PR Date: Friday, 16 October 2020 - 1:30pm
The first meeting of a new community focused North Herts District Council (NHDC) Cabinet Panel will take place virtually on Wednesday 21 October at 7.30pm.
The Cabinet Panel on Community Engagement and Cooperative Development has been created to give local people a platform to speak directly to the Council about ideas or issues with community, commercial and enterprise projects. The Panel is advisory and will act as a sounding board, providing direct access to advice and support on how to set up and grow community or cooperative groups. It will also provide an opportunity for networking between similar groups, sharing of experiences and peer to peer learning.
The Panel will meet six times a year. Guest speakers will also be invited to present and take questions.
The theme of the first meeting celebrates cooperatives in the local area and will provide an insight into how new cooperatives can be set up, benefits of cooperatives and tips on how to grow a thriving cooperative for the community. Cooperatives are run by local people with a common goal to benefit the community in which they live. Examples of these are community food banks, community pubs, cafes and clubs.
Plymouth City Council’s Partnerships and Regeneration Manager, Anna Peachey, will virtually present on how they have been successful in their own work with cooperatives – there are 23 cooperative enterprises currently in Plymouth that have a combined annual turnover of £18.6 million, involving 9,500 people.
Cllr Judi Billing, Co-Chair of the Panel and NHDC’s Executive Member for Community Engagement said, “We are very excited to launch this Cabinet Panel. Not only will it give us a way of directly helping cooperatives and community focused organisations, but it will also prove invaluable in helping the Council learn, understand and gain insight into how we can improve upon the way we work with the local community.”
Cllr Keith Hoskins, Co-Chair of the Panel and NHDC’s Executive Member for Enterprise and Cooperative Development said, “We welcome this opportunity to speak directly with local cooperatives and community groups. Please do get in touch if your cooperative or community group would like to be involved in a future meeting.”
The Cabinet Panel on Community Engagement and Cooperative Development can be contacted at EnterprisePanel@north-herts.gov.uk
The virtual meeting will take place on Wednesday 21 October at 7.30pm. To watch the meeting via NHDC’s YouTube channel and to view the agenda, please visit the Cabinet Panel webpage.
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