Celebrating 150 years of co‑operation

The celebrations kick off at the Co-op Retail Conference (28 Feb-1 March) where founding member coops will be presented with an illustrated print celebrating 150 years together, everyone will receive a commemorative pin badge, ‘Spirit of Co‑operation’ gin miniature, and a slice of birthday cake featuring the playful 150th anniversary branding.

This year is a double celebration as it is also 175 years since the Rochdale Pioneers founded their co-operative store that is widely recognised as the model for the modern day co‑operative movement that spread around the world. To mark this historic milestone, a free Festival of Co‑operation will be held in Rochdale outside the town hall in June.

Sponsored by The Co-op and Power to Change, the festival will celebrate Rochdale as the home of co‑operation, sharing the remarkable story of its working class co‑operative founders and challenging public perceptions of co‑ops. It will feature interactive demonstrations and activities showcasing a diverse range of co‑ops, free family activities, heritage actors, public debates on today’s big issues, live music and entertainment, and much more.

The weekend will see the launch of a new pilot ‘Co‑op Champions’ programme, which has the ambitious aim of training 100 grassroots ambassadors in one day, giving them the skills, knowledge and confidence to spread the word about co-ops in their own communities and networks.

The Co-op of the Year Awards will be presented the evening before the festival, with several individual awards honouring the people who have had a significant impact on the UK’s co-ops and who embody the co-operative values.  The celebration of all things co-operative continues with the annual awareness raising campaign, Co-op Fortnight, from 22 June to 5 July, which this year is calling for people to #JoinACoop.