Nigel Patrick Thomas

Occupation: Retired Professor

Co-operative Businesses traded with in last 12 months Food and Bank

Skills and experience

My background is in social work and academia. I retired last year from full-time employment, and now divide my time between West Wales and Northern England. I have been a Trustee or Board member of organisations from the charity Children in Wales to my local youth centre (and a school governor and local councillor), so I understand the responsibilities of public office. I have always been committed to co-operative values and am keen to contribute.

Additional information

I have been a user of the Co-op since the 1950s, when as a small child I went to our village shop with my mother and marvelled at the overhead cash carriers! I have always been a supporter of cooperative principles since I studied Robert Owen at college – I was even a member of the Co-operative Party when I was a City Councillor in Oxford in the 1980s. I have banked with the Co-op for many years. These are challenging times for co-operatives and mutuals, but also times of great opportunity as people look for alternatives to rapacious and destructive capitalism on one side and rigid state bureaucracy on the other. I am pleased to see the Co-op in recent years steadily increasing its appeal to shoppers, while maintaining and even strengthening those values through its engagement with local communities and action to reduce environmental impact. My own family have had direct experience of both those things in Fishguard, with the Co-op’s very generous support of our community surplus food café.

My background is in social work and academia. I retired last year from full-time employment, and now divide my time between West Wales and Northern England (Manchester and Sheffield). I would love to have the opportunity to contribute as a member of the Council. I bring substantial experience of serving on public bodies and charities as a trustee or Board or Committee Members: district and community councils, school governing bodies, large charities such as Young Minds, Children in Wales, Play Wales and the British Association for Adoption and Fostering, as well as more local groups such as PLANED (a community development organisation in Wales) and our local youth centre. I also bring a strong commitment to co-operative values, community engagement and sustainable living. My instinct is always to work together with people to establish common ground and make things happen. I am not afraid to challenge when necessary, and will enjoy the role of keeping the organisation on its toes. I would also see myself as a representative of members more generally, and would be keen to find ways of engaging with other members, locally and nationally, and being their voice in the organisation.