Welsh Assembly's new drive to set up more co-operatives and credit unions

Wales needs more co-operatives and mutual societies to help people through the recession, the chairman of a new cross-party group said last night.

The group - intended to promote the benefits of credit unions, agricultural co-operatives and mutual investment funds - will be chaired by Conservative AM David Melding. Several Labour Assembly Members have also signed up, together with two Plaid Cymru AMs and former Welsh Lib Dem leader Mike German.

The group will try to encourage greater use of credit unions as a credit-crunch alternative to traditional banks.

Mr Melding denied the co-operative movement – formed by Welshman Robert Owen in the 19th century – was unfamiliar ground for a Conservative.

He said: “It seeks to enhance the forces of captialism... it’s a very fruitful option for those who produce goods and gives an awful lot of power to those directly involved.

“We want to encourage the take-up of co-operative models. One of the first things we will be looking at will be credit unions; in fairness the Assembly Government have often encouraged the use of credit unions, but we need to be much more radical given the financial meltdown we’ve seen, to get people to ownership of these sorts of models.

“Certainly for those financially marginalised, the notion of a credit union is absolutely empowering.”

Plaid Cymru AM Chris Franks, who has also joined the new cross-party group, said: “In this era of credit confusion, the credit union is at an advantage, with secure deposits and loans at competitive rates.

“It is time to think differently about the way we use our money. Plaid sees alternative ways of using local financial services to help businesses as well as individuals.

Ed Mayo, secretary general of umbrella group Co-operativesUK, said: “There could not be a better time to harness the potential of co-operatives.

“Across the world, there is a resurgence of financial co-operatives, businesses that instead of failing are being bought out by staff and community-level co-operatives providing lifeline services, from rural villages to inner cities.

“Wales has long been a pioneer in the field of community and co-operative action, and the launch of the All Party Group for the Welsh Assembly is both timely and welcome.”

Article from Wales Online

Go! on track to be first train operating co-operative

Go! Co-operative is gathering momentum in its aim to become the UK’s first co-operatively-owned train operating company. It has appointed three new board members to take the organisation forward to operational stage.

Chief Executive, Keith Vingoe, Director of Operations, Chris Phillimore and Director of Safety, Chris Thompson – will work together to help ensure the smooth transition from initial start-up to fully functional social enterprise.

Go! plans to provide a service initially in Southern England, as the first open access train provider running as a multi-stakeholder co-operative - linking main lines to smaller market towns and villages. It is currently seeking funding of upwards of £250,000.

With Board members who together have over 50 years experience in the rail industry, and expertise in successfully managing similar start-up rail projects - the organisation has the impetus to take it to the next level.

Tim Pearce, Chair of Go! Co-operative, said: “I am very excited that we are attracting people with real practical experience and strong track records. That, plus the immediate response to our first offer of withdrawable shares, has given us some real momentum.”

New Chief Executive, Keith Vingoe, who is also Managing Director of the Lynton and Barnstaple Railway, is confident about Go! Co-operative.

He said: “The present Lynton and Barnstaple Railway was created from nothing so there is no reason why a similar business model using broad based community support cannot be harnessed to run much needed trains on track that is already there."

"Having worked for many years in the field of business management, I am very confident that a sound idea like that of Go! Co-operative can be turned into a good social enterprise business,” he said.
http://www.go-now.coop/

Co-operatives in Social Enterprise Awards shortlist

Dynamix and Llanmadoc Community Shop, two co-operatives in Wales, have been shortlisted for this year’s Social Enterprise Awards.

The Social Enterprise Awards is a new competition being run by the Social Enterprise Coalition that aims to recognise and celebrate the work carried out by the most successful social enterprises in the UK. It builds on the Enterprising Solution Awards which has been running for the last ten years and - and which was won last year by the Phone Co-op (pictured above).

Dynamix, based in Swansea, is a worker co-operative that specialises in creative training, facilitation and consultation exercises. It primarily works with children and schools but has also recently been training civil servants.

Llanmadoc is a village shop that was bought by the community when its owners retired in 2007. Like – over 200 villages in the UK, the residents did not want to see a vital service disappear so they formed a co-operative, clubbed together and bought the shop themselves.

Both the co-operatives are in the Welsh shortlist of the awards, the winner of which will be announced during Global Entrepreneurship Week (16-22 November) and the overall winner will be determined subsequently through a public vote.

Also present, in the English shortlist, was Central Surrey Health – an employee owned business with around 650 members who formerly provided nursing and therapeutic services within the PCT.

http://www.socialenterpriseawards.org.uk