2024 Cooperative Case Studies
- May 2024
- Lead Member Co-operative College
- Categories Community
Rochdale is the birthplace of the co-operative movement and the town is currently undergoing a co-operative resurgence. The Co-operative College is playing a key role in supporting Rochdale Council, other anchor institutions and the local community, to draw on learnings from its co-operative heritage to develop a fairer town for everyone.
Alongside the Council, Rochdale Boroughwide Housing, Link4Life, Rochdale Development Agency and the Co-operative Heritage Trust, we are a partner of the Historic England Heritage Action Zone in Rochdale. This ambitious project aims to transform a struggling, retail dominated Drake Street into a vibrant area of mixed-use development that acknowledges and celebrates heritage. As part of this, we are in the process of developing a Co-operative Enterprise Hub in the heart of Rochdale, supporting co-operative development and community education.
The Co-operative Enterprise Hub will host the College’s “Together Enterprise” project. The scheme, which has just successfully completed its pilot phase, supports groups of local young people in building their skills and experience by empowering them with the knowledge to set up and run their own co-operative enterprises.
“As the modern birthplace of the co-operative movement here in the UK, we believe Rochdale is a natural fit for our project work. We are committed to helping the town continue its upward trajectory and will work tirelessly to address the challenges of inequality that remain, just as the original pioneers did back in 1844. With further projects in the pipeline across the UK, we look forward to working with more co-operative councils to transform their communities for the better too.”
Simon Parkinson, Chief Executive and Principal, Co-operative College
We have also played a leading role in developing “Stronger Together”, a community-led initiative that aims to build and sustain community wealth in the Town. The initiative brings together anchor institutions, residents, communities, and businesses in partnership towards building a stronger local economy rooted in fairness.
