Cheshire West and Chester Council supporting International Day of Cooperatives

Cheshire West and Chester Council is supporting the 101st International Day of Cooperatives on Saturday 1 July.

Cheshire West and Chester Council reflects cooperative values and principles by putting people at the heart of everything it does.

Cooperatives are partnerships that come together to meet common economic, social and cultural needs of people through principles such as joint-ownership, ensuring that all members can have their say, advocating social responsibility, using local resources, and adopting sustainable and fair business practices. In Cheshire West and Chester, there are nineteen cooperative and registered societies with two community shops, one providing housing,  four sports related societies, two allotment holding societies, seven social clubs, one fair trade society, one food related co-operative and one agriculture co-operative.

This year’s theme of the International Day of Cooperatives is ‘Cooperatives: partners for accelerated sustainable development’, which is firmly aligned with the aims of the Council. The Council supports local people and organisations to work co-operatively and to form co-ops. Cheshire West Recycling was established as a Council-owned company in October 2019, working along cooperative principles to take a people-centred approach to achieving zero waste. Employing over 300 local people, Cheshire West Recycling operate under the main principle that everybody has a part to play in leading positive environmental change to create clean and safe places to live and work for future generations. 

Cooperative principles are an integral part of the Council’s commitment to strengthening local supply chains and social value from procurement, recirculating money around the local economy by using local businesses and providers wherever possible. In August 2022, the Council signed up to the ‘Keep it Local’ network to develop and support strong local organisations that can successfully win work and contracts from the Council. This is one of the 12 action points identified as part of Cheshire West and Chester Council’s vision for an Inclusive Economy. The Inclusive Economy plan aims to make Cheshire West and Chester a greener, fairer and stronger place to live, work and play.

You can find out more about the Inclusive Economy on the Council website:
Inclusive Economy | Cheshire West and Chester Council

Find out more about the Council’s approach to Social Value on the Council website:
Social Value | Cheshire West and Chester Council

The Council is also a member of the Cooperative Councils Innovation Network (CCIN), the fastest growing network in local government. The Network, which is chaired by the Leader of Cheshire West and Chester Council, Cllr Louise Gittins, brings together like-minded councils to work together to deliver radical and innovative programmes designed, led, and delivered in partnership with communities and other sector partners to benefit local people.

Cllr Louise Gittins, Leader of Cheshire West and Chester Council, said:
“Now, more than ever, we need to work together across all sectors, to ensure that people and businesses can thrive for the benefit of local people and communities and so no-one is left behind.

“As a Council we strongly support the principles of cooperatives to make Cheshire West a greener, fairer and more vibrant place, with good public services, connected communities, well-resourced local organisations, decent jobs, and nice things for people to see and do. Only by working together can we hope to meet the challenges of the poverty and climate emergencies.”

Find out more about the Council’s commitment to cooperative principles on the Council website:
The Co-operative Council | Cheshire West and Chester Council