About the event
Please note - The date for this event has not been confirmed, there are a few dates we are looking at so please treat this as a place holder for now but we plan for this to take place on a Thurs/Fri or Fri/Sat in October or Novemebr. We are waiting to confirm a social club as a venue, as we are partnering with Stir to Action and support their new 21st century social club programme. In the meantime we are going ahead with programming and logistics, and as soon as a date is confirmed we will notify members via email. Please get in touch if you can hep coordinate the event - this event is run by members, for members.
In 2022 we did someting amazing: we created a federation that we own and that we alone are responsible for. The Autumn Assembly is a chance for members to come together and take stock of what we have built so far, and join others, whether from our local communities, new generations or sectors of workers, or the wider co-operative movement to explore future possibilities together.
Typically the federation's annual in-person events have had slightly different feels - the Spring time Worker Co-op Weekend has been a larger, more outward facing event focused on movement building, bringing together new co-ops and coalitions, whereas the Autumn Assembly has taken on an inward orientation focusing more on existing members and the development of the federation itself.
The Autumn Assembly will still be an opportunity for members and supporters to meet up, learn, share and take stock as we continue to create our collaborative, democratic systems within and beyond the worker co-op federation. But now our vision for the federation is about expanding to new audiences, workers, specific sectors and really wanting to step out of our baby clothes into the next stage, which will bring up questions and challenges along the way.
So, rather than run another event aimed at the same members who come each time, we've planned to host the Autumn Assembly in a new kind of space, and bring the concept of worker cooperation to more people. We also know how valuable people's time is and are trying our best to make the event really worth attending by organising some high value skill-shares and training in advance, alongside fun study visits to local co-operatives.
Which training topics would you like at Autumn Assembly? Based on previous demand we expect the training to centre around finance, and the new employment legislation but we will bear in mind demand, so fill out the poll to have your say on what your co-op could most benefit from!
Programme
The theme for the Autumn Assembly is mobilising toward more worker co-ops in communities. As always the programme will be member-led, please add submissions to the collaborative document above. The programme will be bi-fold with space for member submissions for workshops and activities, alongisde some organised training. We'll be hosting break-out sessions covering some of the federation's main activities and working groups (mentoring, learning programme, strategic group development) and a workshop to find out about the top issues in your co-op. We're also looking forward to collaborating with the venue we book and Stir to Action by facilitating a learning session on 'what is a worker co-op' aimed at the venue's users - if you'd like to be involved get in touch. There will also be a study visit to local worker co-ops, though this will ultimately depend on where we end up.
The event tickets will cover lunch and tea/coffee/snacks during the day, and we'll organise a social in a cafe/restaurant nearby for the evening.
Dates: Thurs/Fri or Fri/Sat in October or late November
Location: Yorkshire
Ticket cost: tiered ticket prices with different prices for small or large co-ops, most ticket options will be under £100 and will include food. We hope to have a small bursary pot again but this is dependent on venue cost and sponsorship.