Who we work with
We are proud to work with a range of funders, donors, and sponsors who support our work
We collaborate with a number of organisations to raise the profile of community businesses and provide direct support to them.
As a membership body, we work closely with community businesses, individuals and organisations who value our work, ensuring we effectively represent community businesses and provide the support they most need to set up and thrive.
Plunkett is a membership organisation and becoming a member means you are joining a growing number of like-minded people and organisations all working together to help communities set up and run community businesses as a way of overcoming a range of challenges facing rural communities today.
Members
We have a specific membership strand for rural community businesses to offer enhanced support and to help maintain a long term relationship so that we can be on hand to help whenever they might need it.
Our members also benefit from access to information and publications before anyone else and our members are routinely invited to shape Plunkett’s views and work to gain national platform and influence. We also encourage individuals and organisations who share our values to become members and support our work.
Funders
We work with a number of project funders who help us deliver core areas of our support service for community businesses.
Typically, we apply for grants from these bodies to deliver activities which meet both the needs of our members, and those of the funders, mostly of whom have charitable objects of which we have similar concern.
Some of our current and longer term funders include:
Esmée Fairbairn Foundation
Dulverton Trust
The Linbury Trust
Diageo
Scottish Government’s Scottish Rural Network
National Lottery Community Fund
Partners
The success of our current strategy depends on Plunkett collaborating with national, regional and local organisations to reach more communities and make the best use of shared skills and resources.
At a national level, we work closely with infrastructure organisations who share our concern for supporting community businesses including Locality, Co-operatives UK, Social Enterprise UK, ACRE (and the ACRE Network) and NALC. In Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland we work with organisations such as Community Shares Scotland, Cwmpas and Co-operative Alternatives to ensure our services are relevant in different nations and as far as possible complement, rather than duplicate, other services. We also sometimes subcontract our services to local organisations where they are better placed to deliver locally, or have more relevant skills. We are always open to working in partnership and if you have an idea on collaborating, please do get in touch.
Alliances
Plunkett is a proud member of a number of alliances where our remit is to represent both rural and community business perspectives. We always seek to represent the voice of our members to influence and campaign for positive change on their behalf.
Working alongside other national and regional partners, we proud members of The Rural Coalition (England), The Community Wealth Fund, Community Enterprise Growth Plan, the Rural Services Network, The Communities Partnership Board (England), National Rural Mental Health Forum (Scotland), the Government’s Loneliness Action Group, led by the Red Cross.
We also actively bring together organisations of interest on specific issues or geographically focused panels, such as Plunkett’s Community Businesses in Places of Worship Alliance.
Co-op Retail Society Network
The Co-op Retail Society Network was established in 2023 with the aim of growing the size and impact of the rural community-owned business sector, enabling the co-operative model to flourish. Members are committed to: funding, sharing co-operative and retail knowledge, working together to raise the sector profile and convening to explore practical and innovative ways to support the community business sector.
Current members are:
Co-op Group
Co-operatives UK
Central Co-op
Midcounties Co-op
Radstock Co-op
Southern Co-op
