How and why our charity was formed

The Rochdale Equitable Pioneers Society was started by 28 working class men who wanted to change society to make things better for other working class people. Theirs was not the first ever co-op...but it was the origin of the 'Rochdale Principles' which modern global co-op values and principles are still based on.

31 Toad Lane (the site of their co-operative store) was first opened as a museum in 1931 by the Co-operative Union; now  Co-operatives UK (the apex body for co-operatives).

The archival and library collections were held by the Co-operative College, which was created in 1919 to provide training and education for British co-operators and still exists to provide support and development in the UK and overseas.

The Co-operative Group was created from a number of mergers with the Co-operative Wholesale Society or CWS which was first formed in 1863 by co-ops including the Rochdale Pioneers. It is now one of the largest consumer retail co-operatives in the world and the UK's fifth largest food retailer.

Our charity was created by these three founders as independent to offer a layer of protection to these assets for the future and Heritage Trust became an independent CIO in 2019.

To find out more about our founders click on these links

https://www.co-op.ac.uk

https://www.uk.coop

https://www.co-operative.coop

It is important for us to say that we are not part of these organizations or directly financed by them: We represent the history of the whole UK movement and are interested in the stories of all independent co-ops - especially worker and community co-ops which are less well represented in our collections.