AGM March 21 list of proposals

[Sergio]

Hi all, let’s use this post to compile all the proposals to be discussed at the upcoming AGM, to take place on March 20th.

If you add a proposal to the list but won’t be able to join the AGM, please make sure to include enough details and context for the rest to understand it.

AGM proposals:

Passed: Symbiotic support for union struggles and BTUC

Decision poll We agree: As part of our strategy to use our resources to support working class struggles in the city, we aim to amplify workers struggles where we can and make our co-operative infrastructure available and useful where possible. As part of this we recognise, that although we are not an organisation which directly engage in union activity, infrastructure such as soup kitchens, organised care and creches and access to land and accommodation are often key in supporting strikes and la…

Proposal: Formalising membership with Open Collective

Decision poll Open collective is a co-operative payments/finance platform which allows for people non incorporate organisations like ourselves to have a bank account via a ‘fiscal host’, it allows for monthly subscriptions, one off payments and invoicing and openly accounts for this. https://opencollective.com/ It would be a way in which we could easily set up a regular payment system for members and also for easily actioning payment for items which are purchased on behalf of one of our sub pro…

Proposal: Forming a Media Co-operative

Decision poll Co-operation Birmingham works, using funds from our new membership scheme, to set up a media co-operative. Goals of the co-operative Media for Birmingham owned and produced democratically A calendar and hub for community and activist groups in the city A focus on indepedent culture and profiling things marginalised by commercialised news and media Critical investigative journalism A suggested structure Initially a collective with a paid coordinator who invoices a…

Proposal: Subscription funding two projects

Decision poll Where next for Co-op Brum? Co-operation Birmingham should continue providing meals to those who need them and being a community kitchen. Set up a membership subscriber system based on open collective - a patreon style co-operative finance platform that allows for transparent and open finances. A subscription means membership of Co-operation Birmingham and the includes member benefits. These can be expanded on but initial suggestion is that this includes: Free meals at the solid…

Proposal: Co-op Brum Decision Making Process

Here’s a rough decision making process that I have used regularly and like. This will no doubt need tweaking both now and if it is implemented. Coop Brum Decision Making Process Decision poll Background In Co-operation Birmingham, we make decisions collectively. We designed our decision making process using decision making tools we had experienced through participation in various horizontal organisations. Our decisions can be split intro three categories: Small, Medium and Large. 1) Small - …

Proposal: From Solidarity Kitchen to Solidarity Kitchen Cafe!

Decision poll Solidarity kitchen cafe has been created following the emergence of Solidarity Kitchen and The Cooperation Birmingham collective. A Community Interest Company (CIC) was set up and a bank account opened to move forward the cafe proposal. We have raised £4000+ of funds and plan to source more of the £18,000 yearly running costs through a mixture of crowdfunding, grants and cafe turnover. (The biggest costs are the two paid roles- General and Kitchen Manager). We plan to open the once…

[Paul]

Hi, Paul here. Cecile, Seb and I would like to give an update on the progress of The Solidarity Kitchen Cafe. We are almost finished with the business plan. We plan to open on 21st June 2021. We have already received £4,000 worth of funding and plan to source more funds to cover wages costs for the first years running. Sean shared an exciting proposal to work with Cooperation Brum and a membership scheme, drawing in more users and some potential additional funds. We are building relationships with The Outside project-London (A queer homeless project) and Cafe Queero who would like to run a pop up event in the cafe. Please add us to the agenda. As we get closer to opening we would like to put a call out for more people to get involved. If possible using Cooperation Birmingham (Newsletter or email list) to invite people to add their names to our volunteer list and begin engaging with the network of organisations and projects that can make use of Sol Kit cafe. I shall be available to speak between 18:30- 20:00. Thx x

[sean_f]

Hi all,

In relation to the proposals posted above (I have been talking to people about them - they aren’t all just coming from me!), I have drawn this dependency tree style thing to help see how the proposals relate to each other. Hopefully it will help clarify things a bit.