News
Let’s raise a glass to community pubs
While we know there are challenges ahead, we, like many of you, are looking forward to our beloved pubs reopening tomorrow. Now all we need is the weather to ensure socially distanced outdoor eating and drinking can happen – hello summer! Pubs are often at the heart of their communities, and those that are owned […]
How we #KeepCooperating
We are the lender for social purpose – our funds come from co-ops, co-operators and are recycled to support co-ops and co-operators time and again! This is how we #KeepCooperating as Co-op Fortnight 2020 comes to an end with #coopsday 4th July and year round! Our video is a bit old now but we think […]
Looking back at lockdown
With lockdown starting to loosen, and businesses tiptoeing towards trading more, Business Development Manager Tim Coomer has taken a w wide-ranging view and looked back over a whirlwind three months – what have we done through lockdown, and what do we plan to do next? Firstly, I think we need to say we have been […]
The Co-op Economy 2020
Amidst the maelstrom of tough news that seems to be our current normal, we were happy to read Co-operatives UK Annual Co-operative Economy Report recently. The Report illustrates the amazing resilience of co-operative businesses – a whopping 76% survive after the tough early five years compared to 42% of traditional company structures. We know that […]
Opens MONDAY: NatWest Social and Community Capital to launch £1m Coronavirus Response Fund
Opening for applications at 9am on Monday 22nd June, our friends at NatWest Social and Community Capital are launching a new £1million fund offering grants of between £5,000 and £50,000 to organisations across the UK that employ people from vulnerable or disadvantaged groups. These grants are unrestricted and can be used for any purpose, including core costs. […]
A Tale of Two Pubs
[photo: Volunteers for What’s for Tea? organised by The Hive in Winsford] The last two loans released by Co-operative & Community Finance to pubs were to very different enterprises in quite different communities. One is the Cornwood Inn near Ivybridge which is the only pub in a remote village in the Dartmoor National Park. The […]
Inspiring stories – October Books delivers the goods!
We recently asked the organisations we’ve previously lent to and supported to share stories of lockdown trading, to celebrate the resilience and ingenuity of the sector at this time. We’re delighted to share Southampton’s bookshop co-operative October Books amazing story – they have developed a thriving delivery service and kept their busy events calendar going, […]
Inspire the sector – help us celebrate co-ops that have kept co-operating!
Has your Co-op and Community Finance supported co-op, community pub, or community business continued trading through lockdown? We’ve heard some wonderful stories of co-ops pulling out the stops and supporting their communities through lockdown – pubs providing meals on wheels and socially distanced deliveries, bookshops delivering care packages and community shops introducing full grocery deliveries […]
Community Businesses and COVID-19 Research Project – Deadline Extended!
Updated 28th May 2020: The deadline has been extended to the 31st May – apply now! Power to Change is running a longitudinal research project with the Young Foundation to learn more about how Community Business has adapted, managed and innovated so far and as we progress through the COVID19 outbreak They want to hear […]
UPDATED Guidance Round Up – COVID-19
*We updated this blog on the 21st May to include the Coronavirus Community Support Fund It’s now a little over seven weeks since the UK Lockdown was announced, in an effort to control the spread of COVID-19. Things have changed – some a little, some a lot – and so here’s our latest round up […]
Co-ops in the Time of COVID-19
As we enter our second tranche of a three-week lockdown, it is perhaps a good time to pause and reflect on the momentous events of the last month, its effect on Co-op and Community Finance (CCF), its clients, staff and board members. Our Operations Manager, Alain Demontoux, pauses for thought. Here at CCF, half the […]
Welsh employee-owned packaging firm increases production
At a time when many businesses have temporarily closed, an employee-owned company in south Wales has increased production to cope with a big rise in demand for its packaging services. In recent weeks PrimePac Solutions Ltd in Ebbw Vale has been inundated with orders to package sanitising and cleaning products. It has also bought a […]