Tower Hamlets CDA celebrates 25th

Tower Hamlets Co-operative Development Agency (CDA) – which helped found Social Enterprise London, the Social Enterprise Coalition and Co-operatives London – last week celebrated a quarter of a century at the forefront of co-operative and social enterprise.

The CDA, which helped put the ‘social enterprise agenda’ on the map, has been providing business support to co-operatives, community owned businesses and social enterprises in East London for 25 years since 1984.

Gregory Cohn, Chief Executive of Tower Hamlets CDA, said that when the agency started the Co-operative food stores were well known but worker co-operatives, housing co-operatives and the social enterprise sector were almost hidden away.

“Whereas today,” he said, “25 years on, we have a dynamic co-operative and social enterprise sector in East London and London wide, there are nearly 600 established housing and worker co-operatives.”

The CDA’s commitment to support and expand the London co-operative sector remains strong.

“Over the last couple of years, we have been working with Co-operativesUK and the many London co-operatives to launch Co-operatives London. It’s an umbrella body to shout about the successes of the 600 London co-operatives,” he said.

Ed Mayo, Secretary General of Co-operativesUK, said: “Tower Hamlets CDA been a leading light and the CDA is testament to the importance of providing a specialist and locally based agency to promote the co-operative sector. Amongst the many businesses it has helped to establish are some of London’s most successful co-operatives.”

As well as successful, established co-operatives such as Account 3, Paperback and Calverts, the CDA has been working more recently on food co-operatives.

Noting the high level of poor diet related ill health in East London, the CDA launched a food co-operative programme in 2000 and this led to the establishment of 18 successful community based Food Co-operatives, primarily by Bangladeshi women (pictured). More recently the CDA has supported the launch of co-operative-based fruit tuck shops in 25 local primary schools.

Speaking from a UK-wide perspective, Ed Mayo said: “The CDA’s huge positive impact in East London demonstrates the difference that a local community led agency can make to enterprises, the local area and to the wider co-operative and social enterprise sectors."

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