Return to Blog | written by Abby Gordon-Farleigh Stir to Action is leaving the marquee in a field and taking its annual festival north for two days of panels, workshops, local DJs, and food! The 5th Annual Playground for the New Economy Festival will be held this year...
THe MArches hive
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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
‘Barefoot’ programme relaunches to support a new surge in co-operative and community businesses across the UK
written by Stir to Action Stir to Action to expand UK’s only advisor training programme for democratic businesses to tackle shortfall in specialist advice National co-operative infrastructure bodies Stir to Action and Co-op Culture are teaming up to relaunch...
How co-ops in the UK and North America are tackling mental health challenges
We hear from service providers who are devising new models of provision, and from agri co-ops which are offering support for members in a high-stress industry In recent years, the third Monday in January has been dubbed ‘Blue Monday’. First concocted for a UK travel...
Brazilian co-ops to explore producing green hydrogen from animal waste
The potential total production capacity is around 275 tonnes of hydrogen energy per day Two Brazilian co-ops have partnered with German government and businesses on a green hydrogen project that could produce 275 tonnes of green energy every day. Coopersan...
Sound Pound credit union group launches cost of living loan for Greater Manchester
The loan is 'our response to help local people get back on track and avoid any long term impacts of inflation and rising household costs' The Sound Pound consortium of Greater Manchester credit unions has launched a new loan product with the backing of the regional...
Energy co-op to join Leicestershire Council net zero feasibility study
Green Fox Community Energy Co-op will work with the authority on one of 31 UK projects to receive funding A community energy project is joining partnership led by Leicestershire County Council to develop plans to hit the area’s 2045 net zero target. Green Fox...
OVO pledges support for community energy projects to help push for net zero
The electricity supplier will offer subsidy-free power purchase agreements to community energy projects OVO has joined Community Energy England’s membership as a principal supporter, saying it will offer enhanced levels of support for community-led renewable energy...
Co-op Party crime commissioners call for modern slavery watchdog
'It is dismaying and frustrating that Suella Braverman has refused to appoint to the post, and there seems precious little movement in terms of recruitment' All seven Labour/Co-op Party police and crime commissioners in England and Wales have written to home secretary...
Cooperatives in Nepal
Nepal has a long cultural tradition of informal community-based co-operatives including savings and credit associations popularly known as Dhikuti, and grain savings and Labour exchanging systems known as Parma and Dharma Bhakari. Similarly, Guthi provided a forum to...
Living in a housing co-operative
Housing co-operatives and how they work, how people can get housed in housing co-operative accommodation, and their security of tenure. Housing co-operative definition A housing co-operative is a group of people who manage and control the housing in which they live....
