New lending to a community-based food and farming enterprise has added to the accolades being given to the managers of the Co-operative Loan Fund. Just two weeks after winning the Citi Microentrepreneurship Award for Effective Partnership in recognition of its work with the Just Growth Fund, Co-operative & Community Finance, which manages the Co-operative Loan Fund, […]
A co-operative that provides a broad range of wood-related services, from tree surgery to selling fuel, is consolidating after a period of rapid growth with support from The Co-operative Loan Fund. Greater Manchester TreeStation, based in West Gorton, aims to make the conurbation a greener, more sustainable environment by a combination of responsible woodland management, […]
The first pub in the UK to be owned by a co-operative dedicated to jazz has started a new phase in its development with help from the Co-operative Loan Fund. Jazz.Coop, which owns The Globe bar and music venue in Newcastle upon Tyne, has employed a manager and bar staff for the first time. The […]
The only community-owned local TV channel in the UK, launched 18 months ago, is growing with help from The Co-operative Loan Fund. Sheffield Live! TV is broadcasting seven days a week to 500,000 adults via Freeview, cable and the internet, reaching an estimated 19% (95,000) each week. There is a full programme of live TV […]
Sometimes just the offer of finance can make all the difference to a community trying to raise funds. Last year a commitment by the Community Shares Fund to invest £50,000 if required gave the people of Belthorn in Lancashire the confidence to proceed with the purchase of The Dog Inn before the community share issue […]
A major new community-owned centre for artists, designers and makers opened in central Sheffield on 21 November. This was the culmination of a three-year project that had raised £1.2m to transform a row of seven empty Georgian houses into the biggest co‑operative venture in the city. The Grade II listed buildings have been substantially redesigned […]
A new community-owned gym opened in one of the most deprived wards in the UK in August 2015 and by the end of its first day 175 local people had paid for six months membership. The Well IN gym in the Broughton area of Salford in Greater Manchester knows what is important to its local […]
Work is well underway on a £1.2m project to transform a row of seven empty Georgian houses in central Sheffield into a new community-owned centre for artists, designers and makers called The Roco. The Grade II listed buildings are being substantially redesigned to house galleries, workshops, studios, offices, events space, café/bar, terrace and roof garden. […]
Cornish community opens new village hub after receiving loans from Co-operative & Community Finance and The Co-operative Loan Fund. A group of locals from the Rame Peninsula in South East Cornwall came together to found The Peninsula Trust on 19 March 2014, with the aim of supporting their community. Exactly one year later, they are […]
In December 2014 The Fox and Hounds in Denmead on the outskirts of Portsmouth reopened under co-operative ownership after it had been derelict for over two years. The local community raised nearly £500,000 to buy and refurbish the 150 year building. The community share issue attracted £326,000 from 190 investors and the remainder came from […]