Happy New Year !
When do you stop wishing people a happy new year in the UK ? Not beyond week one, according to Captain Loud in the queue for hotdogs at Cambridge market the other day. In some parts of the world though, it’s completely culturally acceptable to continue to bid people happy new year until the end of january and at ASH Co-op we embrace cultural diversity, as with all diversity - so happy new year to you all !
So 2023 was an interesting one for us as we continue the slow climb out from the surreal cauchemar of coronovirus weird. We’ve taken on new paid staff, continue to rebuild some of our neglected admin systems and seen member engagement grow, but also seen sadness with the passing of one of our members.
We’ve also taken the first steps in rekindling interest in community development as we finally got around to replacing the dilapidated storage container converted from an old and once loved converted BBC site van a million years ago.
We’ve also held true to our commitment to the co-operative principle of co-operation among co-ops and helped out other organisations with loans and investment stock. Special shout out to Green Wood in Leeds, best of success for 2024.
We’ve even made friends in the north of Canada after playing host to a visit from Otter housing who were very interested in the way we operate, although it is rather unlikely they’ll embrace the co-operative model for their new community. You can see what they said about us here.
Further afield, some of our members participated in the Inter Communities Volleyball at Laurieston Hall in Scotland which was fun.
Into the new year we will be turning our focus on more home growing development as we look at the long awaited program of replacing the kitchens in our properties. We also hope to be getting around to replacing this website, which was hastily thrown together last year, with something a bit more sustainable and less rubbish - so watch this space.
If you’re interested in joining us take a look at our application pages to get a feel of how we work and how to apply.