News Archive
Celebrating ICOF 50th birthday – looking back at our loans – Cafe Kino
Formed following a series of pop up events running in Bristol and Cardiff between 1996 and 2002, Bristol vegan cafe and community space Cafe Kino first incorporated in 2004. After outgrowing their first premises within a few years, we worked with and lent to Cafe Kino in 2010, to support their relocation to a larger […]
Fifty years of friendship and finance – meet Siôn Whellens
Today in our series of interviews with friendships forged over fifty years, we meet worker co-op stalwart Siôn Whellens. Siôn is part of Calverts, Principle Six and the recently formed workers.coop federation. “I guess the first time I became aware of ICOF was when we had our second loan, back in around 1994/95. We borrowed something like £27,000 to buy […]
Celebrating ICOF 50th birthday – looking back at our loans – Bristol Plumbing
Some loans are for more tangible things than others and this one, to Bristol Plumbing Co-operative, was for a very tangible new asset – a brand new van. Bristol Plumbing are still going today, albeit with a new look – check out the gallery on their website to see some really stunning examples of their […]
Fifty years of friendship and finance – meet Ian Taylor
Today in our series looking back at the people who’ve been part of ICOF over the last fifty years, we speak to someone to whom many of you will need no introduction. Ian Taylor was part of ICOF for thirty years and he’s been mentioned by many of you. Over to you Ian… “I think […]
Celebrating ICOF 50th birthday – looking back at our loans – Oxford Wood Recycling
Wood Recycling Projects exist all around the UK and we have been proud to work with the Oxford Wood Recycling Project on a number of occasions. Far more than simply a shop selling wood, wood recycling projects tend to include elements of employment support, volunteering and training. Oxford Wood Project is no different – their […]
Fifty years of friendship and finance – meet Christina Wigmore
We’ve been celebrating our fifty years of friendship and finance by talking to the people who have worked with us along the way. Today we introduce Christina Wigmore, of Soft Touch Arts, in Leicester We first got involved with ICOF in around 2005. We needed to make improvements to the building we were in at the time, and […]
Celebrating ICOF 50th birthday – looking back at our loans – Highland Homecare
Founded in 1994, Highland Home Carers is now one of the major independent providers of home care and support services in Scotland, employing over 250 staff. Employee owned since 2004, and the largest employee owned business in Scotland, provide Home Care, Support Work, and Complex Care. We worked with HHC in 2014 to support them […]
Fifty years of friendship and finance – meet Simon Ryan
We’ve been celebrating our fiftieth birthday by looking back over the projects we’ve loaned to and the people who have worked with us along the way. Today we meet Simon Ryan of The Peninsula Trust in Cornwall who we also spoke to during COVID. “I started work on The Peninsula Trust in 2013, and I started talking to Ian […]
Celebrating ICOF 50th birthday – looking back at our loans – Manchester Tree Station
We’ve supported the team at Manchester Tree Station tree, sorry three, times since 2000. Now called simply The TreeStation, they as a hub for a broad range of wood related activities in Manchester. Still led by strong ethics, The TreeStation is a not-for-profit organisation, registered as Society for the Benefit of the Community (BenCom), making it […]
Delight as village raises enough to save its pub and heritage
We are really pleased to be able support The George Community Pub, in Wickham Market, Suffolk, with an offer of finance to lever in significant support from the The National Lottery Heritage Fund and other match funders The George Community Pub will receive additional funding from The National Lottery Heritage Fund bringing their total grant […]