The shared responsibility for decision making by co-operative members means that when decisions are made profitability is balanced with the needs of the membership and the wider needs of the community.
Values and Principles
As a group of people we came together committed to using our skills to develop training using
co-operative methods underpinned by co-operative values and principles. It kind of made sense that we then have to practice what we preach. This is the how, the whys and the wherefores...
Co-operative values
Self help – as a co-operative we have the aspiration, ability and commitment to work together improving our lives and the lives of those we work with.
Self responsibility – as a co-operative we take responsibility for our actions, as individual members we share the responsibility for developing our business.
Democracy – all members of the co-operative have participated in the development of a structure which allows everyone to have their say.
Equality – regardless of role or investment each member has an equal right to participate, to be informed and to be involved in making decisions.
Equity – we decided together that we would invest our dividend in the advancement of First Question North’s aims; we all receive an agreed and equitable amount for the services that we deliver on behalf of the co-operative.
Solidarity – our membership is defined by the common interests we have, we share our values with the other members of the co-operative movement and believe that unity will strengthen our business and our membership.
Ethical values
Openness – as a co-operative we are open about our business, our membership and our aims.
Honesty – we are honest about how our business is conducted, the services that we deliver and how we deliver those services.
Social responsibility – the development of the communities in which we live and work and is something that we take seriously.
Caring for others – the services we deliver focus on empowering people to make change we are invested in helping people to help themselves in a relevant, inclusive and ethical way.
How do we make it happen?
"Our principles make us less talk and more action,
they put theory (values) into practice..."
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There are seven principles
Voluntary and open membership – we don’t exclude anyone from being a member as long as they have the skills to train co-operatively, are committed to co-operative values and principles, oh and of course there is enough work for existing members as well as new ones.
Democratic member control – our members developed structures, policies and procedures which support democratic member control, they have the right to elect representatives who are accountable to the membership for their actions.
Member economic participation – our members contribute equitably to the control of the capital generated by our business, we choose to operate as a not for personal profit co-operative. This means that the benefits we derive as members are associated with the work we do for the co-operative and not the dividend allocated from surplus funds. The surplus funds are reinvested in the co-operative to support the achievement of our aims and objectives.
Autonomy and independence – as a co-operative we are autonomous and independent, sometimes to meet our aims we may enter into partnerships or contracts with other organisations, we will never do so if it conflicts with the democratic control of our organisation or compromises our autonomy.
Education, training and information – as a training co-operative we understand the need to make sure that we all continually help to develop each other to improve our skills and effectively direct and develop the business. Our training methods are underpinned by co-operative values and principles and we champion the nature and benefits of co-operation as part of that.
Co-operation among co-operatives – we work in partnership with other training co-operatives and are committed to working with the wider co-operative movement to advance co-operation and make change.
Concern for the community – we developed our co-operative so that we could spread the use of co-operative training methods to those who would benefit, our work focuses on the development of communities, that could be a work or school community, a local community, or our global community. We pass on the tools people can use to help themselves so they have the power to change their lives and the lives of others.
For more information about the statement of co-operative identity please go to
http://www.ica.coop/coop/principles.html 
