News
Fan power breathes new life into the old dog
[photo by Max Reeves] The oldest senior football ground in London has been bought by the local supporter-owned club and is set to become a permanent asset to the community of Forest Gate in East London. Clapton Community Football Club completed the purchase of the historic Old Spotted Dog Ground on 24 July 2020, following […]
Churchill’s White House saved by community buyout
[photo by Ed Nix taken at the start of the campaign in October 2019] The last remaining pub in the historic village of Bladon, Oxfordshire, has been saved by the local community. The White House has a strong connection one of Britain’s most famous and controversial leaders. Sir Winston Churchill, who was born in nearby […]
New funding – £18.7m grant fund for social enterprises
More funding news – The Social Enterprise Support Fund will provide essential financial support between £10,000 and £300,000 to help social enterprises during COVID-19. The School for Social Entrepreneurs (SSE) and four other social enterprise support agencies have come together to deliver a new fund, and applications opened at 1pm today (Monday 13th July). Big Issue Invest, […]
Thank you Heart of England Co-operative Society!
We are delighted to announce that the Heart of England Co-operative Society has invested £10,000 in our ICOF Community Capital (ICC) loan fund, to help pioneering communities thrive. The ICOF fund aims to provide loan capital to support both new and growing co-operative and community businesses that provide social and environmental benefits. A recent market […]
Up to £100k for community organisations in England – three short application periods
We’re happy to see a £9.5 million Covid-19 Community-Led Organisations Recovery Scheme announced. There will be three short application periods – 10am to 1pm on the 28th July, 4th and 11th August – so we urge you to look into this one early if you plan to apply. There’s also a webinar to help you […]
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, […]