Co-operative Assistance Network celebrates its 21st birthday on 19th December 2010. As well as giving us cause for celebration, it is also a time to reflect on what we have achieved in the last twenty-one years, the experience we have gained and the lessons we have learned.
CAN has always prided itself on its corporate memory. Because we record what worked well and what could be improved in future when a piece of work is completed, we are continuously improving our performance and because we avoid repeating mistakes, we work more effectively and achieve a higher rate of customer satisfaction.
One thing we don’t have a record of, though, is the exact number of co-operatives we have helped to start up and register, and that is because there are just so many of them – well into the hundreds.
A quick glance at the 60 plus workshops that we have ready to deliver at the drop of a hat (workshops page) will give you an idea of the range of expertise that we have built up over the years. We have also developed a number of courses, such as Social Enterprise Startup and Governance for New Directors and Members, that have been delivered again and again and continuously improved.
Most of our work, though, is not in training, it is in consultancy and development services. Because we have worked with a wide range of organisational types (co-operatives, social enterprises, social firms, community enterprises, credit unions, local authorities, etc.) and addressed such a wide variety of developmental needs (startup, growth, feasibility study, business planning, buyout, divestment, social audit, conflict resolution, staff and management training, etc., etc.), we now have a very impressive offer that we are extremely proud of.
For more information, please visit our website, www.can.coop, or call 0845 3733616. Meanwhile, please join us as we raise a glass to our customers, our workers and our supporters, past, present and future, who make us what we are. Cheers!
Chris, Brian and Austen.
