CCH was pleased to attend the ‘Playground for a New Economy’ Stir to Action Festival in July 2021, where Khalid Mair from one of our member co-ops, Imani, facilitated a discussion which looked at the internal and external challenges that specialist co-ops face in developing themselves as robust organisations with diminishing resources and still be sustainable in the long term.
He explores using the Imani experience to provide answers to the following questions: what must a housing coop do once it has developed homes for its members? What impact new entrants in co-operative housing and older established co-ops can have in providing solutions to solve the social housing conundrum?
Imani Housing Coop Ltd (52 homes) is a well established Black-led fully mutual co-operative based in Wandsworth, South West London, and this session reflected on Imani’s journey over three decades and how members positioned themselves as custodians of the co-operative philosophy to sustain the organisation and remain true to the ethos of the founding group becoming a vital community asset in the Black community and an important voice with the BME Housing Sector. You can watch the session here.