Book your place now to join us on the 30th June for the ICOF and associated companies AGMs.
Our AGM this year will again be held online. Please view the information and respective AGM packs here and if you are a LTD Member, PLC or ICC shareholder and wish to attend, please contact Alain now
Community Energy Fortnight starts today, the 11th June, and runs until the 24th June.
With the cost of living and fuel prices rising, there has never been a better time to think about local production and democratic ownership of our energy.
This year, the fortnight is focusing on ‘Efficiency First’, helping and aiming to showcase community energy’s role in responding to the energy crisis. It is also suggesting that Community Energy organisations prepare to offer energy advice by Winter 2022/23. If you’re in community energy, could you do this?
There are masses of events happening all over the UK – from a tour of a wind farm and solar park on the 12th June to sessions for those supporting people in fuel poverty, and the Energy Transition Conference on 18 June, in Bristol. What’s near you, which will you go to?
Join the conversation on social media – look for the hashtag #EfficiencyFirst and follow @Comm1nrg on Twitter and Community Energy England on LinkedIn
The biggest event of the UK Co-operatives Year is back, in person. And we’re going to be there. Are you?
After two years away, we are so pleased that Congress will be happening in person (with an online element) on Friday the 17th and Saturday the 18th June in Birmingham, with a networking dinner on the evening between the two days.
The programme is packed with workshops, discussions, advice and keynotes. Alongside traditional support sessions, advice for those new to the movement, and exploration of the democratic economy, some sessions have jumped out at us.
On Friday, Joining the dots: How can tech enable a stronger co-operative economy? will explore the part tech could play a huge role in transforming and strengthening the co-operative movement.
Later that day, a panel will discuss the role of co-ops in creative industries and how co-operatives can address unfairness in the music industry
On Saturday, two sessions will explore Community Shares, and Women’s voice through co-operative history. And there is much, much more besides.
We’ll be there as an exhibitor – come along and say hi to Business Development Manager Tim and Lending and Relationship Manager Kevin, and ask any questions you may have about your finance needs. We look forward to meeting you!
A guide intended to provide industry and stakeholders with a common approach to commercial retrofit through the lens of net-zero carbon has been published.
From 2025, every commercial building in the UK will require an energy performance certificate (EPC) which rates its energy efficiency from grade A to G. The government has proposed that all commercial properties being let have a minimum EPC rating of at least ‘B’ by 2030 and is considering a possible interim requirement of level ‘C’ by 2027.
As approximately 70% of the UK’s non-residential building stock was constructed before the year 2000, significant energy efficiency and embodied carbon reductions will be needed to meet these standards.
This article from the UKGBC explores what to think about in useful detail and if this is something you are thinking about, talk to our friends at Retrofit Works – a not-for-profit cooperative offering its services at the lowest possible cost to further their mission, lower energy bills, create healthy homes and achieve Net Zero.
The Social Investment Forum (SIF) is undertaking a piece of research under its ‘Future Needs’ working group that aims to move beyond asking what form of money organisations want (loan, grant, blended, equity etc), and focus instead on assessing the product features that are most appropriate and desirable for charities and social enterprises when they are looking to take on investment.
This survey will develop our sector’s understanding of the current and future needs of the social economy – incorporating all elements of product design and development – to help ensure that we can offer products which are built around the needs of charities and social enterprises.
This is YOUR CHANCE to help them understand what YOU need.
It should only take 5-10 minutes to complete and is for any charity, social enterprise or other social purpose organisation based in the UK, regardless of whether you are currently seeking funding.
The survey is open until the 10th June and can be accessed here
The SIF is the national forum for social investment and finance intermediaries (SIFIs). Activities of the SIF aim towards the betterment of the UK’s social investment market, through advancing the work of cross-sector initiatives, as well as advocacy and policy work to influence the Government’s legislative and regulatory agenda. You can find out more about the SIF here.
This blog was edited on Wednesday 8th June to include the closing date for the survey.
We’re really pleased to share the announcement that the Community Shares Booster Fund has relaunched this week in England with new investment from Power to Change.
And not only that, the Community Shares market has hit an amazing milestone of £200m raised through Community Shares. Fantastic news!
We are incredibly proud to be involved in the Community Shares Booster Fund which supports new and existing community businesses in England that are at all stages of a community share issue. Support is available through development grants, matched equity up to £25k, and where relevant specialist business development support is available.
