It’s all happening in Glasgow!

Co-operative development specialist, our Board member and Glasgow resident Jaye Martin has been busy lately!

“As a proud Glasgow resident, I was so happy that not one, but two, major events in the co-op sector’s calendar were held in the dear green place this month.

The Democratic Business Summit, organised by the Centre for Democratic Business, was on 4^th November in the beautiful Barras Art & Design (BAaD) venue and brought together delegates with an interest in co-ops, employee-ownership and social enterprise.

And between 20-22 November, the Worker Co-op Federation brought their Autumn Assembly to a number of venues in Glasgow including Townhead Village Hall, Glasgow Women’s Library and GreenCity Wholefoods.

I was lucky enough to attend both events, and to specifically represent Co-op and Community Finance (CCF) at the Worker Co-op Autumn Assembly.

Some stand-out sessions at the Assembly included an exploration of worker co-ops in care and cleaning, with inspiring examples from The Great Care Co-op, Belfast Cleaning Co-op and Leading Lives.

There was also an interesting discussion about the outlook for worker co-ops in Scotland, with some potentially positive shifts happening at Scottish Government level and beyond.  Special shout out to the DIY badge making sessions which had some really cool designs to choose from.  There was even a special guided walk on Glasgow’s co-operative history, and lots of nods to Scotland’s proud co-operative history scattered throughout the 3 day event, which was brilliant to see.

On the week when Scotland v Denmark saw the Scottish men’s football team qualify for the World Cup for the first time in 28 years AND cause seismic activity equivalent to an extremely small earthquake, it really was all happening in Glasgow!  (You’ll forgive me for mentioning this but I just can’t help myself!)”

Jaye Martin is a Co-op Practitioner and Member of Co-operate Scotland as well as a member of our Board. Thanks to Jaye for attending these events and the inspiring write up!