Creative Coop were in Manchester last weekend to attend and exhibit at the co-operative sector’s annual conference, Co-op Congress 2019. It was a two day event with a range of sessions and speakers across both days and The Co-operative of the Year Awards dinner taking place on the Friday evening.
More than 33,000 votes were cast for the Co-operative of the Year Awards from all across the sector. We were pleased to see so many great people and businesses being recognised with these awards. Some of our highlights included The School’s Energy Co-op winning the Inspiring Co-op of the Year category for the great work they do getting renewable energy into schools. It was also fantastic to see Lorraine Power from Leeds Bread Co-op win Co-operator of the Year and the work of Roger Sawtell was recognised as he won of the Lifetime Achievement Award.
There was also a range of great sessions put on across the event. As a coop who are heavily invested in the tech industries it was fascinating to hear how the likes of Resonate – a music streaming co-op are looking to use their community and ethical approach to not only compete but offer an alternative to some of the industry giants. It was also very interesting to hear Daniel Stanley from Apparatus talk about the Level platform they are developing which using technology aims to break down the barriers for people who want to setup a cooperative and simplify the whole process.
It was good to see so much of the material we had created for the event in action and we got lots of positive feedback. Having the opportunity to connect with so many other coops and hearing about all the great things people are doing across the sector was fantastic. Hopefully the event continues to grow and promote all the good things coops are doing across the country and around the world, we loved the event and cant wait until next year!
