Co-operative Community Challenge

Yet another Co-op challenge; a great idea that's being tried out in Doncaster and Somerset amongst other places. The Co-operative Community Challenge will enable customers to give the Co-op Group in their local area a challenge, such as digging or planting community areas, painting or maintenance of much-loved buildings etc. Staff and members of the Co-op will then help the project reach fruition.

I'm not sure why this isn't being trialed around Cambridge (perhaps the area committee's painting skills were thought not to be up to scratch), but its definitely something that should be supported.

Co-operative Climate Challenge

In September, every Co-op Group member is to be asked to join the Co-operative Climate Challenge, and sign a pledge to use less energy by various means such as:

• Turning off their TV and Video - and not using stand-by mode
• Only boiling enough water in their kettle for the cup of tea being made
• Using public transport or walking on short journeys
• Replacing one light bulb in their house with an energy saving light bulb

The idea is that for any one individual, these actions would be negligible. However, if a significant proportion of the Co-op's two million members all sign up, the amount of carbon saved from emission would be huge. This reminds me of the PledgeBank website, where people promise to perform altruistic actions only if a sufficient number of other people also perform them, such as "I will give blood but only if 3 other people will give blood for the first time." This is, of course, an illustration of the power of Co-operation; that we can do more together can we can do alone.

Yet more Rowland!

Rowland Thomas, who featured in the last Co-op News, has trumped his previous appearence by claiming a front-page spot in the new edition, showing off his plate-spinning skills at the Folk Festival. Will Rowland's public exposure never end?

Busy as a Bee

The new membership pack found its way onto my front door mat today, and it seems that lots of other people are in a similar situation. I had reason to phone both the national helpline in Manchester, and the regional office in Milton Keynes today, and both had been inundated with questions from members. National office had recieved over a thousand calls by 11am! At least this means that some interest has been stirred. The new membership website, and the new membership card, will get launched on September 4th.

PR Overdrive

It looks as though the marketing department of the Co-op Group have been busy over the weekend; an awful lot of coverage is in newpapers and other news agencies about the forthcoming new membership launch. I particularly like this piece from the BBC, and there is also stuff from a branding website, the Guardian, and the Observer. Local newpapers have also been repeating the same story, in Worcester, Huddersfield and Manchester.

Brampton Co-op

I had reason to pop up to Manchester in a hire car over the Bank Holiday Weekend, so had the rare opportunity to visit a Co-op in the Cambridge and East Anglia area that I would normally struggle to get to: Brampton. This was the first time that I had visited this particular shop, and I was reasonably impressed. It was a "Welcome" store, which means that it is more a convenience store than a supermarket, and it looked like a lot of village Co-ops; a bit over-packed, but with a reasonable range. The noticeboard was ancient, and unused, but it looked like a nice place to do some shopping.

While in Manchester, I managed to fit in a visit to the "Co-op quarter" around Balloon Street, Hanover Street, Federation street, etc., including a look at the CIS solar panels. There might be some photos coming up soon as soon as I can get them developed....

Co-op Elections / Half-Yearly Meeting

The first member's mailing to feature the new, bee-themed membership material has just popped through my letterbox. If you don't get this in the next few days, it means that you are not on the Members' Network. Needless to say that if you are not, you should be, and should get in touch with the Co-op Group, and Sort It Out.

The mailing deals with two things: first of all it contains lots of details of the candidates for the Area Committee this year. Four of us have to step down each year, and (if we wish), put ourselves back up for re-election. Unfortunately, there are an equal number of candidates and vacancies this year, resulting in no ballot. I must emphasise that this disappointment does not reflect on the quality of current committee members! It's just that the balloting process is a central part of the Co-op's democracy, and when it doesn't occur, there is yet more obstacles between the wishes of the membership and the control of the Society.

Having said that, I am very pleased to welcome Maggie Bending to the committtee. I don't know Maggie, but her election address draws attention to her long interest in the Co-operative Movement, and her involvement in the Woodcraft Folk (the Movement's youth group), so she is well versed in Co-operation! Maggie replaces Gill Miller, a current committee member who is not re-standing. Farewell, and appreciation to Gill for her work for the Society over the years. Gill is also very involved in the Folk, so Maggie will hopefully be able to maintain the links between them and the Co-op Group in the area.

The mailing also concerns the Half-Yearly Members' Meeting of the Co-op Group's Cambridge and East Anglia area. This will take place in the Gonville Hotel in central Cambridge on Tuesday 10th October at 7.30pm. Please do come along! This is an excellent opportunity to come and find out what the Society has been doing in the area, and to hold your committee to account. There is also normally a buffet before proceedings start! For those who wish to continue debating Co-operative issues after the meeting stops, I suggest the excellent Live and Let Live pub - just round the corner...

Merger

News of another merger - this time between the large, regional, Midlands Co-op, and the small Ilkeston Co-op (which might well be the only society not to have food shops: it consists mainly of travel agents, with motoring, department stores and "banquetting facilities" as sidelines). The trend does seem to be towards large regional, if not national Co-operative Societies. This does make economic sense, but care has to be taken that the members don't end up feeling remote and disenfranchised from the Society.

