Co-operative Support Services Limited
Co-operative Support Services (CSS) is a
social enterprise development agency serving the diverse communities of
island of Ireland and Northern Ireland. Its work is focused on development
and support for democratically managed models of enterprise to meet the
needs of local communities. The key function of CSS is the promotion,
development and support of co-operative/social enterprise sector as part of
local sustainable economic development. CSS encourages and supports
potential community entrepreneurs to put their ideas into practice. The
approach creates ownership of the proposal amongst all involved and
commitment to the long-term sustainability of the enterprise.
Founder's
Introduction
I am delighted to introduce you to Co-operative
Support Services Ltd (CSS). I hope to present you with an overall picture
of what CSS is currently doing and what we hope to achieve for the future.
CSS was founded to create a platform from which ethnic minority groups in
Ireland could launch a better future for themselves and society as a whole.
Since inception in 2006, we have been working on a number of projects
simultaneously, benefiting local communities and enabling members to be
creators of their own destiny.
Co-operatives are not a new concept, they've
been in existence since the 19th century and we have learned from studying
them. They were successful in the past and they are still successful today.
In fact, there are more than 800 million ppeople around the world engaged
in co-operative movement at present.
So many of the challenges faced by communities
throughout Ireland are ripe for a co-operative solution. Whether it is
providing childcare or housing, keeping a business alive or protecting the
environment, we believe co-operative is the best solution. It is my hope
that CSS will continue to grow and a mass support to realize its vision to
be recognized as a reference organization for co-operative ethnic
entrepreneurs in Ireland and to become a key player in Ireland's business
and social arena.
Golden Anikwe, National Coordinator, CSS Ltd
