More than 90 per cent of Northern Ireland’s children still attend segregated schools. In a parting missive to his adopted home, CHRIS WILSON makes a plea for integrated education....
How Belper United to Beat Off Reform
When Reform UK took control of Derbyshire county council in May, one small community resisted the surge. KEITH VENABLES describes how unions, activists and anti-hate groups built a grassroots campaign that might just be a model for the rest of the country....
Hope not Hate Appeals for Help
The rise of the far right and Reform UK make this a dangerous moment for the country, according to the anti-extremism group. But all is not lost if communities have ways to reconnect and make their voices heard. MATTHEW BROWN reports....
How Redhills is Rising Again
Durham is known worldwide for its 900-year-old cathedral. But there is another historic building in the north-east city that holds a special place in the hearts of local people, one being reborn as a hub of heritage and hope for the county’s stricken communities. MARY STRATFORD explains....
Mining Memories: Tales of Hardship, Tales of Joy
A new book on Durham Coalfield communities is a timely testament to working class resilience, says MARY HULL, bringing together evocative tales of ‘marras’, meetings, strikes and marches as well as banners, brass bands and allotments. ...
Faith Workers are Workers Too
As a church minister, CHRIS WILSON at least knows “the boss” is OK, although “the middle management can be a real problem”. Clergy need trade unions as much as any other workers, he says....
Winning Hearts & Minds Through Community Enterprise
The success of Sheffield Renewables has shown how attitudes to energy policy can be changed with local engagement and a co-operative business model that offers much more than profit. DAVE BERRY explains....
Co-op Party Launches Community Power Report
The Co-operative Party has teamed up with the Labour Climate and Environment Forum to launch a new report on “the role that community-owned energy in playing in building climate consensus at a local level”....
New Approaches to Tackling the Far Right
Compass and the Co-operative Party have both launched new initiatives in recent weeks aimed at understanding and tackling the rise of the far right....
Cost of Living Crisis: Why We Need a New Wave of Co-operatives
CHRIS OLEWICZ calls for a revival of the consumer co-operatives that once formed a vital pillar of the Labour movement and could play a crucial role in our crisis-riddled times....
Cooperation Town: The New Network Providing Food for All
CHRISTOPHER OLEWICZ celebrates the arrival of a new addition to the co-operative movement, one based on the same vision and principles as the 19th pioneers. A ‘new Rochdale’ is within our grasp, he says. ...
Acting Local: Community Wealth Building – Past, Present & Future
CHRISTOPHER OLEWICZ examines an inside account of Preston Council’s much-hailed ‘model’ for local development, and casts his mind back to the 1980s when his own local authority tried to resist the march of Thatcherism with bottom-up regeneration and municipal enterprise....