Projects

Middleton Co-operating Launch Party - 12th April 2024

We’d love to invite you to the Middleton Co-operating Launch Party!

It's time for us to officially launch the movement & celebrate our achievements so far.

We’ve booked Middleton Arena for Friday 12th April from 6pm for an evening of music, connecting & sharing our passion for doing great things with people in Middleton.

We’re got an exciting line up of speakers & performers

Steve Coogan - Andy Burnham - Rose Marley

The Kaiden Nolan Band - Gerry O’Gorman

The Specialist Regiment - The Surellas

We would love for you to join us on Friday 12th, it will be a great space to meet and chat with local folks who are making change happen as well as organisations from around Greater Manchesters who have been our allies.

Book the ticket/s for you & your family/friends/colleagues click on this Eventbrite link: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/middleton-co-operating-launch-party-tickets-798266475517?aff=oddtdtcreator

For any questions or queries, get in touch via good.things@middleton.coop.

Can't wait to see you there!

Middleton - School Solar Capital of Greater Manchester

An invitation to schools in Middleton.

We at Middleton Community Power have a vision to make Middleton the School Solar Capital of Greater Manchester

Alkrington Primary have already had panels installed by Rochdale Council and the Diocese of Salford is funding the panels at our Roman Catholic schools. This means there are 12 more schools where panels could be installed leading to cheaper electricity for the schools and less greenhouse gas emissions for us all. 

We do hope you'll want to join us.

How will we do this?

We plan to do this using a community share offer. This allows local people to buy shares in the project and get a good rate of interest on their investments. The school gets cheap electricity while the shares are being paid pack and free electricity afterwards. You can read more detail about the scheme on this page. We will employ professional consultants to plan and conduct the work. Operating this way means that there will be no requirement for the schools to find the funds themselves or to devote staff time to the project. 

How does this fit with other plans?

The scheme will align with GMCA's recent School's Guide to Solar PV. This includes a case study of Greater Manchester Community Renewables who have already installed panels at 10 schools using this approach. We will be working in partnership with them and Rochdale Borough Council through their Climate Change Project Officer (Mark Bramah). 

What happens next?

We have been successful in submitting an "expression of interest" to the government's new Community Energy Fund and have now been invited to apply for funding for a feasibility study. This will look at how combining solar panels and batteries can offer the most cost-effective solutions (using an estimate of your annual electricity  and images of your school roofs available through Google maps). We will also explore whether installing more panels than the schools need can be used to generate cheap electricity for local residents and businesses.  

When the feasibility study is complete we will come back and explain it to you (and whoever else is involved in making decisions at your school). It is only then, in possession of all the facts, that you will be asked to decide whether you want to be proceed with the installation).

How can we join in? 

All we need at this stage are some basic contact details for your school and some information about how much electricity you use each year.  

You can let us know your contact details by sending us an e-mail or filling in the  form at this link.  We'll then let you know what information to give us about your electricity use.

If you've got any questions then contact Richard at energy@middleton.coop or 07985 151321. 

 

Digital Circle

Internet is a vital utility & having the right skills, confidence as well gadgets to be online safely is really important - for fun and entertainment as well as to access to essential support and services that we need to stay well.

Middleton Digital Sparks - or MidiDigi - is here offer support with all things digital as well as inspire and offer a space to learn and play.
We're working with Paul Woodhead of No Worries IT and the sessions run in the Lighthouse Project.

The project runs from the end of November 2023 until October 2024.

We hope that MidiDigi will:

  • build people’s confidence and competence in using their digital devices;
  • foster a creative interactive learning environment that will engage and excite people about enhancing their digital skills, and putting them to good practical use;
  • act as the catalyst for a vibrant digital community in Middleton.

As part of this project, we run sessions that encourage people to be confident in exploring the digital world in innovative ways. This learning environment will support people to develop digital/web/data literacy along with invaluable problem-solving and project management skills.

We will use freely available resources, share knowledge and information that will build confidence in navigating the digital landscape and support fokls to manage their own digital skills development.

