Young Co-operators Network 

Hi, my name is Ben Johnson. I’ve worked for the Society for almost four years. I started in Pharmacy, before moving over to Travel and now I’m in Utilities Solutions, where I’ve been since March 2021. When I’m not working, my main two passions are Football and Digital. On a Saturday or Sunday, I’m either watching and playing football or building websites with digital marketing funnels for my personal projects.

I truly believe that young people should always have a voice. There’s always something to learn from everyone regardless of age, especially now whilst the world is in the process of extreme digital transformation. Choices that are made today will help shape the next 5-10 years plus. It’s vital that everyone has a platform to voice their passions and observations.

I’m extremely honoured to be part of the MEC and excited for the opportunities we have to raise our digital presence to the next level, whilst making it even easier for members to be a part of and help shape growth within our community.

Hi! I’m James, unlike the others I’m not an employee of the Society; I work as a Team Leader at KFC.

Outside of work I’m a passionate political activist campaigning on a variety of issues, but mainly for workers rights and saving the environment. I’m also a lover of books, much to the annoyance of my bank account, and enjoy hiking. 

I decided to run for the MEC after seeing there were new openings for young members, and knowing how few young people who aren’t already employees of cooperatives are involved in the cooperative movement I decided to get involved. Youth voices are important everywhere, let alone in co-operatives.

I’d love to see my time on the MEC get more young people, both employees and not, get involved in our democracy, our events, and more. I’d also like our climate change work to be a lot more public, mobilising our members, especially the young ones, to get involved with it.

My name is Emily Stafford and I work in Retail Customer Care helping our customers and members with any concerns and queries for our food stores. I applied to the MEC and Young Co-operators as I felt my experience in my role would benefit our view of members and help put their views across to be actioned. I feel passionate about our values as a Co-op and I am interested in what we can do in our meetings to put across the young member/ customer point of view.

A little bit about me, I enjoy spending time with my family and friends and taking my dog Maisie for long walks. I currently have a passion for house plants and got a little obsessed over lockdown. I am really excited to see what the future holds in the MEC and Young Co-operators as our meetings so far have had great discussions and now we are looking forward to action these points for the benefit of our members.

Hi everyone, my name is Imogen and I currently work for Midcounties as an insight analyst. My role consists of providing consumer insights for all the trading groups and reviewing member and customer feedback to help bring members opinions into the decisions that we make.

Outside of work I absolutely love travelling with my friends, exploring different countries and cultures. When I am at home, I enjoy nothing more than cuddling up on the sofa with a glass of wine and my two cats Luna and Reginald.

Previously I sat on the inclusivity & diversity board which further highlighted to me the importance of ensuring that there is equal opportunity and representation wherever important decisions are made. One of the reasons I joined the MEC because I wanted to try and ensure that all strategies are reviewed and implemented with consideration for those who might not be represented in the room.

I believe young people need to have a voice because we are the future of this society and paramount in driving change. By joining the MEC as a young member I hope to modernise and future proof the Society was possible and increase our young member base by ensuring the content we deliver to them is relevant and engaging.