the community plan
More than 50,000 people took part in a survey to help shape our Community Plan. As a result, we're focusing our community investment on three key areas:
Inspiring young people
We’re inspiring 250,000 young people to change their world, through Co-operative education, opportunities and campaigning. Our vision is to help bring about a cultural shift in the way that young people are viewed and treated in this country. For example, Truth About Youth is funding charitable projects across the UK that enable young people to challenge and change negative perceptions.
Left unchecked, climate change is the greatest threat we face, and has the potential to wreck livelihoods and ecosystems. The Co-operative is recognised as a leader in the fight against climate change; we're working hard to reduce our emissions, help communities to reduce theirs, and campaigning to get the right laws in place to speed up the transition to a low carbon economy. Projects such as
Walking Buses and
Green Energy for Schools, highlight our work in local communities, and
Toxic Fuels illustrates our active campaigning for change.
In recent years, slow but significant progress has been made to reduce the proportion of people living in extreme poverty. However, the financial downturn and impacts of climate change are serious threats to this progress. The Co-operative is actively stepping-up its international development commitment, supporting additional overseas development projects to its existing commitments that include pioneering
Fairtrade, providing
microfinance loans to the working poor and supporting improved access to clean water.