Our Trip to Manchester: Filming at The Cooperative UK
We’ve been very quiet since about October, but not for a lack of activity. We’ve been busy connecting with people and filming sections for our documentary ‘What’s Money Got to do with it?’ Under the leadership of Sima Gonsai and the Future Melting Pot team we visited the Cooperative HQ in Manchester to film some of our exploration of their Archives.
We learned of Robert Owen who is considered one of the Fathers of the Cooperative Movement with his Radical Social Business thinking and we found some interesting similarities between his ideas and the business models of the Cadburys. You will hear more about this in due course.
We also looked at some of the original handwritten minutes from the meetings of the Soho Cooperative Society, which was held in as school on Windmill Lane in Birmingham. This was a unique insight into some of the challenges and triumphs of operating a social business as it were some hundred years ago.
As we sifted through some of the books which documented histories of the Cooperative movement in Birmingham, one fact the stood out to us that there were many cooperative businesses that sprung up and went unrecognised, and as many were set up as disappeared. This is interesting as we can compare and contrast some of this information with the Social Enterprises of today.
Keep checking the blog for more updates.
TFMP – A Day In the Birmingham Library Archives
Michael & Alex examine a 19th century projector slide photo of Josiah Mason's Orphanage
This week we visited the Birmingham Library and Archives to begin filming for our documentary on the heritage and history of Birmingham’s Social Enterprise, and continue with our research. The experience was fascinating. As we scoured the priceless relics and artefacts from the lives of Birmingham’s historical ‘social entrepreneurs’ we gained a unique insight into their real lives. From the journals and scrapbooks of Grace Nettlefold, (daughter of the industrialist and entrepreneur John Nettlefold) to photos and slides of Josiah Mason’s Orphange, we experienced an overwhelming sense of awe and reverence, as we contemplated the fact that these objects belonged to people who lived over a century ago but had such an acute impact on the way we live our lives today.
As I carefully turned the pages and read sections of Grace Nettlefold’s journal, the thought come to me how far we have progressed in the way we document our lives and make history today. Grace Nettlefold’s diary was written with such uniform handwriting, the type that we today would only see in decorative computer fonts, and contained the kind of content that we today no longer write in books but in online blogs and social media networks. The difference back then was, someone like Grace Nettlefold, being part of the upper class society at the time would have the time and resources to be able to write and document her life experiences and today gives an insight to what life was like for people in the 1800s. But what about those of the underclass, those who did not have the skills, time or resources to document their lives? Today we have little or no record of them and more often than not, the records we do have were constructed by those who were of the upperclass. This caused me to ponder and recognise the relevance of social media and how this phenomenon has enabled widespread access to tools we can use to document and speak of our lives and experiences.
The conclusion of the matter for me was, we have the tools at our disposal to ensure we are heard, if not now, in the future. In the next 150 years our descendants (future social entrepreneurs) will know of our experience and have a better understanding of their heritage and this will better inform their decisions. So let us make full use of the resources we have available.
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If you are a social enterprise/social entrepreneur and you would like us to create an oral history of your organisation then please contact us. Details can be found on the Contact Us page.
On the Recent Rioting
In light of the recent comments we posted on our company website regarding the rioting across the UK but I thought I would take a moment to hone in one of the many theories around the reasons behind the civil unrests and look at how the Social Enterprise Heritage Project sits within the scheme of things.
On the 11th August BBC News presented 10 competing arguments which were used to explain the riots one of which was the issue of consumerism. It was highlighted a number of times in the media that the perceived trend in the looting and rioting was that stores were targeted according to their consumer preferences. Some have identified a sense of materialism evident in the complete disregard for livelihood of other’s and a priority of material things over human life.
As Izzy Mohammed, (Archives Outreach & Education Officer) profoundly stated in his video last week, ‘if society is dysfunctional then businesses cannot function properly.’ We can see that as a result of the array of complex societal issues, many businesses have been disrupted.
