finally they are still looking for people to take part in the Community Green Deal pilot project. Householders will gain the chance to gain assistance implementing energy saving improvements including access to zero interest loans and ECO subsidies. Find out more here: http://carbon.coop/content/community-green-deal

What's next for Stories.coop?

Emily Barker — Thu, 15 Nov 2012 10:38:04 +0000

Stories.coop started on the 22 December with the story of an African Football co-operative. It now has over 380 stories of co-operation in celebration of the International Year of Co-operatives (IYC). This innovative campaign aims to use these co-operative stories to inspire people across the world.

The idea behind Stories.coop was to tell a story of co-operation everydayto mark the IYC. It is a joint project by Eurisce and the ICA.

Ilana Bodini, from Eurisce has worked on Stories.coop from the beginning. She explained: ”We really wanted to do what the IYC was setting out to do – to raise awareness about co-ops: about who they are, and what they do. We really wanted this to reach both the Movement and the general public.”

Ilana added they wanted to make it an open project, so co-operatives were encouraged to add their own stories. However, she said one of the biggest problems they faced was that co-ops often do not have the time to stop and promote themselves. “We’ve been chasing co-ops all year!” she added.

The website has been a huge success, it has attracted visitors from all corners of the globe, has featured 383 so far and had over 100,000 visits in the last year.

With the IYC coming to an end, Stories.coop is looking to the future. Ilana explained: “We’re asking people now, what do they want Stories.coop to be? Some of our partners have already asked us, can we use these stories in training? Can we link to the website? It’s an open database that we hope people will use."

At the Co-operatives United conference in Manchester, ICMIF used the stories about finance for people to read out in mock news broadcasts and other organisations have used them as part of training exercises.

The website will remain up and running, but it will not be posting a co-op everyday – however, co-ops can still submit their stories.

Ilana’s previous work was not with co-operatives, so the project was a learning curve for her as well. When asked, she could not pick one favourite story; instead she said she loves the “togetherness” of all the co-ops.

She added: “When I started putting these stories on there, at a certain point I looked at the results, when you saw them tiled out one by one and I thought - my goodness, these stories all put together are so beautiful!”

100 stories from Stories.coop were used as part of a special book for the International Year of Co-operatives called: ‘Building a Better World’.

What would you like to do with Stories.coop now the IYC is coming to an end?

Co-operative Internet registrar Domains.coop joins ICA

Emily Barker — Tue, 23 Oct 2012 14:11:55 +0000

The International Co-operative Alliance (ICA) today announced the acquisition of Domains.coop, the first and largest accredited registrar of.coop domains, from Midcounties Co-operative. This puts the ICA in a significant position to expand the adoption of the .coop domain amongst the 1.4 million cooperatives around the world.

The .coop domain celebrated it’s tenth anniversary this year in January and it is the only domain specifically for a business model.

Charles Gould, ICA’s Director-General noted that “the acquisition would not have been possible without the generous contribution of Midcounties Co-operative, the largest independent co-operative in the UK, who invested heavily in the development of .coop ten years ago and who have now gifted their interest in Domains.coop to the ICA.”

“The.coop domain is a strong online symbol for the co-operative movement. The opportunity for co-ops to employ this joint identity on the Internet perfectly complements the ICA’s efforts to raise awareness of coops into the Co-operative Decade."

The announcement preceded the bi-annual ICA General Assembly, held during the Co-operatives United World Festival and ICAExpo in Manchester, UK at which the Blueprint for a Co-operative Decade was launched. The events marked the close of the United Nations International Year of Co-operatives by the co-operative community.

Ben Reid, Chief Executive of Midcounties Co-operative, said “the Board of Midcounties Co-operative was very pleased that the ICA is going to assume responsibility for the on- going promotion of .coop. It has been an act of faith by the Society, when they secured the domain on behalf of the Movement, which has now been justified by the recognition that .coop can make a significant contribution to raising the awareness of Co-operatives worldwide.”

While there are a number of registrars around the world, Domains.coop is responsible for about 80% of annual sales of domains. It achieves this through a small network of resellers who are inside the co-operative family.

The US side of .coop is currently being held in the hands of the National Co-operative Business Association (NCBA).

Event:

Co-operatives United

Wednesday: Opening Ceremony

Manchester Co-operatives excited to celebrate Co-operatives United

Emily Barker — Tue, 25 Sep 2012 10:53:48 +0000

Co-operatives from Manchester shared their excitement for the upcoming Co-operatives United conference in October, at a ‘Meet the Co-ops’ event held this week.

Nine co-operatives including FC United, Unicorn Grocery and Carbon Co-op presented their co-operative story, while attendees sampled food from co-operative outlets such as Handmade Bakery and the Manchester Veg People.

The Manchester co-ops explained how important it was to them to take part in the biggest co-operative event in the world on their doorstep.

Debbie Clarke from Unicorn Grocery said: “It’s really exciting, especially with the Rochdale pioneers and that association with co-operation being rooted in the North of England, it's lovely to see it coming home and being celebrated here.”

