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Meet our new Trustees! We are profiling three brilliant new Trustees, elected to our Board at our June AGM.

Here we talk to Owen Dowsett, a Senior Consultant at the British Council, about his experience of working in the field of social finance, and why he chose to join us.

My current job is based around the Investment Climate Reform Facility. This supports organisations in African, Caribbean and Pacific countries to create better conditions for businesses to thrive and for women’s economic empowerment and inclusion, which in turn boosts economic growth and sustainable development at large. For the first two years of my role at the British Council I was part of the global social enterprise programme. This took an ecosystem approach, not supporting social enterprises or entrepreneurs directly, but informing policy and education and finance systems to build the conditions for social enterprises to thrive.

My previous job was within the Equality Impact Investing Project and that was all about trying to bridge the gap between the equality sector and social investment in the UK, looking at how social investors could better promote equality using a number of different strategies. These strategies often involve looking at the diversity of people invested in, and their teams, or how their work promotes equality. CCF and its target borrowers offer another aspect which I’m interested in which goes beyond the who and what described above and looks at how borrowers are organised, ie, democratically, often with flat structures – this is where at least some of the equality impact lies. 

I’ve seen time and again that there is an interest on both sides – there is a keenness to invest and a demand for the investment. I think it’s really important to be clear that while there is a need for capital for income for all sorts of organisations, social investment isn’t suited to every organisation. There was historically a risk that this was being positioned as a direction for everyone which could have justified the reduction in grants etc – we have to remember that there are and always will be projects that can’t work with repayable finance. But for those that suit it, there are lots of things that can be done to turn what they do into something that pays back. That can happen through all kinds of models – for example, services could be chargeable at different rates in different sectors to subside the work with key beneficiaries. The main thing is that investors and investees need to be willing to express needs and concerns, and ask questions, especially when things are unknown. And both need to hear those of the other party.

The opportunity with CCF felt really attractive to me. As a lot of my work at the British Council is and has been international, I’ve missed having a focus in the UK. And I live in Bristol, where CCF is headquartered, so that’s even more local to me! I am very keen to learn about cooperatives – even though they are such a globally accepted model, I’ve not really engaged with them before. I’m really looking forward to learning more about the cooperative sector – how it works, what coops feel like and look like on the ground, and meeting the people within them.’

We’re pleased to be working with Owen – welcome to the team! Meet the rest of our Trustees here

Meet our new Trustees! We are profiling three brilliant new Trustees, elected to our Board at our June AGM.

Here we talk to Maggie Rodriguez-Piza, Chief Executive, Funding London, about her experience and interest in social finance, and why she chose to join us.

‘My experience of social finance started when I came to Funding London over 10 years ago. As an investor, our mission is to support the economic development strategy for London through our fund – we bridge the funding gap for SMEs in London and enable real opportunities for sustainable growth. From time to time, that’s seen us lending to social enterprises and more recently, specifically targeting under represented groups, for example women and minoritised groups.

The support we have provided to social enterprises has really helped us learn, and we have seen first hand what an impact it can have in tackling issues that are very local to a community. We’ve supported lending from buying buildings and creating community centres, to supporting groups working do things that are good for the environment, to other end of spectrum, we have supported organisations that are very passionate about children and young people – and particularly children and young people in marginalised and deprived communities – and the issues they face.  The challenge is always around how to amplify that impact. How can we best support organisations doing really great things, that need finance over time to expand their impact?

Social finance has huge benefits. One of my favourite examples of this is Change Please. When we supported them they were very small, they had just one coffee cart in Canary Wharf. They were doing amazing work taking homeless people who wanted to get into the workforce. Working with Change Please gave them skills and supported them to change other important things – for example, they might have gained a fixed address, a bank account. But scaling was difficult. As there was only one coffee cart, there was a limit to the number of clients they could support at any one time. Social finance enabled them to buy a second cart and double their impact. They now have a roastery and actual cafes in London and Manchester. They were very smart by starting in Canary Wharf and are a really great example of how social finance can unlock a huge amount of value.

Social impact in this country is becoming more and more front of mind for even mainstream organisations. Ten years ago, it wasn’t even on the table for Venture Capitalists, whereas today it’s a growing trend. The managers of those funds have to reflect the priorities of those that invest into the funds. More and more, impact and social good are becoming ingrained in what investors are looking for, so as a result, social finance in general will become more important as we look for ways to recover from the pandemic and the economic turmoil we’re experiencing in this country. I see that as a really great future and I’m looking forward to being part of it.

Our friends at Plunkett Foundation are running what will be an incredibly useful webinar on the 20th October

Hosted by Plunkett, the webinar will include input from energy saving solutions company Gaeltel, who have worked with Plunkett to do detailed energy surveys of two community businesses.

The session will share their findings and recommendations for minimising energy consumption and making cost savings. It will explore:

· What temperature should your heating/aircon be set to for optimum use?

· Do your chillers/freezers generate enough sales to keep them running?

· Could solar/wind power/heat pumps be of use to make your business more energy self-sufficient?

This kind of proactive short and long term planning will prove essential with the onset of winter and the unknown levels of price increase to come.

FInd out more and register here

Are you, or do you know, a young person looking to join a movement that empowers people and communities, giving a voice to all? The National Youth Summit is the event for you!

Coming up on July 11th in Manchester, the Summit will give you the opportunity to explore radical solutions to the big topics of the day – and discover how together, we can create a fairer future.