Co-op Goes Further

The Co-op have just taken over the most northernly supermarket in the UK.

Folk Festival Pictures

Here's a couple of photos from the folk festival last month. The first one shows me (on the left!) doing Co-operative type things with a particularly colourful member of the public.
















And here's Dave and me rehearsing for our ill-fated performance

The Co-op in the Newspapers

Some good coverage of the Co-op in the newspapers this weekend. The Guardian talks about our complete switch to Green Power, while the Observer mentions us a lot in this piece about Fairtrade.

PINK festival

As lengthily trailed here, the Co-op Group attended the PINK festival in the grounds of Cherry Hinton Hall on Saturday. We came in force, with a four-man climbing wall, a massive trailer packed with membership material, lots and lots of quiz stuff, and a loudmouth DJ who barely needed the considerable sound system provided.

We were there from 11 until 5:30, and I did get the feeling that we were leaving just as the party was getting started. It was a bit quieter than I was expecting, but we still had plenty of interest, with miles and miles of transport offset, and quite a few new members joining. Our committment to diversity of workforce and membership impressed some, while others were simply keen on the forthcoming relaunch of the Co-operative dividend. Our committment to the environment was also a key theme of the weekend, as we were flaunting our renewable energy generation and green financial products.

I road-tested the "climate commandos" transfer tattoos we were handing out, and unfortunately did not remove it until photographic evidence had been taken. I am now actively seeking their destruction before my tattooed yet pasty biceps can be publicly seen.

The Co-op News

There's a couple of important news stories in the Co-op News this edition, and since there is another confirmed fan of the paper with a blog, I thought I'd monetion them here. The links below won't work if you aren't subscribed or registered with the online version, but are included for those who can make use of them.

Firstly, the brand-new, purpose-build national distribution centre in Coventry has come up to full speed after a year since it first opened. I have noticed improved availability in stores over the last year, and I'm sure that the new centre is partly responsible.

Also, it's been announced that the conversion of Co-op Group stores to the new "the Co-operative" brand will begin this year with 135 stores converting. Since all the new membership material and advertisements will feature the new brand, it makes sense to convert stores as quickly as possible.....

Rowland is Famous!

Rowland Thomas, Area Committe member, Co-op Party Council Representative, Credit Union activitst and all-round nice guy has achieved fame at last, featuring in a photo in the latest edition of Co-op News showing the Society's work at Strawberry Fair.

New Membership Pack

One of the advantages of being a Co-op Group Area Committee member is the sneak previews at forthcoming actions of the Society. As an example of this, I have recently recieved the membership pack that will be sent out to all our members soon, informing them of the changes that the Society is going through, and providing them with their new membership card, to replace the current "Dividend" loyalty card.

I must say that it is pretty impressive. There is a good introduction to the tradition, values and principles of Co-operation, and some examples of how our businesses have behaved well in the recent past. Also included is material on the environment, international development and the Co-op Party.

I was particularly interested in the section explaining how the new "True Dividend" will work, as I was unsure myself about the details. Instead of cash, dividend cards will now accrue points, as the cash value of these is unknown until the performance of the Co-op for that time period has been measured. One point is given for each pound spent at food shops, travelcare, and most other businesses. The Co-op Bank will give 1 point per year for every £5 held or borrowed in current accounts, credit cards and loads; 1 point per £10 in a savings acount, and 1 point per £20 outstanding on a mortgage. CIS will give 500 points per year per insurance policy.

The example in the membership pack gives a conversion rate of 1 point = £0.01 so this is likely to be the sort of level that dividend will be paid out at, but the exact conversion rate will depend upon the profitability of the Society as a whole.

Members will be able to donate any percentage of their dividend payments to the Community Dividend scheme, with Gift Aid applying if appropriate.

Let's hope that the membership of the Co-op Group is as impressed as I am.

It looks as though there will still be a Member's Network scheme, though: the return of a form is required for the automatic provision of ballot papers (and presumably much other membership material).

Good God

Please somebody tell me that when helping out for the Co-op at the Pink Picnic next weekend, I don't have to dress up as a climate commando.....

UPDATE: Yes, it does appear that I am expected to look like that. I hope we have the camouflaged T-shirts in XXL. The briefing for the event includes some handy advice such as "Don't get drunk" and "Don't use offensive language". I'll try my best.

On a more serious note, we will be encouraging festival goers to help stop carbon emissions through offsetting, and signing pledges to reduce energy consumption, as well as promoting the Society's own actions in this area. Visitors will be enticed to the stand by a free climbing wall, and yet more dog-tags

Haverhill

I quite enjoyed my day at the HAVO Men's Health Day, held in Haverhill Leisure Centre yesterday - despite the hour long bus journey there and back! The Co-op stand had leaflets on additive reduction, salt control, and details of the Co-op healthy-living range. The morning was reasonably busy, but at about 1, the rain poured down, and the good citizens of Haverhill sensibly decided to stay indoors! We had quite a few entries to our "Health Quiz" competition, and signed up seven or eight new members.