Whether you are at the earliest of early stages of exploring if it’s the right choice, through to planning a community share issue, being ready to launch, or in exceptional cases, recently launched – the Fund can help.
Paperwork and info has been updated – have a look at the new fund guidance and a new application process
Not sure whether to apply, or if it’s right for you? There’s a webinar coming up on the 8th June – book your place here to ask any and all questions.
Booster Fund is only for groups in England. Click here for support for community shares in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
Until 29 May, local groups that deliver a project that benefits communities can apply to be a Co-op Local Community Fund partner.
The Community Fund supports projects that make communities fairer for everyone. Co-op members have raised over £85m for nearly 30,000 local projects since the fund was started in 2016.
Successful applicants will partner with Co-op for 12 months and you’ll get a minimum of £1,000 to support your project.
Types of projects that will be considered include those that:
· Bring people together to access food
· Help improve people’s mental wellbeing
· Create opportunities for young people to be heard and make a difference
· Help people protect local biodiversity or tackle climate change by reducing carbon emissions
Sounds like it would suit your organisation? Find out more on Co-op’s website.
Today is World Fair Trade Day – a global celebration organised annually by the World Fair Trade Organization (WFTO) to raise awareness on alternative solutions to the planet’s economic and ecological challenges.
We really like their focus on business models that put people and planet first. Business is not going away and models that do better, build better, support their communities, have to be part of the solution. And as they point out, and as we see in the co-operative sector, Fair Trade Enterprises retain a stable turnover over many years. Their pursuit of social and environmental goals does not undermine their ability to operate in a competitive market.
Building better business is what we do and how we work, and it’s what we have done for almost 50 years.
We wish you a Happy World Fair Trade Day and we wish all of us a world full of brighter, better businesses – co-ops, community owned, fairly traded.
Are you a UK charity or social enterprise who has been impacted by Covid 19 and need funds to help you survive, recover and grow? Our friends at Social Investment Business may be able to help. Talk to us about whether you could be eligible for their Recovery Loan Scheme.
Eligible organisations can apply for loans of £100k-£1.5m and the Fund also provides unrestricted grants (alongside the loan) and support to Black and Minoritised Ethnicity -led charities and social enterprises that meet the grant criteria.
Project Cosmic has a vision to inspire people to achieve success in the digital world. They saw the Recovery Loan Fund (RLF) as an opportunity to rapidly scale up their organisation and increase their ability to provide digital skills training in Devon. Read more about how the fund supported their ambitions here.
Applications are open until 11.59pm on Friday 20th May 2022 and are reviewed on a first come, first served basis so if this sounds suitable for your organisation, contact us TODAY.
We are proud to share that we have signed up to The Diversity Forum.
The Diversity Forum is a collective within the UK Social Investment Sector, on a mission to drive inclusive social investment in the UK, through the convening of sector-wide groups, commissioning research, and knowledge sharing.
The Manifesto that we have signed up to is practical and sets out a path for us. Described as ‘a bold new way to address equity, equality, diversity and inclusion in the social investment sector’, it consists of 7 clear commitments to report on annually and 10 initial actions to get started on in the first six months.
We are sharing this with you not just to demonstrate our commitment to equity, equality, diversity and inclusion but also to ask you to hold us accountable and support us on our journey to get there.
Hopefully with these 7 commitments, you will feel empowered to challenge us and work with us to improve our systems and process, redistribute power and resources and work collaboratively and openly to a more equitable, inclusive and diverse future.
This Manifesto has been signed by the staff team and board. We have nominated Anne Wilks to lead on this and she will be liaising directly with the Diversity Forum.
We’re really proud to be doing this. We’d like to say that we’ve been ahead of the curve with the shift in focusing on Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) – who wouldn’t? – but the reality is that we have operated in broadly the same way as our sector. Historically, the majority of our lending has been to groups mostly made up of white, able bodied people, fairly typical of the co-op and community business space. Our team and Trustees have largely been the same, though we have focused on consciously increasing our diversity in recent years.
There has been a lot of talk over the years in our sector about why people from certain backgrounds or deprived communities don’t come forward, or start the types of businesses we support. We are aware that people facing multiple oppressions have more – many more – blocks on the pathways to social ventures and so the time has come for us to stop asking why, and start changing from within.
We are in the process of educating ourselves. Ultimately, we hope to be able to create new financial products that reflect the needs of those not currently accessing our services. That is a little way off yet – but every journey starts with a single step. We’ve taken our first, second and third steps – we look forward to sharing more on our journey as we take it.
