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Tech co-op enriches the human potential of workers, clients and audiences

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A worker co-operative specialising in civic tech and extended reality (XR) are creating next generation software to enhance human potential in a sustainable way.

London based tech co-op Animorph specialise in delivering user-centric and context-specific software applications aimed at addressing people’s unmet needs, whether that’s improving the attention of brain injury survivors, or helping bring communities together towards a shared goal.

The co-op’s main services include web, mobile phone, and augmented and virtual reality apps, spanning medical, training and community development sectors.

Co-op Loan Fund has provided a loan to help with working capital, which will aid the delivery of two major contracts the co-operative has secured with partners in Belfast and the Republic of Ireland.

Geoffrey Morgan, Director and a co-founder of the co-operative said: “We aim to assist people with their fundamental and essential needs with a human-centric and open-minded approach to modern technologies. We believe there are better futures offered by technology and they belong to everyone.”

Kevin Lloyd-Evans, Lending and Relationship Manager of Co-operative & Community Finance which manages Co-op Loan Fund, said: “Animorph is an impressive organisation and the loan is fantastic opportunity for Co-op Loan Fund to support a sustainable technology-based company that is part of the co-operative movement.”

Co-op Loan Fund recognises tech and platform co-ops as a sector that requires significant focus and investment. Left unsupported, commercial tech giants are likely to take advantage, monopolise the markets and put greed and shareholder profit ahead of people and workers. Tech co-ops are uniquely placed to provide digital and technology enabled solutions which can address the challenges of the modern world while promoting co-operative values and principles.

You can find out more about the tech and platform co-ops Co-op Loan Fund have previously worked with and supported in our Equal Tech blog.

https://animorph.coop/

https://twitter.com/AnimorphCoop

https://www.linkedin.com/company/animorph/

https://www.instagram.com/animorphcoop/

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Could your business be the next creative co-op?

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Creative co-ops are delivering greater equality – both economically and culturally – not just to the co-operative sector, but locally in our communities, nationally and internationally.

Often made up of a consortia of the self-employed, small businesses and freelancers; creative co-ops can bring people together through mutual support, shared services, democratic governance and sustainable employment with the view to combining skills designed to meet the needs of those who share common values.

This collaboration and networking of creative individuals in a co-operative setting has created advances in the exploration of new technologies, platforms and a digital revolution in the way co-operatives engage with members, stakeholders, customers and suppliers.

Creative co-ops have been able to provide participative, open and democratic roles to creative freelancers who have often felt underpaid, under-appreciated and disconnected in the past. This positive atmosphere within the creative co-operative sector has created teams of people who enjoy working together, but most importantly meet the needs of clients that are focused on making the world a better place.

Co-op Loan Fund has been proud to work with and support many creative co-ops over the years including Sheffield Live, The Globe / Jazz.coop, Blake House Co-operative, Alpha Communication, Stir to Action and Chapel Street Studio amongst others.

Could your business be the next creative co-op?

14 million people are members of a co‑op in the UK and you could be too. Join a co-op, support your community and be part of a movement that has the potential to change society for the better.

Coop Loan Fund provides unsecured loans to co-operatives with no personal guarantees up to £85,000 with ongoing advice and support and no set lending terms.

Unique lending: to co-ops, from co-ops.

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From the Globe to the Globe

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A unique music co-operative is developing new ways to bring musicians and audiences together while the venue it owns remains closed.

The Globe in Newcastle upon Tyne was bought by Jazz.Coop in 2014 with investment from a community share issue and loans from Co-op Loan Fund and Co-operative & Community Finance. It is thought to be the only pub in the UK that is owned and run by a co-operative with a specific commitment to music, poetry and dance.

Like all pubs at the moment it is suffering from a total loss of bar sales but also the jazz musicians that it aims to support are experiencing a loss of income too.

Jazz.Coop has started to livestream exclusive concerts on Facebook and YouTube. Unlike most of the music available on social media, these Jazz.Coop virtual gigs are not free. Viewers are asked to make a donation to the musicians to access the gig. They can then watch the concert as part of a private Jazz.Coop audience and react with comments in real time. They can also view it later, and again, if they wish.

The next Jazz.Coop exclusive livestream is on Sunday 17 May at 8pm and will feature Swiss-Albanian jazz singer Elina Duni and award-winning guitarist Rob Luft. Click here for details.

