News Archive
Introducing Ruth Buchanan, one of our new Trustees!
Meet our new Trustees! We are profiling two brilliant new Trustees, elected to our Board at our June 2023 AGM. Today we introduce Ruth Buchanan, who has been Head of Finance at Co-operatives UK since January 2023 “I trained as an auditor and I’ve been practicing as an accountant for about 15 years or so, in a […]
Fifty years of friendhsip and finance – meet Seb Elsworth
As we enter the last month of what has been a joyful fiftieth year, we will be sharing interviews with our partners and peers in the responsible finance sector. Today we speak to Seb Elsworth, CEO of Access, the Foundation for Social Investment “I joined Access in May 2015 and before that, I’d worked at Social […]
EDI Action Plan 2023 – 2024
As we continue on our EDI journey, today we share our Action Plan for 2023-2024. Produced by our Board and Staff team, this Plan includes specific commitments and objectives to help us move with purpose towards real, measurable, change. Explore it here. OUR PLEDGE: To continue working together to ensure that the sector reflects the […]
Celebrating ICOF 50th birthday – looking back at our loans – Small Axe
As we head towards the end of our fiftieth year, our retrospective series is taking a turn towards tech. Back in 2016, we supported Small Axe, an innovative international creative agency, to expand and strengthen its co-operative structure. The finance we provided was used to implement an action plan of co-operative training and development, with […]
Fifty years of friendship and finance – meet Margaret Trotter
To celebrate our fiftieth birthday, we’ve been talking to people who we’ve worked with over the first fifty years. Today we speak to Margaret Trotter, Director of Finance at Four Corners, a film and photography charity based in East London. “In 2007, we took over the freehold of our building. We raised £1million to extend […]
Fifty years of friendship and finance – meet Kevin Blowe
As we head towards the end of our fiftieth year, we’re interviewing some of our more recent borrowers. Today we’re talking to Kevin Blowe, one of the founding members of Clapton Community Football Club. Kevin was heavily involved in negotiating the purchase of the Old Spotted Dog ground in 2020. “We were in the process of trying to negotiate a […]
Celebrating ICOF 50th birthday – looking back at our loans – The Crown Inn, South Moreton
Today, The Crown Inn is an award winning, community owned, traditional country pub in South Moreton, Oxfordshire, and we are proud to have been part of their story. In 2015, the pub had been bought by a developer. The village had been without a shop or a village hall for years, and residents feared they […]
Community Land Trust secures investment for people powered land ownership initiative
A land trust rooted in activism with a bold mission statement to acquire and steward property on behalf of the local community has secured vital funding for their latest property procurement. Stokes Croft Land Trust (SCLT) is a grassroots institution governed and run by local people for the long-term acquisition and stewarding of community assets […]
Fifty years of friendship and finance – meet Clare Horrell
In our series of interviews with people we’ve worked with over the last fifty years, today we speak to Claire Horrell, one of the executive directors of the Real Farming Trust (RFT). “I joined RFT in 2015 to run a project called Just Growth. It was a funding program for agro-ecological businesses, and a partnership project […]
Celebrating ICOF 50th birthday – looking back at our loans – Winterbourne Bassett Pub
Community pubs remain a strong area of activity for us. The benefits to the community are frequently far greater than a place for a pint, and in many cases, community pubs are the only places for people to get together. In 2018, we supported The Winterbourne Bassett Community Pub Society near Swindon, with specialist advice […]