This FREE event will bring together young people, leaders, change-makers and creators to empower attending and no-attending young people through the principles of co‑operation. From job security to mental health and co‑operative and ethical working, discover how co‑ops can enable the young people of today to become the leaders of tomorrow.

Expect high profile speakers and genuine opportunities to get involved and contribute

All the details are here – refreshments are provided – book your place now!

Lending and Relationship Manager Kevin Lloyd-Evans attended Co-ops Congress for the first time this year. Here, he reflects on the event.

Congress 22 was held in Birmingham, at the East Side Rooms a new venue recently opened as part of the redevelopment of Birmingham’s central East Side, which will be the home of HS2.

As conferences go, Congress 22 was a great event – good venue & food, speakers, workshops, enthusiastic delegates and well organised by Cooperatives UK. The recurring theme addressed by various speakers was the gap between the number of people starting coops and socially minded people identifying strongly with cooperative principles and values. Rose Marley, CEO of Cooperatives UK, spoke about research which had been done in 2021 showing young people connect very strongly with coop principles and ways of working. So why are so few coops being started particularly in comparison to social enterprises?

There were several reasons offered as to why cooperative structures were not being adopted by people when starting social businesses. Speakers touched on a lack of awareness about the work of cooperatives, a lack of political support (more support for social enterprise development), and sometimes too much focus on structure and theory as opposed to action and implementation.

The challenge for the movement is the perception it is insular, narrow in focus and lacking diversity. Lord Victor Adebowale suggested the movement had a lot to offer and being more outward looking would bring benefits. Speakers including The Mayor of Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham, MP Jess Philips, and Scott Darraugh (CEO Social Adventures) all echoed a similar theme.

On a further optimistic note, despite the lack of formal cooperatives established in recent years people were adopting cooperative values and ways of working. This provides a platform for inclusion, growth, and development. The challenge facing the movement seems not one of trying to convert people to cooperative values and principles but to find inclusion routes for the converted. Like HS2, the cooperative movement could be leaving Birmingham super charged and reaching new audiences in record time.

This year, Co-op Fortnight wants to celebrate the diversity of co‑ops. 

Between Monday 20th June and Sunday 3rd July, hundreds of co‑ops and organisations across the UK will be working together to celebrate and promote co‑ops. The theme this year is #UnwrapCoops and we are excited to see behind the scenes of all the fantastic co-ops out there!

We know that a huge range of people are involved in co-ops here in the UK and globally – according to the International Cooperative Alliance, at least 12% of people on earth are members of any of the 3 million cooperatives that exist. We are proud to be a co-op ourselves, and we are incredibly proud to support new and developing co-ops here in the UK. In recent months, we’ve worked with two fantastic organisations and the coops behind them.

Paul Smith, Vice Chairman of the Sir Walter Raleigh in Devon said: “Securing the future of the pub is a great achievement for our village. The support from Co-operative and Community Finance has been fantastic, they were helpful, responsive, supportive and very professional in all our dealings. The loan application process was straightforward and the terms of the loan very fair. Opening a current account was a tortuous process, by comparison securing our loan couldn’t have been easier.”

Andy Bagshaw, Chairman of North Derbyshire Youth Football League says, “We came across Co-operative and Community Finance (CCF) and they changed our whole perspective on what was achievable. Kevin Lloyd-Evans and Tim Coomer were immediately supportive and guided us on taking advice from Co-operatives UK as well as helping us secure the finance we needed to complete the project. At all times we felt that C&CF ‘were on our side’ and could see the aims and importance of having our own facilities to provide youth football for hundreds of local children.”

There are some great events happening through the fortnight – new members of Co-operatives UK can meet and mingle online on the 24th June, and a real life gathering is taking place in Hebden Bridge on the 2nd July. Join Calderdale Co-operative Association for ‘Co-ops Work!’ to celebrate the UN International Day of Co-operatives.

Whatever you do this co-op fortnight, we hope you can shout about the co-operatives you are involved in. These are businesses that operate for people and planet as well as profit – imagine if all businesses did?

Today, 20th June 2022, is World Refugee Day

This day, first marked in 2001, is an international day designated by the United Nations to honour refugees wherever they are. It recognises and celebrates the strength and courage of all those who have been forced to flee their home country to escape conflict or persecution. It is an occasion to build empathy and understanding for their plight and to recognize their resilience in rebuilding their lives.

Each year the day has a theme and this year that theme is the right to seek safety. Under Article 14 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights,

Everyone has the right to seek and to enjoy in other countries asylum from persecution.

Co-operatives have often been at the forefront of supporting those seeking safety. Last year, the Co-op Foundation awarded a £250,000 grant to Refugee Action, and laid the foundations for Co-op members, Co-op Academies and Member Pioneers to get involved in providing further support. In Ukraine, co-op workers have been taking refugees displaced from occupied areas into their homes. And in Poland, credit unions have been at the forefront of providing humanitarian relief, and welcoming Ukrainian refugees. This document on the International Labour Organisation website highlights further examples of co-ops supporting refugees in recent decades.

Today, and through Refugee Week, (check out the full range of events running here) we hope you will join us in celebrating the innovative creativity and resilience of refugees and other people seeking sanctuary. When even the history of that ‘British’ classic fish and chips can be traced back to the kitchens of Jewish immigrants, it is clear that their contribution is so vast as to have become woven into the fabric of our society.