“Middleton Co-operating” is a new place-based people-centred community-led type of local organisation – working together for the benefit of all the people in our M24 postcode.
Our innovative approach is founded on the principles of the co-operative movement, controlled by local people, and builds on the community wealth building work that’s happening in patches across the country, inspired by models developed in Cleveland (Ohio) and Preston, in particular, and promoted in the UK by the Centre for Local Economic Strategies (CLES) and in the US by the Democracy Collaborative.
What sets us apart from others doing similar work is the breadth and scale of our ambition, because we are applying our co-operative and community wealth building approach to every aspect of the local economy, so that we can have a positive impact on those things that matter most in people’s everyday lives, and to which we all need easy affordable access.
Here are some links to the things we're working on at the moment:
We know that this work is more likely to succeed when it’s based on a broad partnership between “anchor” organisations, local residents, the voluntary and community sector, and local businesses, but we are also working with innovative co-operative organisations and similar from around the North West and further afield, attracting them to come and work together with us in Middleton, to create a critical mass for positive change – a powerful and connected force that can demonstrate a different, fairer, sustainable way of living and working together.
The Covid-19 crisis has made this more necessary and urgent, and we can see from the way our local community has responded to the crisis – with neighbours just looking out for each other more, and coming together in a more organised way through Mutual Aid groups – that the desire and motivation to be concerned for each other is strong.
