Join our Communications Group

Our communications group is currently made up of people from Calverts, Unicorn, Creative.coop and Media Co-op, but we are looking increase the group's numbers. It currently meets on a monthly basis to plan, with members committing as much other time as they wish to carry out work on behalf of the group.

Purpose:

To shape and deliver both strategic and operational communications on behalf of workers.coop. To ensure we have a compelling and consistent narrative and brand. To promote both our new federation but also play a leading role in how we talk about worker co-operation and any future campaigns.

Domain:

  • Brand, name, style guide and imagery.
  • Key messages and copy writing for website and other core comms
  • Support for and oversight of all communications channels, including mass emails and social media

What the group has been up to

The UK federation of worker co-ops is only two years old, so there's a lot of potential for where we go in the future. At the moment we do a bit of everything, such as promoting the federation's activities, and developing educational resources about worker co-operation. For example last year in response to a member request we developed an educational booklet about worker co-ops for newbies, "Worker What??!!", which can go in a shop front for customers or given to new employees. You can see the other materials on the Resources section of the website.

Other things that we have done include developing our style guide, and we publish a ~monthly Newsletter. We also offer member co-ops the opportunity to order merch and materials for free (order here). The group also gets involved in campaigns such as the annual Co-op Fortnight, and develops merch such as stickers, posters, pin badges and most recently t-shirts (coming soon).

It's possible for group members to make proposals and together improve on workers.coop communications in line with the remit above.

Feedback on workers.coop Communications

We are especially keen to hear from you if you have ideas on how to make worker co-ops more accessible to more people who may have never heard about them before. Do you know of a group of workers that would benefit from becoming a co-op, perhaps a business that could be turned into a workers' co-op? How would you talk to them about co-ops? Or perhaps you:

  • have an idea about a video project
  • specific feedback on the website
  • a Newsletter submission or article we can put online
  • or want us to develop a resource for your co-op

Please get in touch. You don't have to join the Communications group to do this, you can email solidarity[at]workers[dot]coop with your thoughts.

Joining the group

  • The group meets on the 3rd Monday of the month, 15.30-17.00.
  • If you're interested in joining, you can sign up below for meeting dates, link and further info. You don't have to commit right away, you're welcome to join or sit in for a meeting to get the feel.
  • If meetings aren't your thing, you can be part of the Communications group by carrying out a discrete task or role (see below).
  • We welcome both people who work in Communications, and those interested in gaining new skills.
  • If you're not sure, feel free to book in a quick chat where you can meet a member first.

Take on a task or role

  • Create graphics for us (In the past folk from a variety of co-ops have helped make graphics for events, flyers, and artwork for posters.)
  • Make videos for us
  • Write an article
  • Help us post our merch
  • Drop off materials with your local co-ops
  • Become a co-editor of the Newsletter
  • Help us develop our practices e.g. how we commission work, how we talk to a wider audience