Our project builds on the support already available, the Lighthouse Project offers a great range of support & sessions. Have a look here for more details and also at the timetable to see what's on when.

We will run the sessions in shorter blocks so that we can shift time to respond to what people ask for - see below for the most up to date poster with dates & timings of the upcoming sessions.

Feel free to download the poster and please share it far & wide.
Do get in touch with any questions via good.things@middleton.coop

 

Suitable sites for community solar schemes

Potential sites must have a suitable roof and the capacity to use most of the electricity generated on site. The owners must be willing to sign a twenty-year roof lease.

Roof
The roof must be reasonably large. To be commercially viable, the smallest systems we can install will be 30 kWp. These require 80 panels 2m2 panels (i.e. an area of at least 160m2).

It must not be shaded by trees, parapets or other roofs or other buildings. Partially shading will may be acceptable but will reduce the amount of electricity that can be generated.

The roof must be flat or orientated towards the sun (the more southerly the better).

It must be sufficiently well built to for the panels to be installed and secure over their twenty-year lifetime.

Electricity use
Because we don’t get very much money for selling electricity back to the grid the user needs to be able to use most of the electricity generated. It might sound obvious, but this means that users of the building will need to be using electricity when the sun is shining. That is during the day, throughout the week and over the summer.

A 30 kWp system will probably generate about 26,000 kWh per year. Annual on-site electricity use will probably have to be at least double this to be able to use enough of the electricity generated to be economically viable.

Owners
Owners need to be willing to agree to the following for the twenty-year period required for the scheme to be economically viable:

  • a roof lease allowing installation and maintenance of the panels,

  • a purchase agreement to buy the electricity generated.

The panels remain the property of the community benefit society who take responsibility for their maintenance and insurance.

If owners have access to the capital required, then they will generally get a better long-term financial return by installing panels themselves than though a scheme like this. The payback period for solar panels is typically between 6 and 10 years after which owners continue to benefit from almost free electricity generation (there are some ongoing maintenance and insurance costs).

 

Solar for Middleton

Middleton Community Power’s first project is to install solar panels on a range of buildings across Middleton.

Money will be raised through a community share offer designed to allow people (and organisations) to invest in projects that support their local community as explained in this video:

This model has been used very successfully in many different places. A good local example is Greater Manchester Community Renewables who have used it to install solar panels on nine primary schools to the west of the city.

 

Solar panels installed on Fiddler's Lane Primary School, Irlam by GMCR

 

The process is quite simple:

  1. Raise funds for a community share offer
    Community share offers are designed to allow people (and organisations) buy shares to invest in projects that support their local community. Every shareholder becomes a member of the community benefit society and will be able to vote at elections of the directors who run the society.

  2. Use this to fund installation of solar panels
    A roof lease is agreed by which the site owner allows the community benefit society to install panels on their roof and have access to maintain them. We hope to use local installers to do this.

  3. Sell the electricity to local users at a reduced rate
    Any electricity generated that can be used on site is sold to the user at reduced rate which is possible because we have very low overheads. If the user needs more electricity, or electricity at times when the panels are not generating it, then they can buy that at standard rates from their usual supplier. If more electricity is generated than the user needs, then this is sold back to the National Grid. Once this is set up electricity use and billing is an automatic process requiring no input from the user (other than to pay their bills!).

    We hope in future that we may be able to sell to other electricity users in Middelton, but this is currently not possible.

  4. Use the proceeds to repay shareholders with interest
    The price at which electricity is sold to users is calculated to allow shareholders to receive an interest payment each year and for the capital to be paid back over a ten- or twenty-year period.

We are currently putting together a portfolio of sites for a share offer some time next year. Sites must have a suitable roof, be able to use the electricity generated on-site and the owners must be willing to agree to twenty-year roof lease and power purchase agreements (see here for details). If you think your site would be suitable and would like to join us then please contact us at energy@middleton.coop.

