Co-op Fortnight is underway and this week Sarah Church, South Swindon’s Labour and Co-operative Party Parliamentary Candidate, is attending two local events to celebrate the opportunities that co-operatives offer.
On Friday 28th June, Sarah has been invited by Midcounties Cooperatives and Cooperative Futures to attend the Co-operate Swindon! event. The event will explore the benefits of starting up a co-operative business and the benefits to the local economy of co-operatives.
On Saturday 29th June, the Swindon Co-operative Party will host a Housing Conference with guest speaker Jim McMahon MP, Shadow Minister for Housing.
Sarah said, “Co-operators are a core part of the Labour movement. Ever since the days of the Rochdale Pioneers, co-operative working to achieve more together than alone, has been a way for those with little wealth to add up to more than the sum of their parts.
Modern co-operatives are very common in Europe and the USA and we have some good examples in this country, such as your local Co-op, and the mutual banking sector. Co-operation is about local wealth building, and this is a really key vision for Swindon, where needs should be met through locally sourced solutions, whether those needs be for housing, shopping, energy or banking. Local wealth building stimulates local economies and has been successful in towns like Preston, and could be a really good news story for Swindon.
I’m really excited to hear what Co-operative Futures have to say to encourage the growth of co-operation in Swindon, and it will be a pleasure to welcome Labour and Co-operative MP, Jim McMahon, on Saturday to focus on housing as part of Co-op Fortnight.”
