Co-ops: Empowering arts and culture

About the webinar

One of a series of webinars brought to you by Co‑operatives UK in partnership with The Co‑operative Bank as part of The Hive programme which supports new and existing co‑ops.

The arts and cultural industries provide valuable opportunities for people to come together, create, learn and share cultural experiences. And they make an important contribution to the economy. Yet, there are plenty of challenges for individuals and organisations within these industries – with squeezed funding, digitisation and many creatives in unstable freelance work, sustaining careers, spaces, opportunities and morale can be a challenge.  

That’s where co-ops can help. When people come together to form co-ops, they can empower creativity, create work opportunities, preserve vital spaces and provide support that empowers individuals to thrive within their chosen field of work.  

Join us for this webinar – Hosted by music consultant Terry Tyldesley – to hear about co-ops within the arts and cultural sector that are making a difference, creating opportunity and enabling individuals and organisations within the sector to flourish.  

Format

• An online one-hour webinar on Zoom
• Presentations from the host and speakers with an opportunity to ask questions at the end

How much does it cost?

This webinar is FREE to everyone who wants to attend.

What attendees will learn:

• What a co‑operative is and the purpose of co‑ops
• Co‑op values and principles
• The economic, social and personal benefits of running a co‑op business in the arts and culture sector
• How to decide if a co‑op is the right business model for you
• What support is available for those wishing to set up a co-op from the business support programme delivered by Co-operatives UK in partnership with The Co-operative Bank 

Who should attend?

Anyone who’s keen to learn more about co‑ops, this includes:

• Individuals and groups exploring whether the co-op model is suitable for their situation
• Groups looking to set up a co-op to create, save or maintain cultural spaces and venues
• Individuals looking to join forces with others working in similar/complementary fields in arts and culture
• Anyone wanting to learn more about co‑ops: business advisors, community leaders, voluntary sector support agencies, etc. 

About the speakers

Terry Tyldesley is a music and tech consultant, creative technologies producer and musician who works with artists, entrepreneurs and organisations. She founded Kitmonsters, an inclusive music and tech site and she’s the former Chair of ethical music streaming co-operative Resonate. Terry served on the Music Tech Fest/MTF Labs Advisory Board and her music – as Kat Five and with her band Feral Five – features on BBC Radio 6, Radio X, in film and in sound installations.

Matthew Otridge is one of the founders of Exchange in Bristol, a grassroots music venue (GMV) that ran a successful community share offer in 2018. Matt now works as Ownership Co-ordinator for Music Venue Trust, using his experiences from the Exchange to lead on the “Own Our Venues” campaign – a radical plan to purchase the freehold of multiple GMVs via a charitable community benefit society and become an ethical landlord to the operators that run these spaces. He has also been promoting live music events at venues across Bristol for the past 20 years.

Pat O’Shea is a member of The Ultimate Picture Palace (UPP), a community-owned cinema in Oxford, showing an eclectic mix of independent, mainstream, foreign language, and classic films. The historic art deco building dates from 1911 and the cinema is run by a small but passionate team of staff and volunteers. Pat was instrumental in the 2022 community share offer that enabled the UPP to become a community-owned business, with more than 1,000 local investors buying shares in the cinema.

Recording the webinar

This webinar will be recorded. We will share the recording with participants shortly afterwards. This webinar is part of a series. If you cannot attend this one, we hope you can join us for another webinar. Alternatively, visit our step by step: start a co-op tool or read about the business support available to start-up co-ops.