 

AGM 2023 save the date - test

Subject
our AGM

red and green middleton cooperating logo

 

 

 

 

Dear Middleton Co-operating members!

We would like to invite you to our Annual General Meeting (AGM) on Wednesday 27th September, from 6 to 7pm, online. Please save the date & time in your diaries - it would be great to see you!

There are a few things to you can have a look at & consider before the meeting

- joining the board of directors: here's who already part of the group and all you need to do is just respond to this email to arrange a chat with us

- we will be appointing our accountants this year - Catalyst Collective

- and we need to agree that because of how small we are for now we won't need to do auditing of the accounts - we'll have a go at online zoom voting

Get in touch with questions/queries & offers and we’ll be in touch soon again,

All the very best,

Donna, Kallum, Kerry, Kerry, Mark, Phill and Veronika at Middleton Co-operating


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PS: you can also read the email in the browser here

PS1: You are getting this email from us because you have signed up to be a member of Middleton Co-operating. If you don’t want to hear from us or don’t want to be a member anymore please email to good.things@middleton.coop and we will make updates accordingly.

Funding for Middleton Cooperating from Lankelly Chase

We're excited and delighted to say that Lankelly Chase, a major national grant-funder, have granted us £100,000 to support our work in Middleton.

Most of this money will go towards employing our first person - a "Development Lead" - who will work alongside our management committee over the next 18 months or so to build on the foundations we have put in place, and help us start to deliver the changes we want to see.

We're hoping they will be in place by the spring/early summer.

It's an exciting opportunity to work in an innovative place-based organisation, aiming to achieve great things.

If you're interested, or if you know someone who might be, please get in touch with us.

Job Applicant Privacy Statement

Middleton Co-operating - Job Applicant Privacy Notice

As part of the recruitment process, Middleton Cooperating will collect and process personal data relating to job applicants. We are committed to being transparent about how we collect and use that data and to meeting our data protection obligations.

What information will we collect?

We will collect a range of information about you. This includes:

  • your name, address and contact details, including email address and telephone number;
  • details of your qualifications, skills, experience and employment history;
  • information about your current level of remuneration, including benefit entitlements;
  • whether you have a disability for which the organisation needs to make reasonable adjustments during the recruitment process;
  • information about your entitlement to work in the UK.

We collect this information in a variety of ways. For example, data might be contained in CVs or resumes, obtained from your passport or other identity documents, or collected through interviews or other forms of assessment.

We will also collect personal data about you from third parties, such as references supplied by former employers. We will only seek information from third parties once a job offer has been made to you, and we will inform you that we are doing so.

Data will be stored in a range of different places, including on your application record, and on other IT systems (including email).

Why does Middleton Co-operating process personal data?

We need to process data to enter into an employment contract, and to ensure that we are complying with our legal obligations. For example, we are required to check a successful applicant's eligibility to work in the UK before employment starts.

We have a legitimate interest in processing personal data during the recruitment process and for keeping records of the process. Processing data from job applicants allows us to manage the recruitment process, assess and confirm a candidate's suitability for employment and decide on which applicant we will offer the job to. We may also need to process data from job applicants to respond to and defend against legal claims.

We will process health information if we receive requests to make reasonable adjustments to the recruitment process for candidates who have a disability. This is to carry out our obligations and exercise specific rights in relation to employment.

For some roles, we are obliged to seek information about criminal convictions and offences. Where we seek this information, we do so because it is necessary for us to carry out our obligations and exercise specific rights in relation to employment.

Who has access to data?

Your information will be shared internally for the purposes of the recruitment exercise. This includes the recruitment team and interviewers involved in the recruitment process.

We will not share your data with third parties, unless your application for employment is successful and we make you an offer of employment. We will then share your data with former employers to obtain references for you, employment background check providers to obtain necessary background checks, and the Disclosure and Barring Service to obtain necessary criminal records checks.

We will not transfer your data outside the UK.

How does Middleton Co-operating protect data?

