Discover cooperatives: pubs, local retail, energy and small-scale farming

In this webinar, you can hear from cooperatives that provide solutions, spaces and services that benefit communities.

This webinar is aimed at anyone interested in community enterprise – whether they're thinking of creating one or want to learn more about what cooperatives can achieve. Learn about inspiring cooperatives and the people behind them.

Topics covered in this session

• A better understanding of what a cooperative is.

• Insight from people behind some of the most inspiring cooperatives in the UK.

• Clear guidance on the support available if you'd like to form your own.

About the speakers

Nicola Davidson, Community Energy Pathways

Nicola has been a volunteer board member of MaidEnergy Community Benefit Society for the past 10 years – a small co-op which owns and operates 645kWp of renewables on seven community sites and now employs three part-time people.

Through her work as a project manager at Community Energy Pathways, Nicola has nurtured the development of eight new community energy groups, helping them to build their teams, devise projects and seize funding opportunities to help make them happen.

Marley Karazimba, Common Ground Colchester

Marley is co-founder of Common Ground Colchester Community Cooperative.

They run a café and community kitchen called The Commons in the heart of Colchester City Centre, with a focus on supporting local land workers and farmers while providing affordable and nourishing meals to the community.

Their hyper-local, hyper-seasonal menu is part of an effort to contribute to a thriving local food economy. The Commons is a café by day and a live music/events venue by evening.

Nick Allaway, Antwerp Arms Association (AAA)

Nick is the volunteer treasurer of AAA, a registered community benefit society that has been running a community pub and hub in north London for 11 years.

He has a particular interest in the selection of real ale and curating the pub's donated vinyl record collection and is also the pudding chef for the pub's free community lunches.

His background is a lifetime of public service working as an accountant in the government, charity and not-for-profit sectors.

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This webinar is brought to you by Grow London Local, East Sussex Growth Hub, Kent & Medway Growth Hub, Ambitious Essex Growth Hub and Hertfordshire Growth Hub.

Growth Hubs help businesses and entrepreneurs to start, grow and succeed by unlocking their potential through access to tailored business advice and online resources.

Whatever the stage of your business journey, be it the spark of entrepreneurism or ambitions to scale internationally, your local Growth Hub provides access to expert guidance, enabling you to seize new opportunities and overcome any barriers to growth.

The webinar is delivered by Co-operatives UK. As the voice of the UK's cooperative movement, Co-operatives UK empowers and supports cooperative enterprise with specialised knowledge and expertise, to grow the cooperative economy and create a fairer society.

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