In January 2018, Omidyar Network (now operating as Luminate) awarded the Co-op Foundation a grant towards a programme of support for social enterprises and broader community engagement on digital and civic innovation for charitable purposes.  

The first phase of our programme was based at Federation House, Manchester, as part of The Federation, powered by Co-op Group. It supported an open community of social innovators, creating the conditions for collaboration and a forum for shared learning in a physical co-working and events space, to contribute to a more inclusive digital economy for Manchester and the North West of England.

Co-op Group's Federation House co-working and events space closed in March 2021. Later that year, Luminate awarded Co-op Foundation a second grant, built on the success and learning from the first phase of the programme. Read more about that in the Learning Report.
 

Co-op Foundation partnered with two Greater Manchester based organisations to deliver the next phase of the Federation programme, Noisy Cricket and Paper Frogs. 

From 2021 until April 2023, our focus was on working together to uphold data and digital rights – these are human rights impacted by data and tech. We worked collectively to reduce inequality and empower under-represented communities across Greater Manchester.