Co-operatives Fortnight 2011

Co-operatives Fortnight is the co-operative sector’s national campaign.

This year, during the second ever Co-operatives Fortnight, co-operatives up and down the country got involved in highlighting how co-operatives share their profits, give people an equal say and help build a better world.

The evaluation of this year's Co-operatives Fortnight's impact, demonstrates that:

• Over 290 events, activities and promotions took place which together reached over 4 million people;
• More than 1.7 million people heard about or talked about co-operatives online. For the first time ever, co-operatives trended on Twitter – it was the second most popular topic, after Cheryl Cole;
• Over 100 media outlets covered the co-operative sector during the Fortnight – from BBC Radio 5 Live to the Financial Times. The combined reach of all media coverage was over 145 million, meaning that every person in the UK would have been able to read about or hear about co-operatives two or three times during Co-operatives Fortnight;
• With receptions, lectures and new reports, every UK politician had at least three opportunities to learn more about co-operatives;
• The campaign petition was signed by over 7,000 individuals and supported by 38 organisations representing many more, including national businesses, charities and campaigning organisations such as Groundwork UK, NUS, Nationwide and Friends of the Earth.

"With the co-operative sector getting so many people involved, both online and off, and generating so much positive media interest, this year was a real success.

Thank you to the co-operative and mutual businesses that sponsored the activities and to the thousands of people across the UK who took part and made the two weeks such a success."

Ed Mayo, Secretary General of Co-operatives UK.