While I was in the town, I poked my head around the door of the Haverhill Superstore. The place wasn't packed, but was reasonably busy, and although the outside of the store has a few missing letters on the signs, the place as a whole looks OK.

Co-op Radio

An employee of the Co-op comments on the in-store radio channel. I agree that the jingle is a bit uninspired, but I must disagree with the writer when he expresses the opinion that Kylie can, under certain circumstances, play a part in a good selection of music.

Haverhill Men's Health Promotion Day

The Co-op Group are sponsoring a Men's Health Promotion Day in Haverhill Leisure Centre this Saturday from 10am-4pm. The day, organised by the Haverhill Association of Voluntary Organisations (HAVO) aims to highlight and raise awareness of men's health issues, and the Society has paid for the event bags given out to attendees to cart around their new found information and goodies.

In return, we get a stand with which we are planning to highlight healthy eating, the Co-ops actions in doing this, and of course encourage more new members of the Society.

We'll have a health quiz with prizes for the lucky winners drawn at random, various giveaways, and of course a large quantity of Co-operative propaganda!

I hope to see you there.

European Co-operation

The Co-op College have just announced a new module in their courses for Co-op elected members entitled "European Co-operation". It aims to compare the British Co-operative Movement with the Movements in Italy, Lithuania, the Slovak Republic and the Czech Republic, and sounds very worthy indeed, as it will explore the ways that Values and Principles, political action, and the Movements' development varied from country to country, as well as in which ways the different Movements can co-operate together.

This sounds excellent to me, because at the very least there is scope for the Co-operative Movements in different countries to learn from each other - and in addition there may be possibilities for co-ordinated purchasing for international goods or other more concrete examples of co-operation.

It is unfortunate that I cannot make the date offered (due to being enrolled on the Chairing Skills module on the same course on the same day!), but hopefully the module will be repeated in future.

Woodchip Co-operative

Exciting news of a new Co-operative in the East of England dealing in, er... woodchips.

The Co-op and Renewable Energy

The Co-op Group have announced plans to become a sizeable producer of renewable energy, including solar, microgeneration and windfarms. The first Co-op Group windfarm was opened last month on the Society's land in Coldham in Cambridgeshire - on our patch, so Brian Walker, the chair of the Area Committee was present at the ceremony. This development has eight 1.75MW turbines, and promises to save 36,000 tonnes of CO2 a year.

This comes after the CIS tower was clad in photovoltaic cells last year to generate "enough energy for 55 homes".

But renewable energy is set to play a larger role in the Groups affairs after a plan for a larger windfarm on Humberside, and more besides.

I know that, like most developments, windpower is controversal, with dedicated campaigns in favour and against. However, I myself am keenly in favour, and am pleased to see that the Society shares my views that wind power and other forms of renewable energy can play a large part in slowing climate change.

Stansted Store Attacked

Dreadful news from our store in Stansted. I went on a formal visit of this store a couple of months ago, and it looked a fabulous, tidy little shop. The most important issue in a case like this is the safety of the staff - I hope that the security measures put in place will help them feel secure.

Less Exhausted

The fatigue of the Folk Festival weekend is finally wearing off. I had a great time - at the Co-op stand, listening to (and playing) music, and not least just relaxing at the tent for a few minutes inbetween.

First things first: a lot of the music was terrific. I particularly enjoyed Rachel Unthank and the Winterset in the club tent, and John Tams and Barry Coope on stage 1. It was straight after this performance that the MC namedropped the Co-op stand, and our fabulous dog tags that we were giving away (with "Cool as Folk" and "Co-operative Group" stamped on them). Unfortunate then that as he spoke we were down to our last 100 or so, which went at a rate of knots.

Visitors to the Co-op stand had a number of things they could do as well as get their dog-tags. A different ethical quiz was held on each of the three main days of the festival, with the answers cunningly hidden on boards outside the stand amonst various pieces of Co-operative propaganda! Typical questions were "How many cups of Fairtrade tea could be made with the energy from the CIS solar panels", "What is the motto of the Fairtrade Foundation", and the ever-favourite "Name three Co-operative principles". The reaction from particiapants was notably warm towards both the prospect of searching around for answers in the searing sun when they could be listening to the music, and also to the Co-operative ethic.

Visitors also had the chance to offset the carbon released as a result of travelling to the festival with ClimateCare (with the Co-op paying). I know about the controversy regarding the use of offsetting schemes by business, and the short-term nature of the gains made in some projects, but at the end of the day, when has paying for trees to be planted, and more efficient stoves to be handed out been a bad idea?

In addition, of course, we were on the lookout for new members. I was pleasently surprised by the high level of knowledge about the Co-op that already existed amonst the festival attendees - many were already committed members, but we still managed to sign up lots more.

Finally, an apology to those who came to see me and Diamond Dave performing in the club tent on Sunday. What can I say - he lost his voice, and I was having trouble with the microphones and the accordion! It was still a fantastic feeling to get up in front on an audience at the festival though, and I'd recommend it to anybody thinking of giving an open slot a go next year.