New East Sussex Team for 2021

The East Sussex Branch held its 2021 AGM online on January 16th. A well attended Zoom meeting saw members from every part of the County, and heard from our Labour and Co-operative MP  Lloyd Russell-Moyle (Brighton Kemptown including Peacehaven) and from elected Labour and Co-op Town Councillors Ben Cox, Angie Smith (Uckfield ) and John Edson (Seaford)   There were reports from all of the Labour Party constituencies in the County. 

The meeting elected Neil Woodroffe as the new Branch Chair, with Jane Marter as vice-chair, Dave Brinson as secretary,  Rue Franklin as treasurer and Dawn Dublin as equalities officer. 

The Branch agreed to endorse a number of Labour and Co-operative candidates for the forthcoming County Council elections.

Time for Food Justice!

East Sussex Branch met in November and committed ourselves to supporting the Co-op Party's national campaign around Food Poverty.   The Party is asking local members to commit to five areas of campaign activity: 

TAKE INSPIRATION FROM COMMUNITY RESPONSES TO FOOD POVERTY:

Excitingly, communities are developing and designing their own responses to food poverty, and many have a co-operative ethos.

With a topic as vast as food poverty it can be overwhelming knowing where to begin in your own community and having an awareness of what others are doing can help. Here are some practical suggestions for your local community:  more details on each can be found by clicking here

• Set up an Incredible Edible
• Support community produce and local markets 
• Grow the community and co-operative allotment movement 
• Explore Buy local and Buy Social initiatives 
• Embrace Fairtrade policy and status 
• Start a Community Fridge (already two established in Eastbourne- at Devonshire West and Langney- see here)
• Look into an Affordable Food Box scheme 
• Start a Community Kitchen

WORK WITH YOUR LOCAL FOOD PARTNERSHIP (or set one up!): 

There are many successful food partnerships alliances across the country.

Sustain and Feeding Britain both support and encourage them - you can see their maps showing coverage here and here.   Eastbourne has an established Food Partnership which you can find out about here,  whilst Hastings' can be contacted here

If your area has a food partnership then a lead member for food poverty is ideally placed to work closely with them. Where there is not yet a food partnership, a lead member for food poverty would be well placed to convene one.

GET A MEASURE OF THE PROBLEM:

We welcome the recent victory of campaigners in persuading the Government to measure food insecurity nationally, but frustratingly there is little granular evidence of the extent of hunger at a local level.

Councils, community leaders and Co-operative Party members can play an important role in pulling together what data there is and looking at new ways to measure the scale of the problem which will shape their responses to it.

Typically, measuring the scale of the problem would form part of developing a Food Action Plan. However, there are forms of food mapping which can be done with limit resources and can be done irrespective of whether you intend to develop an Action Plan.

WORK WITH LOCAL GOVERNMENT OR OTHER ORGANISATIONS TO DRAW UP A FOOD ACTION PLAN:

Food Action Plans (or strategies) address food poverty bringing together what statutory agencies and the community, voluntary and social enterprise (VSCE) sectors offer by way of expertise and practical action.

In many cases they have come about due to a particular crisis, but they generally also deal with longer term structural issues.

Food Action Plans come in all shapes and sizes. Some are developed by the council and may sit inside a broader anti-poverty plan, others by the community or the Food Alliance and are community-owned. Some are backed by an extensive evidence base, others focus on practical steps. We make no recommendation as to what is the best approach given that the needs and resources for each area are hugely different, but we do believe that it is important to put a plan together.

You can download a model Local Food Action Plan from Sustain by clicking here

GET YOUR LOCAL COUNCIL TO DESIGNATE A LEAD MEMBER FOR FOOD JUSTICE:

At present food poverty is often split between directorates and portfolios within local authorities, despite being a growing problem.

Half of councils do not have a dedicated lead member for food poverty, yet we know that having a named person brings focus and attention to any topic. That is why we suggest that councils should consider adding the explicit responsibility for food poverty to a lead member's portfolio.

According to our research, councils which have a single lead member for food were far more likely to work closely with a local food alliance, partnership or network. That's one other reason we think designating a lead member with responsibility for food justice is an important first step for councils seeking to tackle hunger in their area.  If your local council has not yet done this, please lobby your councillor.

Find out more about the Co-operative Party's national campaign around Food Justice by clicking here to visit the campaign website. 

End so-called "Modern Slavery"

The Co-operative Party is proud to be leading the way in campaigning against so-called Modern Slavery.

The Charter opposite is designed for local councils to commit to action on this issue.  Already Labour councils in Islington, Waltham Forest, Stevenage, Lambeth and Oxford  have signed. 

Modern Slavery is one of the great evils of our time, and it's happening under our noses. In nail bars, car washes, farms, factories and restaurants, it is estimated that tens of thousands of people in the UK could be victims. 

Find out more about the issue, and how you can get involved in our campaign by clicking here. 

