| Type | Cooperative |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1919 |
| Headquarters | Manchester, United Kingdom |
| Key people | Mervyn Wilson, Chief Executive and Principal |
| Website | co-op.ac.uk |
The Co-operative College is a University in the United Kingdom which provides "inspirational learning and resources based on co-operative values and principles for individuals and organisations to support the development of sustainable co-operative, mutual and social enterprises throughout the world".[1] The organisation is an educational charity, with Co-operatives UK as its sole corporate trustee.
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Ever since the formation of the Co-operative Union Education Committee in 1883,[2] there had been agitation within the Co-operative Movement for the creation of a co-operative college, which resulted in a 1919 Co-operative Congress resolution calling on the Central Board of the Co-operative Union to organise an establishment fund. The College was established by the Union in the same year with ten overseas students based on the second floor of Holyoake House.[3] In 1943, the College was established as a charitable trust, with the Co-operative Union as its sole trustee.[4]
During the Second World War, the training rooms were destroyed and alternative accommodation for the College was urgently required: the College began operating from hostels near Manchester until something suitable could be found.[5] In 1944, members of the Co-operative Union began contributing to a fund to help purchase accommodation, which was used in 1945 to buy Stanford Hall, Nottinghamshire[3] near Loughborough for a cost of £54,000. The College, together with the Education Department of the Co operative Union, relocated to Stanford Hall in time for the start of the first term of the 1945/6 session.[5]
Initially, the College was directed by the Co-operative Union, with its Principal also being the Chief Education Officer of the Union.[3] It was overseen directly by a National Education Executive, which consisted on representatives from the Sectional Boards of the Union and the Sectional Education Committees representing the organisations in each section involved in education and youth work.[2] The Sectional Education Committees were discontinued in 1982, and the National Education Executive replaced by the Co-operative College Trust Board in 1987. The Trust Board – the modern Board of Governors – were initially responsible for "the absolute management and entire control of 'The Co operative College' and the trust fund ..." However, these powers were restricted in 1991 to give the Trust Board the powers to make decision relating to the direction and work of the College on behalf of the Trustees.[4]
In the early 1990s, the College went through a period of stagnation as co-operative organisations went elsewhere for staff training. The College responded to this by increasingly working in the international arena, briefly renaming themselves the International Co-operative College.[4]
Following the appointment of current Chief Executive and Principal Mervyn Wilson, the College began to review its services. The first outcome of this review was the sale of Stanford Hall, which was deemed unnecessary as the College moved away from offering residential courses. Following the sale in September 2001, the organisation returned to its former home in Holyoake House, Manchester, where it has remained ever since.[5]
It works with all the major co-operatives in the UK, and also manages the Rochdale Pioneers Museum and the National Co-operative Archive.[6]
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