Fun Day, Competition & Walsall Plastics Event

It was a disappointing to read speculative reports in the Sunday Times relating to our Energy business. This must be very unsettling for our hard working colleagues. I posted a statement on Colleague Connect last Sunday in response. I have made no secret of our Board’s expectation that we find a resolution to the losses incurred by this part of the Society and we are working hard to do so. If we make any changes our colleagues at Co-op Energy and Flow Energy will be the first to know.

We have now reinstated our Brexit contingency planning meetings and will be providing updates to colleagues through a dedicated section on Colleague Connect so please take the time to read this. 

Gloucestershire Fun Day

On Sunday we held the 5^th annual Gloucestershire Fun Day at Newlands Park Cheltenham. Over 10,000 people attended enjoying a day of stunt shows, galloping acrobats, punch and judy, falconry displays and wrestling as well as meeting star wars characters and princesses. People also had the opportunity to learn about our 1Change plastics campaign, meet our Environmental Ambassador Cal Major and talk to our three charity partners - Gloucestershire Young Carers, the Aston Project and Caring for Communities and People. We raised £40,000 which brings the total raised in the last 5 years to just over £150,000, a magnificent achievement. All the money raised has been given to our Regional Community charity partners. Putting on an event like the Gloucestershire Fun Day involves months of work and it wouldn’t be possible without the dedication and commitment of many colleagues. So I’d like to thank Matt Windridge, Chris Chandler, Barbara Dunne, Cal Major, all the Midcounties volunteers, our charity partners and the acts who made it such an enjoyable day.

Colleagues Connect Anniversary Competition

The Colleagues Connect Anniversary Competition that finished last week was a great success and it was wonderful to see so many colleagues take part. It was easily our most popular competition to date. One of the key reasons we run these competitions is to increase awareness of Colleagues Connect across the Society and showcase the many benefits of logging on and using this site regularly. I’ve had a lot of positive feedback from colleagues who have enjoyed taking part and learned something new about our Society in the process. It’s encouraging to see how far the site has come in just over a year and that it is now an essential tool for all colleagues in their day-to-day roles. I look forward to the site continuing to grow and evolve over the next year as we further embrace new digital technology. I’d like to thank Callum Dunne and Stephanie Ford for organising the competition and extend my congratulations to all those who were lucky enough to win a prize.

Walsall Plastic Awareness event

On Tuesday we ran an event at Walsall College with our Environmental Ambassador Cal Major in support of the campaign ‘Walsall Against Single Use Plastics’. This was part of our connected communities initiative which brings together like minded people. There was a showing of Cal’s film ‘Vitamin Sea’ about her record stand up paddle boarding expedition from Land’s End to John O’Groats in 2018. Professor Gatrad, OBE, Deputy Lieutenant of Walsall, also spoke about the journey so far and the vision ahead for the Walsall Against Single Use Plastic campaign. The event was well attended by a really diverse range of people from the local community and it sparked a very lively community solution debate. Among those in attendance were representatives from Walsall Manor Hospital, Walsall Local Authority, Birmingham City Council, the organising committee for the 2022 Commonwealth Games, One Walsall, Walsall Friends of the Earth and Walsall Economic Board members. Many thanks to Tarra Simmons, Carina Mardenborough and everyone involved in making the event such a success.

Co-op Economy report

Next Wednesday Co-ops UK, the umbrella organisation representing all co-ops, will launch the Co-op Economy 2019 report. This is the only comprehensive report on the UK’s co-operative sector, revealing turnover, membership and employee figures for thousands of businesses across the UK. The report also looks at business survival rates as well as examining specific sectors and geographic areas. The findings create a compelling case for more co-ops and further support and development for existing co-ops. I’ll be reporting back on the full findings in next week’s blog but please check out our twitter account on Wednesday to see the highlights of the report and help to spread the word using the hashtag #CoopEconomy. You can read last year's report here

Young Co-operators Network

Finally please don’t forget today is the deadline for any colleague aged 16-25 who would like to be an ambassador and help to officially launch the Young Co-operators Network in early 2020. https://colleaguesconnect.midcounties.coop/opportunities/young-co-operators-network/