Hi all,
Long time no see since I didn’t make it to last month’s CoTech circle call. But as most of you probably know, quite a few of us ended up at Coops Congress last month thanks to support from Coops UK which was brilliant! Off the top of my head this is who came:
- Myself and Richard Edwards - Outlandish
- Chris Croome - Webarchitects
- Richard Rowley and Maria Young - Agile Collective
- Ben Philps and Alan Peart - Creative Coop
- Melissa Hayes - Co-operative Web
- Alistair Francis - Asterisk
- Danny Scott - Jarrow Insights
- Rob Callender - Kin Coop
- Graham Mitchell - MC3
Maria and Chris were on a panel with Cory Doctorow! And then Richard and I led a workshop right after their panel on ‘What’s Next For Owning Our Own Tech’. We also had an exhibition stall showing off our new branding.
Context for this proposal
Thanks to this energy and activity we had some very positive conversations with Coops UK who have now ringfenced £5,000 + VAT for CoTech to continue its work and deepen connections with the broader co-operative movement. The funding comes from their commitment to “enabling Tech & Digital” in the co-op sector, as outlined in their strategic goals.
The purpose of the funding is to build on the momentum from Congress and support CoTech to:
- Be more accessible to other parts of the movement
- Strengthen sector-wide collaboration
- Improve visibility and lead generation
They’ve made clear this can’t be unrestricted core funding, but it can be used for staff time to deliver specific outcomes that align with their goals. This funding needs to be spent and activities delivered by the end of this year.
We are aiming to submit a proposal to Vica in time for a 13th August meeting she has with Rose and we’d really like to start the work in September.
The Proposal
With guidance from Richard Rowley and Chris Croome I’ve drafted a four-month work programme (Sep to Dec 2025) that would deliver the following:
Key Outputs:
- Discovery Call with Co-operatives UK to shape shared user journeys for:
- Potential clients
- Aligned individuals/organisations/coops interested in cooperative tech
- Tech co-ops that might want to join CoTech
- Website content/UX updates to speak clearly to these user journeys
- Public-facing area of our Discourse forum aligned with Co-ops UK themes and the above user groups
- A lightweight system for triaging incoming leads
- One funding application for a public-facing CoTech event in Spring 2026
Budget:
- £4,000 for coordination/delivery (16 days @ £250/day)
- £1,000 for extra support
You can read the full draft proposal here:
Draft Cotech £5k Proposal - 2025-07-21.pdf (115.0 KB)
Rationale
We believe this work needs to be driven forward by a named individual acting as project manager. Having one point of coordination will allow us to deliver efficiently within the required timeframe (by end of 2025), without spreading the work thinly or letting it stall. Where needed, others can be brought in to support.
I’m proposing to take on the expected 16 days of project management which will involve facilitating workshops to design the work and then likely delivering it with bits of support. I would love to build on the work I’ve done so far and develop the partnerships and connections I’ve made. I’ve already been in close conversation with Co-operatives UK, helped shape the offer, and am well placed to keep things moving. My goal is to support the network, not centralise it and I’ll use existing democratic processes (like the Circle calls) to shape the direction and report back.
The funding we allocated for me and Chris Croome for interim networking coordination at the end of last year has finished, as is the funding I have through SPACE4. I am currently reconfiguring my work package with Outlandish and I will not be able to sustain the work I’ve been doing with CoTech unless I am allocated some paid work.
Next Step: Join the Circle Call to Discuss
We’d really like to make sure this proposal resonates with the wider network so please do join next week’s circle call.
Richard will facilitate a Sociocratic decision-making process to tease out and answer questions and resolve any critical concerns.
Hopefully we can pass the proposal and send it on to Coops UK soon after that.
Info for circle call: General Circle Call Wed 30th July 4pm
Please share questions or thoughts below ahead of the call. You’re also welcome to email myself (natasha@outlandish.com), Richard (Richard@agile.coop) and Chris (chris@webarchitects.co.uk).
Thanks all!