Sarah Newens

Member ownership of our Co-op is its strength. I want to see our Co-op promoting and celebrating how membership influences ongoing development in a sustainable, responsible, and ethical way. The future lies in younger people being enthused by Co-operative Values and Principles. Voices of members matter. I welcome the way in which the Co-op has maintained its commitment to Fairtrade, an example of a policy promoted by the membership. The biggest challenge to this is to improve communication both ways between membership and the Council. Networks should be improved to create an active engaged membership to strengthen our democracy and the influence of members. More local meetings, face to face and digitally, and a strong social media presence are essential. We must continue to work towards ensuring diversity and inclusion as well as following up members’ concerns.