Co-operative Alternatives and Social Enterprise Northern Ireland are running a free study tour of co-operatives in Northern Ireland. Participants will get the chance to sample some of the local products and learn about successful co-operative businesses.
The half-day tour, on 24 March, will take visitors on a mini-bus journey from Belfast to Toomebridge. The trip will start with fresh bread and scones at Loveworks in 130 Duncairn Gardens, a worker co-op selling bread and providing bike repair and gardening and landscaping services.
Visitors will then go to Breezemount Farm in Connor where they will engage with co-operatives in the renewable energy sector such as Northern Ireland Community Energy, the only solar energy co-op in NI (NICE) and Drumlin Wind Energy, a co-op co-owning six wind turbines.
Also on the route is Harryville in Ballymena, where participants will have coffee at the Raglan Community Development and Renovation Society. The group is looking to raise £100,000 in community shares for a project to create a community hub with 10 business units and an exhibition area in the Slemish n tha Braid Credit Union building.
The journey will continue with a visit to Toomebridge at the Lough Neagh Fisherman’s Co-operative, which specialises in eel fishing. Participants will also get to sample products from Lacada Brewery Co-op and learn about the co-operative’s history.
The free tour can be booked online or by contacting Tiziana O’Hara from Co-operative Alternatives at tiziana@coopalternatives.coop.