Currently Jazz.Coop is streaming these gigs from musicians’ homes but it is planning to stream directly from The Globe as soon as it is safe to do so. At first this may be with only musicians and technicians in the building.

Harry Husaini, the volunteer technical director of Jazz.Coop, said: “It is likely to be a long time before the live music scene gets back to something like normal. High quality livestreaming from The Globe is the way to go. It will enable the musicians to reach a much larger audience including those people for whom it would be too risky to attend in person.”

Jazz.Coop is also looking at ways of enabling its tutors to deliver its popular jazz courses remotely.

Over the last six years Jazz.Coop and The Globe have become well rooted in the Tyneside music community. Last year The Globe hosted 270 music and dance events. Over 700 learning places were provided in workshops and courses, and musicians developed their skills in 75 free jam sessions.

[photo: jazz musicians Elina Duni and Rob Luft]

Charlotte England, Ieva Padagaite and Simon Ball pictured in the new premises

New base for radical film-makers

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Blake House Cooperative is set for growth having just moved into new premises and taken out a loan from Co-op Loan Fund.

The London-based film-makers have achieved a lot since incorporating in 2015. The worker co-operative, which at one time operated from cafes, libraries and living rooms, has recently moved from a small, temporary office to a large studio in a brand new development for creative practices in Stockwell. Members Ieva Padagaite and Simon Ball have been joined by producer Charlotte England, and together they are planning to increase co-operative membership to half a dozen people over the coming years.

Blake House makes engaging and impactful films for progressive public and third sector organisations as well as other co-ops and campaign groups. They only undertake work for organisations whose values and purposes align with their own. They find that this selective approach is advantageous in strengthening their niche offering and their understanding of the sectors they work in. It helps them to build high quality meaningful relationships with their clients. They have produced videos for Co-operatives UK, the National Trust, Save the Children, University of Cambridge, University College London Hospitals, Global Social Economy Forum, Power to Change, Basildon Council, Compass, The National Education Union and Forum for the Future.

The loan is being used mostly as working capital to make cash flow management smoother as the co-op settles into its new premises and takes on more work.

Ian Rothwell of Co-op Loan Fund said: “We are really pleased to help Blake House move premises and grow. It is great that young people like Simon, Ieva and Charlotte are choosing the co-operative model to further their careers in the creative sector. They make beautiful, thoughtful films.”

Simon explained why they set up as a co-op: “We were feeling disillusioned with our careers and so we tried to imagine our dream work environment. It was a place where there was no hierarchy, where we produced work that aligned with our values, where we could be creative and where everyone’s work was valued and respected. A place where we were in control. We found that our dream already existed and it was a worker co-op.

“We set up the business using our own savings and resources and favours from friends. We were nervous about taking on long term liabilities and for the first two years the business was based in several temporary workspaces. Now we can see that we need cash so that we can grow. We want to work with more organisations and we also plan to create our own self-commissioned content.”

Simon is full of praise for Co-op Loan Fund: “It has made a big difference to our attitude to loan finance to know that we are borrowing from an organisation that understands co-ops. Having a shared ethos with our lender have made us feel comfortable about borrowing.”

Film made for Co-operatives UK

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Bradford’s New Pioneers

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A co-operative that brings together freelances, small businesses and community organisations is about to transform a five-floor building in the independent fringe of the centre of Bradford.

The building at 14 North Parade, which has been empty for over a year, will include studio, office and meeting space for co-working, and a café with commercial kitchen available for use by pop-up food ventures. Three well-known local organisations – Common Wealth (community theatre), Speakers Corner (women’s collective), Chapel Street Studio (creative co-op) – have already been allocated some of the space in the upper floors. The café on the ground floor will be open during the day and in the evenings and there are plans for it to host different pop-ups to allow food entrepreneurs to test their products and business ideas.

The initiative has been pushed forward by members of Chapel Street Studio, which is a co-operative consortium of freelances and small businesses providing print, digital and marketing services. They impressed the owners of 14 North Parade, who are a local charity involved in the empowerment of disadvantaged people, so much that they were given the option to lease the building rather than buy it outright.

A number of ethical finance organisations including Co-op Loan Fund are helping to fund the venture. The kitchen, café area, and roof terrace are going to be refurbished before the building opens to the public, which is expected to be in August.

