Interview: Ashley Frawley Ashley Frawley with Jonny Gordon-Farleigh with illustration by Matthew Brazier our book Semiotics of Happiness offers a social history of the rise of happiness as a public policy problem. Can you outline the rise of happiness...
THe MArches hive
Latest News
Stay up to date with all Marches Hive activity by viewing our news posts below.
In 1997 the Robert Owen Group launched a co-operative school centred initial teacher training project through the Marches Consortium and in partnership with the University of Gloucester. The scheme rapidly grew and became the largest of its type in the United Kingdom , successfully training over 3,700 post graduates who now work in our schools and colleges with many at senior leadership levels. Alongside this we launched a Master’s level programme for trainers in schools and for former trainees and teachers to access as career progression.
It became clear that the absence of an institute of higher education in the Marches sub region posed a real impediment to developing research, seminal thinking and platonic discourse. We often ignore the valuable infrastructure that comes with a quality centre of higher education. The Directors of the Marches Consortium developed a Robert Owen Learning Academy in Leominster and encouraged many ‘hub’ schools to have satellite post graduate libraries for their ‘clusters’.
This is all now background history but our 1998 creation of “query” as a radical journal of left field thinking has now in 2021 led to the addition of this section to the Marches Hive website. We want to stimulate thinking, discussion and the sharing of relevant news and knowledge.
We called the original 1990’s journal query because our minds turned to the creation in the 1870’s of the Tredegar Medical Aid Society which started life as as ‘Health and Education Fund’. In 1920 Walter Conway , Aneurin Bevan and others formed the radical Query Club as a new development. The Club was a cross between a debating society, a mutual support group , a focus for sharing contemporary knowledge and a body set on advancing radical thinking to address the issues of the day. In those times adult education was very much in cells following on the model of the early Methodist house groups.
We believe the challenges of today in many ways mirror those of one hundred years ago and we do encourage everyone’s to engage with query and to share your thoughts, views, knowledge and understanding so that we can all grow together . Thank you
News Articles
Co-operative Models of Ownership
Manchester and Liverpool join forces to explore green energy potential and co-operative models of ownership Taskforce launched to scope out green energy potential in Manchester and Liverpool city regions and examine potential for co-operative ownership of...
THe Sky is the limit
Sky’s the limit: Co-op set to use drones to scatter ashes First national funeral provider to launch a new airborne ashes scattering service Bereaved families can now scatter ashes by drone in memorable locations over land and sea Option for family to attend and for...
ILO issues advice on how to use its Guidelines on Cooperative Statistics
The International Labour Organization has released an information guide on its Guidelines concerning Statistics of Cooperatives. Adopted in October 2018, the Guidelines are the first international statistical standard on cooperatives and were developed...
The rise of philanthrocapitalism
Interview: Linsey McGoey Linsey McGoey with Jonny Gordon-Farleigh, illustration by Matthew Brazier Your book There’s No Such Thing as a Free Gift traces the historical origins of philanthropy to the more recent rise of philanthrocapitalism. You argue that...
A Co-operative Journey
Interview with Paul Hazen, Executive Director of the U.S. Overseas Cooperative Development Council On 6 October 2022, Paul Hazen was inducted into the Cooperative Hall of Fame - the highest honor that the the United States cooperative community...
$255 Billion!
Top 100 co-ops in the US have joint turnover of $255bn The largest co-ops came from agriculture, grocery, hardware and lumber and finance sectors The top 100 co-ops in the US had joint turnover of US$255bn in 2021, according to a report from National Cooperative...
The Future of Worker Co-operation in the UK
written by Siôn Whellens, illustration by Heather Savage A new and independent organisation of worker co-operatives, cooperators, and supporters of industrial democracy will be launched in 2023. Based in the UK, it will take on the role of a sectoral federation to...
17,000 Gallons donated!
17,000 gallons of fuel donated to Ukrainian credit union member farmers 163 farmers with credit union loans have benefited from the programme, launched by the charitable arm of global apex Woccu As the scarcity and price of fuel in Ukraine increases, more than 17,000...
CoTech
CoTech: IT collaboration to build new technology 'The mood over the last few years on the back of the 2019 election and the pandemic is one of urgency, to make a change ourselves' “What sets CoTech apart is that we are people building technology, while communicating...
