Project proposal

Dear [interested academics],

I am a student of the university of Leeds, and I am writing to ask you if you would consider running a masters or a bachelors project that involves the Green Action co-op.

I work at the GA co-op in the union. We are volunteer and student run. We buy in bulk from Lembas, and receive a small discount which covers things like spillages and mis-labelling. The co-op has existed for 12 years (or so). We have a turnover of around £600 a week. We offer students, and other people, a place to buy fair trade organic whole food at an affordable price. If this was run as a commercial shop then we could not offer the food at an affordable price and I do not think the GA co-op would survive. People can order vegetable boxes with locally produced organic food and collect them from the co-op. We are keen to try to help other universities set-up similar co-ops.

We would like someone to look at how this model of co-op works, why students are prepared to give up their time to manage a shop, perform some study on how the co-op is managed (stock, takings etc.), and how the co-op effects the community of students that run it. We feel that the co-op is a valuable resource and that you might find it could make up part of a project giving open access to the workings of such a structure.

Structures such as the GA co-op can be important in other situations. I was at a friend's in Axminster who lived in a village (200 people or so). They have a volunteer run shop as a commercial shop would not be viable. This means that they can buy milk and necessities instead of driving 10 miles to the nearest town. It also serves as the village hub. This illustrates that this structure is not unique to university students.

Please contact me if any of this interests you or you know someone who may be interested in it.

Regards,