Labour and Co-operative MPs have been leading the campaign in Parliament.  View the video below to hear some of their contributions. 

Next Branch Meeting: 19th November

There will be a meeting of the East Sussex Branch of the Co-operative Party on Saturday 19th November 2016 at 10.30am at the Ivy Room, Eastbourne Central Library, Grove Road, Eastbourne.

A G E N D A

1. Apologies for Absence

2. Minutes of the last ordinary meeting held September 2016

3. Matters Arising

4. Brief Reports:
     a) Membership
     b) Treasurer
     c) Constituency Labour Parties
     d) Sussex Co-operative Party Council

5.  EAST SUSSEX COUNTY COUNCIL: Getting the co-operative agenda into the County Council election campaigns in May 2017. There will be a chance to update on the selection of co-operative candidates, and the process of an agreed Labour manifesto for the county.

6. Any other business

The Ivy Room is on the second floor of the library: there is lift access.  Coffee and Tea is available from the coffee shop in the Under Ground Theatre (basement floor)

AGM Success

Gill Roles- top, our new chair, and

outgoing chair Jean Couture.

The East Sussex Co-operative Party branch held it's AGM today in Eastbourne.  Long standing chair, Jean Couture stood down after many years service, and Gill Roles, a former Parliamentary and European Candidate  for Eastbourne/East Sussex  was elected in her place. A vote of thanks for her service was passed, and Jean will continue as vice chair.

The branch is very healthy in terms of both membership and finances, and a number of campaigns and events were discussed for the year including:

• Party street stalls and stalls at Labour and Fairtrade events to promote our agenda
• A barbecue in Heathfield over the summer break
• A repeat of our Fairtrade Coffee Morning
• Exploring options for Co-operative speakers to come to joint Co-op/Labour Party meetings
• Making sure we field Labour and Co-op Candidates in next year's County Council election

The meeting ended with a moment of silence to remember Jo Cox, and an agreement to add our voice to those tributes to her service to our movement.

Annual General Meeting 2013

The East Sussex Branch of the Co-operative Party held its AGM today in Eastbourne.   

 

The meeting elected  Jean Couture as Chair, and Dave Brinson as Secretary, with Hastings Labour councillor Nigel Sinden as Vice-Chair.  Thanks were given to Dilys Gray-Jones, who stepped down as secretary after seven years service, that started when she was the driver to re-form East Sussex as an active Co-operative branch.  Jean and Dave will represent the Branch on the Sussex Co-operative Party Council.

 

The branch continues to affiliate to all local Constituency Labour Parties in East Sussex, and nominated John Carden to serve as delegate to Brighton Kemptown CLP, Jean Couture, Dave Brinson and Jake Lambert for Eastbourne CLP, and Dilys Gray-Jones, Paul Barlow and Nigel Sinden for Hastings CLP- where, of course, we are proud to have our member Sarah Owen as Labour and Co-operative Party Parliamentary Candidate. Branch member Emily Westley is also on the shortlist of Labour candidates for the European elections next year.

 

The meeting discussed our campaigning priorities for the forthcoming year- and our attention was drawn to the Co-operative Party's current national campaigns to promote co-operative values in Britain- including:

The Feeling’s Mutual- a campaign to build a fairer economy, support financial mutuals and, in particular, to return Northern Rock to its former building society status.
HomeShares – the campaign for Co-operative Housing Tenure- to recognise co-operative housing in English law for the first time.
The People’s Rail - to give passengers, staff and the taxpayer a stronger voice in the running of Network Rail and our rail network, by ensuring that the governing members of Network Rail are directly accountable to stakeholders and by enabling worker and community co-ops to bid for rail franchises.
Sewn Up – supporting the Kopano Women’s Co-operative in South Africa - raising funds for the women of the Kopano Sewing Co-operative in South Africa to help them renew their equipment and expand their business making clothes and school uniform for their local community.

and, of course:

End Legal Loan Sharking-  to regulate payday lenders, and the exorbitant rates of interest and penalties associated with them. Eastbourne Labour Party and the East Sussex Co-operative Party have made this one of our key campaigns- especially as local Lib Dem MP Stephen Lloyd has defended these companies in Parliament !

If you would like to be part of our campaigns, JOIN the Co-operative Party by clicking here.

Co-Operative Day School

A Conference/Day School for members of the Co-operative Party in the South East is being held on 24 November. It will take place in the Reading International Solidarity Centre, 35-39 London Street, Reading , RG1 4PS. This is about 10 minutes walk from Reading station.

Speakers include Colin Wilkes of the Schools Co-operative Society,  Cllr Steve Reed, leader of Lambeth Council on Co-operative Councils and General Secretary Karen Wilkie on increasing the involvement of women and young people in the Co-operative Party.

Conference fee is £20 per person, which will include simple buffet lunch, coffee/tea on arrival and departure.  Further details can be read at the Co-operative Party website here.