Young people are the future. But how young is ‘young’? And why do co-ops find it so hard to engage with youth?
The United Nations International Youth Day (IYD), held every 12 August, focuses on young people 15-24. But many organisations inflate this age bracket. Co-operatives UK’s recent National Youth Summit was aimed at those under 30. A ‘youth discount’ for the International Cooperative Alliance’s 2024 global conference is available for those under 35 – and the World Young Credit Union Programme is designed for professionals aged 40 and under.
UK youth organisations
Of the 28 Rochdale Pioneers, five were under 26 – and 180 years later, efforts are being made to engage future generations with co-ops. In the UK there have been two recent developments: the Young Cooperators Network (YCN) emerging from the worker co-op movement, and Co-operatives UK’s new Youth Advisory Group (YAG).
The YCN was co-founded in 2015 as part of the Young Co-operators Prize. It is now a network of more than 100 young co-operators across the UK, with the goal of promoting UK events and outreach activities, providing networking and learning opportunities, platforming young cooperators online, and advocating for support and opportunities. In the long term, it also wants to secure backing for a relaunched Young Cooperators Prize.
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In May, YCN held its first Young Cooperators Weekend, a “radical gathering [to] give young people the opportunity to celebrate, connect, and inspire change in the world.” Held at Bidston Observatory in Liverpool and supported by other UK co-ops (Suma, Scotmid, Co-operatives UK, Central, Solidfund and Funding for Social Change), it was attended by more than 40 young people from Britain and Ireland.
“The conversations and fun had brought new people into the movement, and built solidarity, support, and new connections for young people involved in starting or running a co-op,” says the YCN. “The future of co-operation is in our hands, and it’s young co-operators like us who will play a vital role in shaping it.”
The Young Cooperators Weekend (image: YCN)
Also looking to involve young people more is Co-operatives UK which, in March 2022, launched a strategy to empower young people. In June, it hosted its annual National Youth Summit in parallel with Co-op Congress – and recently invited young people to apply to YAG.
“Hearing the innovative ideas of the young people I met at the Youth Summit, it was clear to me that they weren’t lacking a voice,” said Co-operatives UK CEO, Rose Marley.
“What they were lacking was a platform to share their views and have their ideas listened to. The new Youth Advisory Group will provide that platform.”
YAG aims to “add vital youth perspective and embed youth voice”, champion the needs of young people, and act as an advocate for the co-op movement, while raising awareness of co-ops among young people.
In return, these young people (who will be paid for their time) will receive opportunities to help support personal and professional growth, give insight into decisions regarding Co-operatives UK’s youth engagement, and participate in programmes and events. Young people are invited to apply throughout July, with the first meeting scheduled for September.
“Applicants could be between 18 and 30,” adds Co-operatives UK. “We wanted to set this up quickly, on the back of the Youth Summit in June, and also need to address any potential safeguarding issues. We spoke with the Co-op Group about how their Young Members Board works, and the long term aim is to reduce the age bracket inline with the UN definition.”
Retail society efforts
The Co-op Group’s Young Members Group is made up of six 16-25-year-olds “with different skills and knowledge, from a range of backgrounds and experiences, who work with the Co-op on projects and activities”.
Similarly, Midcounties runs a youth initiative (also named the Young Co-operators Network, for ages 16-30), while the International Cooperative Alliance formed its Youth Network in 2003. “Young people are the leaders of tomorrow – but they are also leaders, organisers, carers, workers and thinkers today and need to be involved in shaping policies that affect them,”
it says.
But is this enough? Will it make a difference to how young people see co-ops? Among those dealing with this question is Aaliyah Likuluta, a 20-year-old public speaker, BAME youth advocate and a National Youth Voice ambassador with Ingeus, a global organisation that helps to enable better lives for people.
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“Ingeus gives us the opportunity to go to youth conferences,” she says. “The Young Co-operators Weekend was another opportunity. I went on my own as a learning experience and decided that this was something I want to get involved in more. I’m still learning about co-ops, and about the movement itself, but I’ve also applied to be part of the Youth Advisory Group.
“From what I’ve seen, there is a lack of awareness towards the younger audience – and the whole age bracket of ‘youth’ is too high. The wrong type of people are being targeted. These people are important too, don’t get me wrong, but at the Youth Summit, for example, I didn’t meet anyone that was younger than me.”
She feels good things are happening but aren’t yet being communicated to the wider co-op movement. “When I said at Congress, ‘Oh, I’m representing the YCN’, people were like, ‘What’s that?’ As a general observation, I don’t feel like there is a sense of togetherness. Only certain people are getting certain bits of information. But it will be important for other co-ops to work with groups like the YCN and YAG, because that’s where the young people are.”
In her view, it is vital to get co-ops into schools. “That’s where young people are. You can do it through PSHE [personal, social, health and economic] lessons, you’ve got careers fairs … There’s so many avenues. Events are powerful tools, they’re the ones that spread awareness.”
TikTok, Instagram and short clip videos are the way to entice young people, she says, warning: “We have such short attention spans – if you haven’t grabbed our attention in 10 seconds, we’ll swipe” – but actual engagement is just as important. “The way that views and likes just boom up whenever organisations start interacting with their audience is just amazing.”
She adds: “Social media is how you to know what’s going on. TikTok is a conversational platform where a lot of creators are talking about the same thing, and allowing people to talk and be a part of those conversations. If they really want to speak to young people, co-ops need to join that conversation.”
Main image: Aaliyah Likuluta (image: Jas Sansi Photography / Co-operatives UK)