Many people in their analysis of the situation have alluded to the fact that there is a culture of greed evident in society. Major corporations feed off and cultivate this mentality doing very little and often doing very little to contribute back to their local communities and society.
In my opinion, the social enterprise heritage project’s exploration of the concept of social enterprise and the roots of social businesses could be key in understanding how alternative business structures and models can contribute to a society where the distribution of financial resources are more evenly spread.
TFMP’s Oral History Training
Izzy Mohammed delivers Oral History Training
This week we at the Future Melting Pot, we had a training session with Izzy Mohammed, Outreach and Education officer at Birmingham Libraries and Archives. Izzy introduced to us the concept of oral histories, techniques for the production of quality oral histories and more importantly the reasons why oral histories are so relevant in a diverse, changing society.
By definition an oral history is a way of learning about and understanding the past and the present through the spoken word – drawing on peoples’ memories, stories and recollections. Primarily, oral histories take the form of a recorded audio interview which is then categorised into a collection of oral histories from a range of contributors around a specific topic or theme, often as part of a specific project. These projects can be about any aspect of heritage and history, and can and do incorporate present day experiences, communities and events; in other words, we’re making history all the time. Often Oral History is a way of getting to a particular heritage and history, possibly the only way, if other methods, means or resources are not available. This often happens to be the case with new or emerging communities, or with regards to communities whose stories have not previously been adequately documented. The recordings then become a primary source of information about the past or present and a valuable a resources for researchers or historians.
Estella & Alex listen and take notes attentively
More importantly and most interestingly, oral histories are also a way of enabling particular sections of our communities, or even sections of society at large, to be heard. Any historian will tell you that historical records and textbook histories provide a wealth of information that is usually about particular, well established groups of people – the rich perhaps; the powerful; more often than not, about men, and their achievements; of big business, or the famous. However, there are many ordinary people whose lives and experiences are missing from textbooks and historical record; people who’s lives and stories matter. No one’s history is any more important than anyone else’s. All histories, to us, are equally important; and further, the everyday, ordinary lived experiences matter equally as the unusual or extraordinary. Thus the production, documentation and curating of oral histories in an increasingly diverse society, where particular groups might struggle, is imperative.
This is the reasoning behind our Social Enterprise Heritage project. There are many Social Enterprises who are doing very important things in uncertain and challenging times. In the future and even now there is much to learn from the experiences of individuals who operate and run businesses with a social interest and so their stories must be preserved.
Mike & Lewis enjoy the learning
If you work in or run a social enterprise, we would like to create an oral history about your experiences to be deposited in the Birmingham archive. Please contact us if you are interested in getting involved.
SE Heritage project provokes a Turning Point in TFMP
Ayelam Valentine wrote the paper on the History of the Cooperative Sparking Change in TFMP
The Future Melting Pot have just published via their website the fact the existing Community Interest Company will soon become a Cooperative Community Interest Company. Here on the ‘What’s Money Got to do with it? blog, we would like to just echo this announcement by expanding on some of the reasons behind this decision in regards to the discoveries through the Social Enterprise Heritage Project.
We have discovered through our research on the Social enterprise heritage project, that the longevity and success of many
organisations has much to do with the original roots and founding values established in the beginning, and how these values are communicated and implemented through the working practices and organisational structures from the very beginning. This is especially true of socially conscious businesses. If we reflect on the history of the cooperative, we can see that at the points in time where its relevance was questions, it has always been sustained by the cooperation of its members who take an equal ownership/stake in the company. The future melting pot has been established primarily to help people with their personal and professional development through its programs and services and if these services and programs can be coordinate in a cooperative manner then the organisation becomes more sustainable and the beneficiaries can mutually exchange with the company.
To find out more about TFMP’s development as a cooperative community interest company, visit the News Section of tTFMP Website www.thefuturemeltingpot.co.uk
