The Co-operative Heritage Trust has been awarded £131,653.00 from the National Lottery Heritage Fund to fully catalogue and open up the Co-op College’s archival collection.
The award will allow the trust to develop its Seeds of Change project with the College, by providing the funds to recruit a project archivist to work with community volunteers over the next two years, to conserve and protect the collection and make it accessible to all.
Key aims include identifying items for digitising, conservation, creating outreach events and developing work towards an exhibition once the work is complete.
The College was established in Manchester in 1919 to offer specialist learning to co-op members and employees who were primarily from working class backgrounds. It pioneered new forms of learning, including correspondence courses and visits to co-ops, establishing a reputation as a centre of excellence for training, learning, consultancy and research for students from across the UK and globally.
From 1946, a longstanding relationship with the Colonial Office brought students from Asia, Africa, and the Caribbean to the College.
It was originally based at Holyoake House in Manchester, and was forced by a German bombing raid in 1945 to move to Stamford Hall (main photo) near Loughborough. It remained there until 2001, and the College is now a remote working organisation with a head office at Holyoake House.
The archives are of particular significance for the development of education within the co-op movement, says the Heritage Trust. They include details of the range of courses offered by the College to co-op societies, individual members and auxiliary groups such as the Co-operative Women’s Guild. And they highlight the history of the movement, education in the co-operative principles and the role of co-ops in social and international development through the 20th century.
A highlight will be the conservation of fragile items such as scrapbooks of photographs and creative work which provide insight to the experiences of students who attended the College in the first half of the 20th century.
The funding will also allow for oral history interviews with past and present staff and students, providing a deeper overview of the history of the college and its importance to the national and international co-op movement as it celebrates the UN International Year of Co-operatives in 2025.
“The Co-operative College archives are a unique and valuable part of the co-operative movement’s history, in the UK and internationally,“ said Ian Adderley, vice chair of trustees at the Heritage Trust. “With thanks to the National Lottery Heritage Fund and National Lottery players for their support, we at the Co-operative Heritage Trust can start preserving and amplifying this collection through digitisation and sharing its stories.
“This is particularly welcome as we start the United Nations International Year of Co-operatives in 2025.”
