Development Fund

We believe that co-operatives and other social enterprises are good business citizens and we want to see more of them.

Supporting the social economy

We set up our Co-operative & Social Economy Development Fund to support the growth and development of other co-ops and social enterprises around the country. The fund is the main focus for our contribution to the community.

The fund was first established because co-ops, in particular, often have difficulty raising capital when they are trying to get started or wanting to expand.

In January 2009 The Phone Co-op allocated £37,804 from profits made in the 2007-08 financial year into the fund, bringing our total contributions to date to nearly £150,000.

The fund is administered independently on our behalf by Co-operative & Community Finance who are experts in this area.

One of the community-owned projects which have received loan funding from The Phone Co-op include Finstock Village Shop. Other beneficiaries include Westmill Wind Farm Co-operative and Torrs Hydro where our fund has invested in share capital to help them get off the ground.

Case study:

Torrs Hydro

Torrs Hydro New Mills is the first community funded hydro electric scheme in the UK and could pave the way for many more community-led microgeneration projects.

Situated on the River Goyt in the High Peak of Derbyshire, the scheme is led by local residents and is supplying electricity direct to the local Co-op store as well as to residents.

The Phone Co-op’s Co-operative & Social Economy Development Fund invested £7,500 in share capital in the co-operative to help provide the start-up financing the project required.

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