“I think tonight has demonstrated just how many co-ops there are in Manchester, in such a wide variety of sectors. Hopefully Co-operatives United will showcase them, as well as all the ones that are coming internationally and across Britain.”

FC United is a co-operative football association attempting to change the way people view football and co-operation. They have recently implemented a new food policy for their games, to help provide local sustainable food at matches.

Phil Frampton, a member of FC United, is looking forward to the opportunities Co-ops United will bring.

He said: “It’s great exposure for us for people all the world to see that Britain also has a reasonably co-operative football movement, because in Germany for example all the leading teams are co-ops, it’s the case mainly in Spain, but here it's just beginning to show what the co-operative movement can do for football.”

He added that their football co-op is “committed to changing the world for young people in Manchester” and it can help inspire young people to change their lives and get involved in co-operation.

Carbon Co-op are about to launch a £250,000 Green Deal pilot in association with Manchester City Council, a people-powered project to reduce carbon emissions and energy bills.

Jonathan Atkinson, from Carbon Co-op, feels Co-ops United is a unique and special event. He said: “Our co-op is all about sharing technologies, sharing understanding, working together to solve these very complex problems that people around the world face so I’m really looking forward to it.”

A fairly recent co-operative, Manchester Veg People, who only started trading in May last year is also excited about the event. Katie Brandon said: “It’s really exciting for a co-op that’s based in Manchester to see everybody coming here to our city, to have so much inspiration and to get loads of tips and meet people.”

The Meet the Co-ops event was the fourth year in a series of events by Unicorn grocery and was organised to celebrate the International Year of Co-operatives.

Debbie Clarke added that she was most looking forward to Co-operation Street at the Co-op United event: “I really like the idea of a town that is made up of co-ops. It’s like living in a little fantasy world. I am quite excited about that.”

The co-operatives speaking at Meet the Co-ops were: the Rochdale Pioneers Museum, the Co-operative College, Handmade Bakery, Unicorn Grocery, Loop Systems Co-op, FC United, Manchester Veg People, Oromo Coffee company, Carbon Co-op and Tree Station.

Event:

Co-operatives United

Phone Co-op joins The Co-operative national brand

AnthonyMurray — Tue, 04 Sep 2012 14:12:41 +0000

In what is being hailed as a major milestone in its development, the Phone Co-op has adopted the UK's national Co-operative brand to help promote the society’s products and services.

The announcement follows a year of consultation with the Co-operative Group which administers the brand on behalf of the Movement. Following the discussions, approval has been given for three brand styles which reflect the range of businesses which the Phone Co-op operates: phone & broadband; mobile and business telecoms.

Phone Co-op Chief Executive Vivian Woodell told the News: “We are all really excited about this important development. It creates lots of opportunities for cross-marketing with other co-op societies and enables us to reach a much bigger audience because the brand is widely recognised and respected, and at the same time reflects the Phone Co-op’s values.

“It will also enable us to sell to a wider range of business customers, because The Co-operative is a well-respected business-to-business brand. Overall, adopting the brand creates an excellent platform for our future growth and development.”

Kristian Mills, Head of Brand Governance and Standards at the Co-operative Group, added: “We are delighted the Phone Co-op is adopting the Co-operative brand.

“The Phone Co-op has consistently demonstrated a strong customer service focus. It is recognised for its commitment to providing high quality services reflecting co-operative values in the way it trades, and its growth over the last decade is strong evidence of this.

“The introduction of telecoms to the Co-operative brand will strengthen our offer to the public and add value to the brand, which means everyone gains.”

Join the campaign to support co-operatives through Twitter and Facebook

AnthonyMurray — Thu, 12 Apr 2012 08:44:16 +0000

Co-operatives around the world have launched a social media campaign to raise the profile of the International Year of Co-operatives.

Key organisations are calling for Twitter and Facebook users to back the Year by displaying a special message on their profile pictures.

Using the Twibbon service, social media users can show their support in just a few clicks, which will add the official United Nations' logo to the supporter's avatar.

The promotion is a joint initiative between the International Co-operative Alliance, Global News Hub, Co-operatives UK, National Co-operative Business Association, Canadian Co-operative Association and Euricse, through a social media discussion group between the bodies.

Eric DeLuca, who chairs this international social media work group and is the Year's Program Manager at the NCBA, told the News: “Social media provides a unique, cost-effective, and increasingly accessible communication platform for the one billion co-op member-owners worldwide.

“The International Year of Co-operatives twibbon represents a simple gesture that demonstrates how co-op members and cooperative enterprises around the globe are powerfully connected with each other. The bottom line in that connection is meeting human needs and strengthening communities, which translates into jobs and economic resilience.”

• To add the Twibbon to your Facebook or Twitter account, join the campaign page: twibbon.com/join/UN-Year-of-Co-operatives-3. The campaign can also be adopted by other co-operative organisations in various languages. Currently designs are available in Arabic, Chinese, French, Spanish and Russian. For more details, contact the Global News Hub.