It’s been a busy year for Middleton Co-operating. Members gathered last month at the town’s Bo Jangles theatre to celebrate and discuss the society’s progress at its Annual General Party (AGP) – its alternative version of the traditional annual general meeting.
Middleton Co-operating aims to improve life in the town by co-operating with the local community on areas that make up the town’s ‘foundational economy’ – the things that people rely on every day – which it has broken down into 19 ‘circles’ of work.
“The 19 circles are the way that we define how we want to go about changing everything in Middleton – not all at once, because you’ve got to break things down in some way,” said Mark Fraser, one of Middleton Co-operating’s directors. “So we’ve gone through all the things we want to change, that are the most important things in people’s day-to-day life.”
The AGP provided members with updates on a range of these work areas, including culture, finance, housing, energy, and childcare.
The society’s arts and culture lead, Kate Daley, shared updates on the town’s Art House space, which last year engaged 6,000 people through its programme of free community-led events. Middleton Co-operating also ran its inaugural Middleton Fringe in June, a multi-venue arts festival.
Daley described the success of the event, sharing that some of the businesses involved told her that the festival had brought them “the best day’s trading that they’d had since they opened”.
“On the Saturday, the town just felt different. It felt hopeful. It felt alive,” said Daley.
Main photo: Development lead Kallum Nolan presenting ‘Our Town, Our Future’ findings
Plans are under way for the next fringe, and member input was taken at the AGP about what could be improved for next year.
Middleton Co-operating’s work on housing justice has also expanded, with increased staff capacity for its work with the Middleton branch of Greater Manchester Tenants Union. Its work over the past year has included supporting tenants, mostly those of the Riverside Group housing association, to get effective repairs completed and claim compensation for disrepair.
Last summer, Middleton Co-operating published the report Who Owns Langley?, examining the history of the Langley estate through the eyes of tenants and includes personal testimonies and case studies to describe the problems that still persist.
“The quality of some of Riverside’s social housing on Langley continues to be of great concern, with repeated damp and mould and vermin infestations causing significant health risks,” says Middleton Co-operating, adding that it “will be growing the team and exploring wider/further strategies that will support people to get healthier and safer homes, and hold the landlords accountable when they are falling short”.
Related: Steve Coogan on why he is backing the Middleton Co-operating project
Last year also saw the launch of the Greater Manchester Living Income campaign, of which Middleton Co-operating is a founding partner organisation. The campaign is calling for a Living Income pilot for 200 households for two years in Greater Manchester.
Following a launch event in May 2025, the campaign held a round-table meeting with potential funders and allies with the financial and political power to help make a pilot a reality.
Middleton Co-operating says the day left them “confident that we were a big step closer to helping everyone in Greater Manchester be able to thrive, not just survive”.
Other projects under consideration include community energy and childcare.
Sarah Ronan, Middleton Co-operating director and CEO of Early Years Alliance, spoke to the AGP about the importance of childcare and early years provision, arguing that the town needs to support its children and young people so that they are healthy when they grow up – and want to stay in Middleton.
The AGP also heard updates on the ‘Our Town, Our Future’ project – a community conversation commissioned by Rochdale Council, to feed into the incoming Mayoral Development Corporation (MDC).
Middleton Co-operating gathered 1,991 survey responses and held 541 face-to-face conversations with local people about the town and its future.
Priorities identified in the report produced by Middleton Co-operating include making the town centre safer, supporting independent businesses and local spending, bringing empty and historic buildings back into use, creating more youth, family, cultural and evening activity, and connecting development to jobs and skills.
“The clearest message is that people want regeneration to be done with Middleton, not to Middleton,” says Middleton Co-operating, adding: “Our focus now is on turning the findings into practical action while ensuring residents continue to have a meaningful role in shaping the MDC and Middleton’s future.”
Despite its involvement in the work, Fraser clarified at the AGP that Middleton Co-operating “is not the MDC”, and will always be its own separate entity. Instead, said Fraser, the society will continue to work on shaping what happens, and working towards the community having a real say over the MDC and its impact.
Reports of Middleton Co-operating’s activity over the past year were shared against a positive backdrop of the society’s growth, with its annual report showing an increase in members, staff and financial stability.
Most notably was the recent announcement that Middleton Co-operating has been awarded just under £4.5 million from the National Lottery’s Solidarity Fund to support a seven-year programme of community-led development.
Kerry Edwards, Middleton Co-operating treasurer and director, said the board was “incredibly optimistic about the future”.
She added: “This significant investment represents a strong endorsement of our collective vision for a fairer, more co-operative Middleton and provides a unique opportunity to deepen local participation, strengthen community-owned assets, better investment and build tangible long-term community wealth.”
Ali Torabi, head of funding development at the National Lottery Community Fund, addressed attendees of the AGP, explaining that Middleton Co-operating was a strong candidate to receive the grant “because you are here”.
“For us, that’s the sort of accountability that we try to see in organisations and communities, and that’s what we’re trying to invest in.”
It has not always been plain sailing for the society however, said Fraser. “About 18 months ago, we were running out of money – we had about 18 months worth of money left.
“We decided that we needed to ‘go massive’ – just go out there, get loads of money in and attack everything that we want to attack. So our mantra used to be ‘go massive’.
“Well, that’s happening now. We are going massive, and we’re moving on to a new mantra. As the great Guy Garvey said: ‘it’s all going to be magnificent’.”