As the work is going on an ‘open day’ is being held every Wednesday in June and July to stimulate interest in the new venture. At the beginning of June there were 24 members of the co-operative with many more expressing an interest to join.

Martyn Johnston, one of the founder members of Chapel Street Studio, said: “We have been given a great opportunity to do something special with this building. We are young Bradfordians who are passionate about changing things from the bottom up. We have got three years to show that our co-operative approach is a fairer and more sustainable way of managing property.”

Ian Rothwell, of Co-op Loan Fund, said: “It’s often said that co-ops flourish in adversity and this is an good example. These people are strong natural co-operators and they know that to make a difference to social and economic life in the centre of Bradford they are going to have to do it themselves. They embrace the co-operative values of self-help, self-responsibility, democracy, equality, equity and solidarity.”

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Co-op controls the Globe

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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 co-operative bought The Globe in 2014 after a successful community share issue. For the first two years the main bar was run by tenants while Jazz.Coop put on gigs and ran workshops and courses in the small bar on the first floor.

The arrangement should have provided the co-operative with a guaranteed income at relatively low risk. However the first tenant quit after 18 months. When the second tenant became ill and handed in his notice after only a few months, the board of Jazz.Coop decided that the business operation would be more sustainable if they managed the Globe directly and employed staff. This proposal was fully endorsed by the members at the AGM and Jazz.Coop applied to the Co-operative Loan Fund for working finance.

Hollie Stinson
Hollie Stinson, the new manager of the Globe and first employee of Jazz.Coop

Under the new management model The Globe is hosting a much wider range of live music gigs as well as DJ sessions, dance, poetry, drama and various learning opportunities. The Globe offers a very good range of live jazz, from New Orleans trad to contemporary free improvisation, and hosts gigs by local, national and international artists. This diversity of live music programming is very unusual in a small venue outside London.

The new manager, Hollie Stinson, is originally from Texas, and she is developing a unique range of Tex/Mex bar snacks and promises to make ‘the best margaritas in the Toon’

Jazz.Coop Co-Chair Dave Parker said: “We are very grateful to The Co-operative Loan Fund for their continuing support. We could not have managed to take this next big step in the development of this unique co-operative venture without their help.”

Ian Rothwell, Investment Manager at Co-operative & Community Finance, which manages the Co-operative Loan Fund, said: “Moving from the tenant to the management business model is an important change that will give the community more control over their asset and what goes on there. It is a good move for everyone concerned.”

 

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Pioneering local TV channel set to grow

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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 from 6pm to 1am with news, what’s on and community radio at other times.

The local TV channel is owned by Sheffield Community Media, a community benefit society with 116 members (investors). The channel employs seven staff and four freelance reporters and is supported by over 120 volunteers. It works closely with Commedia Sheffield, which runs Sheffield’s city-wide community radio station, to deliver a cross platform media service – on radio, TV, web and mobile – under the Sheffield Live! brand.

Director Steve Buckley said: “Local digital TV is a new to the media landscape. There are now 20 channels on the air but only three of them are not-for-profit and we are the only one that is community owned. We have pioneered a new model of local media ownership and control through a public issue of community shares, and in our first 18 months we have had a tremendous response from our audience.”

The channel earns money from various sources including a news supply agreement with the BBC, production fees, advertising, sponsorship and grant funding to support other local social enterprises. The loan from The Co-operative Loan Fund is providing the working capital needed to take on new production contracts.

Steve Buckley said: “Within the next five years we hope to raise further capital to build a custom designed facilities house and media centre.”

Ian Rothwell of The Co-operative Loan Fund said: “Sheffield Live! TV is fabulous. It’s another example of community ownership being pioneered in new areas of enterprise. It seems as though the people of Sheffield are really getting behind this project and we are very happy to help.”

Opening night at Roco

Community-owned creative centre opens in Sheffield

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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 to house galleries, workshops, studios, offices, events space, café/bar, terrace and roof garden. This is Sheffield’s first large-scale community-owned development. Roco Creative Co-op is set up as a community benefit society and has secured a 125-year lease on the 17,000 square foot premises.

The Co-operative Loan Fund and Co-operative & Community Finance  have both provided substantial loans, as have other social lenders. Roco is also being financed by the sale of investment shares in the society. So far £100,000 has been invested by 48 members and the share offer is still open.

