Autumn Assembly 2026

For our 2026 Autumn Assembly, we are excited to be partnering with workers.coop member Stir to Action and support their national initiative 21st century social clubs. 

Dates: Thursday 19th and Friday 20th November

Location: The Holbeck (Working Men’s Club), Jenkinson Lawn, Holbeck, Leeds LS11 9QX

Ticket prices: (inclusive of refreshments and lunch on both days)

Small co-ops and individuals - £40
Larger co-ops with ten or more members - £80
Solidarity tickets to enable some bursary places - £120 
Contact us if you would benefit from a bursary place on solidarity@workers.coop

The Thursday evening ‘What is worker co-op’ session is a free event aimed at The Holbeck’s members and local residents, supported by Stir to Action.

By Lajmmoore - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0,
https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=82124763

The Autumn Assembly is a chance for members of our federation 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.

This year we’re hosting the Autumn Assembly in a new kind of space at The Holbeck in Leeds, a community club which has been serving its members and the wider community for 150 years. We are connecting with Stir to Action's 21st Century Social Club, an essential, long term initiative to revitalise member-owned social spaces for a new generation. 

Preserving and growing community spaces which are democratically run by the people who use them is essential to worker cooperation. These spaces bring us together, foster the skills we need to participate effectively in direct democracy in our working lives and build our capacity to advocate for worker control.

Programme

The theme for the Autumn Assembly explores the social infrastructure needed for worker co-operatives to grow. The programme will have space for member submissions for workshops and activities, alongside skill-shares and training sessions over the two days.

We'll be hosting break-out sessions covering some of the federation's main activities and working groups and a workshop to find out about the key issues in your co-op. We're also looking forward to collaborating with The Holbeck and Stir to Action by facilitating a public evening session on 'what is a worker co-op'.

Programme submission document

As always the programme will be member-led, please add submissions to the collaborative document above.

Which training topics would you like at Autumn Assembly? 

Based on previous demand we expect the training to centre around finance and the impact of the Employment Rights Act on co-ops, but we would love to organise around demand so fill out the poll to have your say on what your co-op could most benefit from!

Our Thursday evening social will be joining in with The Holbeck’s weekly pub quiz.

6pm onwards

We'll organise a table at a local restaurant if you want to grab food with others between the end of Thursday's programme and the evening social at 8pm.

7.45pm onwards

Arrive for 7.45pm. The quiz starts at 8pm, 4 per team, 40 questions and the winning team gets a £30 bar tab.