South Members Group

The AGM season started last night when myself and our Secretary turned up to the South Manchester Co-op Members Group. In fact any member of the Co-operative can go to these meetings, but the reality was there was only 16 in the room.

We started off with a minute silence for Ruth Frow who died recently. Ruth and her late husband have left a legacy for the country, the Working Class Movement Library.

The business was brief. You know the drill. How much money have we got and the same people are re-elected unopposed 'cos nobody else wants anymore work. Then there is a report of the recent Co-operative trading figures - food up, pharmacy down, funerals up, travel down, motors doldrums.

The best part of going to meetings like this is the networking. Everyone in the room is involved in different groups - everything from socialist choirs, fairtrade, sustainabilty, Labour Party, Woodcraft...The other good bit are the refreshments. Tonight I'm going for coffee and some of premium biscuits.

So what do the Members Group do? Essentially organise trips, talks and events. The next one is the showing of Black Gold at the Blue Box Theatre, Chorlton on Wednesday 27th February - admission free. The Co-op Party is helping out with this. I was a bit worried that no one will come until I heard from everyone how they would be publicising the event. Can't beat a network, well let's hope so.

SMCG Meeting

South Manchester Co-op members group are meeting on Wednesday 19th September at 1930h BST at the Hardy Lane Co-op Rooms. Topic is "the Environmental Impact of United Co-op" (now United Region Co-op Group). This will cover progress on reducing our emissions, waste, water & recycling progress etc together with an over view of initiatives that have been recently undertaken, plus some energy saving tips for home. The Speaker will be Keith Maloney (General Manager Environment & Technical Services United Region). Keith is an entertaining speaker and this should be an excellent meeting. All Welcome

Western Sahara Talk

Went to the South Manchester Members Co-op Group meeting tonight. What a cheerful friendly lot. Got a brief talk, a short video. A cup of tea, dried fruits and jaffa cakes - the sort of meeting that's low on paper and big on informal chatting. In short a group of ten young Sahrawis are coming to Manchester for the summer. Money has been raised, Virgin have paid for the flights and trains, and hopefully the story will get into the local media. There has been an irregular commitment to the Western Sahara by the local Woodcraft Folk groups for the past 15 years with visits there and here.
Western Sahara - Wikipedia

South Manchester Co-op Members

South Manchester Members Group -
Wednesday 20th June 1930h Hardy Lane Co-op Hall, Chorlton
Andy Pitts from Levenshulme Woodcraft Folk speaking about the current situation for refugees in the Western Sahara. Well this one has dragged on since 1975. I got back up to speed by watching Inside View on Al Jazeera English TV - if you've got a few minutes you can view the clip by following the link.

Wednesday July 18th 1900h Hardy Lane Co-op Hall, Chorlton
Summer party with guest speaker Tracey Pook, Chair of the Friends of Chorlton Water Park who will update us about the campaign against the cuts being made by Trafford Council.

South Manchester Members Group April

I know most of us members of Withington Co-op Party will be working in the local elections during April....but if you fancy an evening off from leaflets or canvassing....

The next meeting of the South Manchester Co-op Member’s Group will be on Wednesday 18th April at Hardy Lane C-op Hall at 1930h. The guest speaker will be Sonya McCann from People in Need. This is a self-help project of grandmothers in South Africa who make and sell traditional bead ware. They all have grandchildren orphaned by HIV- AIDS. The money raised supports these orphaned grandchildren. She will bring samples of beadwork to sell at the meeting.