We take the security of your data seriously. We have internal policies and controls in place to ensure that your data is not lost, accidentally destroyed, misused or disclosed, and is not accessed except by members of our management committee in the proper performance of their duties.

How long does Middleton Co-operating keep data?

If your application for employment is unsuccessful, we will hold your data on file for one year after the end of the relevant recruitment process. At the end of that period, or once you withdraw your consent, your data is deleted or destroyed.

If your application for employment is successful, personal data gathered during the recruitment process will be transferred to your personnel file and retained during your employment. The periods for which your data will be held will be provided to you in a new privacy notice.

Your rights

As a data subject, you have a number of rights. You can:

  • access and obtain a copy of your data on request;
  • require us to change incorrect or incomplete data;
  • require us to delete or stop processing your data, for example where the data is no longer necessary for the purposes of processing;
  • object to the processing of your data where we are relying on our legitimate interests as the legal ground for processing; and
  • ask us to stop processing data for a period if data is inaccurate or there is a dispute about whether your interests override our organisation's legitimate grounds for processing data.

If you would like to exercise any of these rights, please contact Phill Worthington at phillpersonal@gmail.com

If you believe that the organisation has not complied with your data protection rights, you can complain to the Information Commissioner.

What if you do not provide personal data?

You are under no statutory or contractual obligation to provide data to us during the recruitment process. However, if you do not provide the information, we may not be able to process your application properly or at all. If your application is successful, it will be a condition of any job offer that you provide evidence of your right to work in the UK and satisfactory references.

Automated decision-making

Recruitment processes are not based on automated decision-making.

 

People

Our people

dec4

We’ve got 5 directors who are part of our management committee:

Dionne Fitzgerald - a Middleton resident and former Housing Justice caseworker, passionate about empowering Middleton residents and improving lives through community-led change.

James Luckham - a Middleton resident and local science teacher who has been part of Middleton Community Power group and is really passionate about shifting current education systems

Kerry Edwards - a Middleton resident, and the manager of Burnside Community Centre in Middleton. Kerry is a HRM expert and an Associate member of the CIPD. She is committed to inspiring and meaningful professional development and community engagement.

Mark Fraser - a Middleton resident who volunteers at the Lighthouse Project, having taken early retirement after working in adult care for Bolton Council.

Phill Worthington - with 15 years experience working with communities to create a fairer and more equal society, Phill is currently developing cross-sector partnerships to deliver world class facilities for young people up and down the country.

And they are support by expert advisors:

Cliff Mills - a lawyer at Anthony Collins Solicitors who specialises in co-operative law. Cliff is committed to the promotion of co-operative principles and co-operating for the common good.

Gareth Nash - is a founder member of Co-operative and Mutual Solutions, a worker co-op based in Lancashire but which works nationally and internationally. He has experience of working with groups of people to help them develop their collective ideas and bring them to fruition. Gareth has worked in renewable energy, community asset transfer, food and criminal justice. He is society secretary of Preston Co-operative Development Network and active in Climate Action Preston. 

Kallum Nolan - a Middleton resident, formerly a councillor representing Middleton on Rochdale Council, and the landlord of the Crown Inn on Rochdale Road. Kalum is now Middleton Co-operating's Engagement Lead.

Kath Bromfield - a Middleton resident who has been part of Middleton Community Power and a wealth of experitise in work with families and children with special education needs and disabilities (SEND) on inter/national level.

Kerry Tottingham - until recently also one of the directors and before that responsible for co-ordinating the voluntary/community sector across Middleton and Rochdale. Kerry runs her own social enterprise and is passionate about co-creating communities with charities, social enterprises and local people alongside public sector partners and businesses. 

Marianne Sensier - an economist at Manchester Business School. Marianne is currently researching regional economic resilience, strategic public procurement and community wealth building.

Mark Bramah -  the Climate Change and Sustainability Manager at Rochdale Council.

Nicola Hine - Corporate Policy Adviser for Rochdale Council, who helps connect Middleton Co-operating with the local Council's staff who can help us progress our work.