For more information about any of the news items below, or for any general enquiry, please contact Austen Cordasco, Internet Marketing Team Leader, at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or 07795 430599.
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Following a recent comprehensive policy review, CAN is pleased to publish its policy set.
We have decided to publish our policies for a number of reasons, including:
Please note, though, they are not designed to be templates or models, they are examples of actual working policies. We do not advocate that you simply copy these policies, either individually or collectively, rather use them as discussion documents for your own policy development. Your co-op is not the same as our co-op.
You can find and download them here.
We welcome feedback, enquiries and suggestions for improvement. Please contact our Society Secretary, Brian Titley: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
We can provide consultancy on most areas that these policies cover and would be delighted to work with you on the development of any policy area. If this is of interest, please contact the team leader of the department responsible for the policy in question. The responsible department is identified at the end of each policy document. See our Contacts Page to find the departmental Team Leader. Our prices, terms and conditions are here.
CAN is proud to have provided the content for Social Business Wales – a new website designed to help people set up or run a social business – in partnership with Wales Co-operative Centre. A social business is defined as any social enterprise, co-operative or employee-owned business. Although the website has a focus on Wales it is relevant to the whole of the UK.
Drawing on 26 years experience of helping co-operatives and social enterprises of all shapes and sizes with their financial management and with sourcing investment, Co-operative Assistance Network Limited (CAN) has published a detailed guide to this important topic.
Aimed at new and existing co-operatives and social enterprises in the UK, the 28 page booklet covers:
Are you involved with a voluntary, community or social enterprise organisation in England that is looking to improve its sustainability, capacity and scale in order to deliver greater social impact? If so, we may be able to help you.
CUSO-UK was launched recently at a conference of its founder members, including CAN.
This is the first organisation of its kind in the UK, being open to Credit Unions, businesses that supply or want to supply them, Credit Union Development Bodies (such as CAN) and supporters of Credit Union development such as trades unions, local authorities and housing associations.
CAN has replaced its old website with a brand new one. This website is designed to enable people to quickly find information about our products and services that are relevant to their needs through the Products & Services and Trade Sectors menus. Users can then check our terms of trade and make an enquiry or place an order at the click of a button.
CAN has delivered development services to Credit Unions since 1989, as it has to all types of co-operative enterprise. We have staff who have considerable experience of working with and for Credit Unions and have reached the stage where we have sufficient expertise and experience to be able to declare ourselves to be a Credit Union Development Body (CUDB).
Over the course of the last two years, CAN has taken on a number of self-employed associate workers and a new employee. Each new member of the team brings a valuable set of skills, insight and experience and strengthens the offer that we make to customers and clients. So, as well as the core members, Austen, Brian and Chris, you may well meet, phone or email Fiona, Garry, Gavin, John, Johnny, Nathan, Olivia, Rosie, Sarah or Tim during the course of your dealings with CAN. We just know you are going to get along.
CAN is proud to announce the launch of a range of business services, to complement our existing consultancy services, training courses and workshops. Actually, we have been delivering these services for some time now, but we haven't been actively marketing them. Now, we are launching them as a comprehensive package with an integrated pricing structure.
Over the course of the last year, we have replaced all our IT infrastructure. Gone are the old laptops which took 40 minutes to start up, gone are the old 2G phones, the creaky old server and obsolete email system, in come Android smart phones, ThinkPad laptops and the latest software that links them all together.
Integrated with the IT upgrade (see below), we are implementing a policy to fully embrace the principles of open source property rights. So our laptops are running Linux Mint and we use LibreOffice for documents, spreadsheets etc. We avoid paying software license fees to profit-hungry corporations wherever possible.