The conversion of the buildings from 200-year old homes to a creative business centre is impressive and sympathetic. Much of the layout of the Georgian houses has been redesigned to make better use of the space but many of the heritage features have been retained. A new extension at the back houses the café/bar, events space and roof garden.

On the opening weekend at Roco the galleries and retail areas on the ground floor were packed with hundreds of visitors. In other parts of the building artists, designers and makers are using the facilities. There are currently 11 studio/office units completed and a further 15 are due to be added in the next phase.
Andrea Burns, co-founder and chief executive of Roco said: “We do three things for our tenants: we provide a home to set up and run a business, we provide them with tools to make their wares – whether that be physical objects or creative ideas – and we provide a route to market through our retail spaces and our gallery and project spaces.

“In addition to this, we will be providing inspiration and brain food in the form of workshops, events, and exhibitions hosted in our gallery, through our humanities focused bookshop and, of course, opportunities though our business development programme.”

The other co-founder is social property developer Chris Hill who was also the driving force behind a similar development in Wakefield, Unity Works, which was supported by The Co-operative Community Shares Fund.

Chris said: “For me the exciting thing about Roco is that it brings together so much creativity – galleries, studios, workshops, meeting space, bookshop, deli, cafe, bar – under one beautiful roof. There’s nowhere like it in Sheffield. And it’s open six days a week from early till late.”

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£1.2m Creative co-op in heart of Sheffield

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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. This is Sheffield’s first large-scale community-owned development. Roco Creative Co-op is set up as a community benefit society and has secured a 125 year lease on the 17,000 square foot premises.

The Co-operative Loan Fund and Co-operative & Community Finance have both provided substantial loans, as have other social lenders. Roco is also raising finance by the sale of investment shares in the society.

One of the founders of Roco Creative Co-op is social property developer Chris Hill who was also the driving force behind a similar development in Wakefield, Unity Works, which was supported by the Co-operative Community Shares Fund, which the Co-operative Loan Fund helped to set up.

Interviewed by The Guardian, Hill said: “The great thing about the co-operative model is that you’re prepared to share things in the knowledge someone isn’t ripping off your idea to turn it into their own profit. It’s particularly true of creative workers where project groups can come together and dissolve when the project’s finished. The Roco will be a rallying point for these people; they’ll know where to find each other.”

Roco is developing fast. For latest news and to buy shares visit theroco.org

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New arts café opens in Folktown

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A workers’ co-operative in Northern Ireland has opened a café and event space after receiving a loan from us.

Lunasa Café opens this week after nearly two years of hard work from the co-op’s four members. The old exhibition space on King Street, Belfast, has been completely refurbished and now boasts a well equipped kitchen, disabled access and a freshly decorated dining room.

The café is part of a larger project called Folktown, which is working to regenerate and reimagine the area through the provision of community based activity; encouraging inclusion, community involvement, tourism and trade. Folktown contains a mix of small traders, residential property, pubs, restaurants and youth organisations. There is a vibrant local arts and music community, and an ever-growing demand for social spaces.

Lunasa’s founding member Elena is a highly qualified chef, who gave up working in Michelin starred kitchens to take more control of her working life. She met her fellow members – James, Ryan and Gerard – through a local social centre. Elena comments: “Anyone who works in the hospitality industry knows how difficult it can be – long, unsociable hours and very tiring work. We’re passionate about creating a business that puts people before profit. The welfare and wellbeing of our members is at the heart of everything we do.”

James adds: “We all share similar values, especially in terms of social and economic outlook, so setting up as a co-operative was an obvious choice.”

The café is open from 8am until 8pm, providing breakfast and lunch for commuters and workers. The menu combines simple, wholesome dishes like soup and curry with more adventurous creations such as spiced lamb with mint and onion dressing. Produce is supplied by local organic growers wherever possible. The members also offer outside catering for private parties, functions, weddings and funerals.

Our loan adviser Ian Rothwell said: “We’re really impressed with Lunasa, particularly the member’s determination and commitment to co-operative working.  They’re already very much a part of the local artistic and social enterprise community – and make a great addition to Belfast. We’re delighted to have made our first loan to a Northern Irish co-operative, and hope there will be many more.”

Read more about Lunasa cafe here >>>>

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