Wednesday, 2 July 2025
Fox and Goose joins United Nations to champion co-ops
One day festival, Sunday 6 July, noon to 5pm
In a year that the United Nations has designated International Year of Co-operatives, Hebden Bridge's community-owned pub is hosting a free one-day festival to explain and explore the co-operative model and celebrate local examples of it.
The popular Fox and Goose pub will host a fun-filled day of activities, entertainment, food and drink designed to bring together anyone interested in the co-operative movement.
Under the UN's own theme of Co-operatives Build a Better World, the event – from noon until 5pm on Sunday 6th July – will be a celebration of co-operatives' pivotal and growing role in sustainable development, economic inclusion and community resilience.
Fox and Goose Pub Manager, Hannah Thurman, said, "More and more people from all walks of life are being turned off outdated, unethical and often harmful ways of doing business, and co-operatives like ours make a brilliant alternative offering lots of advantages."
Only a few miles from Rochdale, the birthplace of the co-operative movement, our area has a proud tradition of co-operative thinking. Here, dozens of businesses subscribe to a movement many see as an increasingly welcome alternative to more conventional but less ethical organisational models.
The Fox and Goose was saved in March 2014 when a group of pub regulars raised £130,000 to buy the much-loved local when its future came under threat.
The community share offer to buy the pub attracted investment from 250 enthusiasts, with subsequent offers increasing its ownership to 375 members. Since 2014 the pub has thrived under community ownership, winning CAMRA Halifax and Calderdale pub of the Year in 2019 and 2022. All of this makes the Fox and Goose a superb living example of a successful Yorkshire co-operative.
The event itself boasts a busy schedule, with informal talks, music from local DJs and a pop-up pizza kitchen. Members of Calderdale's many successful co-operatives and community benefit societies have been invited to attend, and the day marks a great opportunity for people to share their ideas, insights and experience of co-operatives. It will also be perfect for novices keen to learn what co-operatives do, how they work and where they are locally.
Hannah continues, "This will be a really friendly, inclusive event, taking an informal and joyful approach to a serious but hopeful theme. Even those who aren't necessarily interested in co-ops can't lose – there's music, pizza and our famously fabulous beer garden to enjoy!"