[Campaignforrealdemocracy] Housing Co-op Follow up - Wed 27th Oct 7.30 – 9.30

[James Holland]

Hi folks

It was great to see so many of you at the ‘How to Set Up a Housing Coop’
training a couple of weeks ago. It’s great to see so many of us wanting to
create radical housing solutions in London. As promised we have arranged a
follow up session on Wednesday 27th Oct 7.30 – 9.30 at the Seven Dials Club
in the Mercer Room (we have a room definitely booked this time – we will not
be in the bar). It’s seems that folk were keen to continue learning about to
set up a coop but also keen to start forming into groups so that can take
this forward. With this in mind the plan for the evening is as follows

-    To briefly revise some of the material covered in the previous session
relating to the steps involved in setting up a coop
-    To go through some exercises that will allow you to start identifying
others with whom you want to work on setting up a coop who share your values
and vision
-    To cover material relating to how to identify properties and how to
begin to put together a business plan

There are three groups in London currently working on setting up coops. You
may want to join one of these groups rather than try to form an entirely new
group. I am part of one of these groups; we are aiming to set up a
radical/activist housing coop (The Future House – see below). Another group
is ‘The Drive Coop’ that Rob – my co-presenter– is working on. Another is
The London Community Housing Co-Operative (LCHC) that Leslie, who attended
the last training session, is working on. I’ve provided a paragraph about
each of these projects. If, when you read the descriptions below, you think
‘Yes, that ‘s exactly the type of coop that I would like to help set up and
live in’ do let myself, Rob or Lesley know: we are all actively looking for
new recruits who share our visions

*The Future House*

Gi, James and others first decided to work on setting on setting up a
radical housing coop a couple of years ago. In fact, we have spent most of
that time investigating if it is possible given house prices in London. Many
of those original folk have moved on to pastures new and we are looking for
a group of people who share our dream of coop. Our vision is to do the
following:

1.     To create housing which is safe and secure where all members can both
live without fear of eviction and have an equal voice in decisions that
affect their home.  And to provide affordable housing allowing members to
make space in their lives for things other than full time work and
specifically for activism. It will be a space where we can support one
another to be involved in movements pressing for environmental and social
justice

2.     To create a living environment in which members can live as an
intentional community that supports and encourages members to share and
relate to one another in a cooperative way in which all members both provide
and receiving support and jointly work towards the spiritual and mental well
being of each and the community as a whole.

3.     To create a living environment in which members are supported and
encouraged to live an environmentally sustainable lifestyle that is
respectful of our symbiotic relationship with Earths ecology. Specifically
this means creation of facilities that will allow the community to reduce or
eliminate carbon emissions, waste flows to landfill/ incineration sites,
dependence on fossil fuel based transport, to promote sustainable water use,
biodiversity, and local, sustainable or home grown food.

4.     To create a living environment in which members are supported and
encouraged to live in a way that promotes equity and fair trading relations
ensuring that the community has a beneficial impact on other communities
(notably disadvantaged communities) both locally and globally, and
furthermore make decisions that respect local cultural heritage.

We have joined Radical Routes, looked at a number of properties and put a
draft business plan together. We now know a lot about the task ahead of us.
However, for all intents and purposes we are at Step 1: We have yet to get a
group together or register a coop. We would really like to hear from you if
you too would like to be part of setting up a radical housing coop that is
serious about consensus and environmental and social justice. If you are
interested in becoming part of the crew please contact

James on james at dogmanet.org or Gi on giovanna_speciale at hotmail.com or call
07769 703191


*The London Community Housing Co-Operative (LCHC)*

The London Community Housing Co-Operative (LCHC) will provide self-contained
housing for low-income families, young people, and economically excluded
groups who want to live in London in a different way:  a way that both
emphasises privacy and fosters a sense of community. It will also include a
community centre as a social hub of shared communal resources.  This centre
will, through employing the knowledge base and resources of users, create
opportunities for education and training and promote social enterprises in
the wider community to empower individuals and facilitate communities
through co-operation.  Communal initiatives will include:

- Community food enterprises, including an allotment, a vegetable box scheme
and a café serving the wider community.
- Community events – outings, clubs, and socials
- Educational and training programmes focused on social inclusion and
providing for local need.
- Multi use rooms for hire for social, meeting, and work purposes
- Under 5's inclusive play provision and support for young families
- Environmentally friendly car pooling.

If you are interested in our project please contact Leslie 07952 6161 352
(website not up yet!)


*The Drive Housing Co-op*
The Drive Housing Co-op currently in the process of buying 8 The Drive,
Walthamstow. This is a 10 bedroom former children’s' home, a detached house
within a reasonably large plot of land. In summary there are three aspects
to this project:

- a housing co-op, which enables its members to have a say in the running of
the accommodation that they live in, with no external landlord to have to
deal with. For us, making decisions by consensus is at the heart of this.
- an intentional community, where people live together as one household, and
experiment with new ways of living more sustainably together, within the
context of a city and urban lifestyle.
- a permaculture garden, which will enable us to produce a significant
proportion of our food on-site, reducing food miles and our living costs

There is currently a core group of five members, and we need to recruit the
additional five over the next few months. We already have the property
purchase underway, with the bulk of the finances already in place – but
there are still many aspects of the project still to be worked out. So now
is a really exciting time to get involved!

We hold regular social meetings where you can meet the current group members
and other potential new members, and find out how to get involved. The next
one is this coming Wednesday, from 8pm, and then the following one will be
on Thursday 14 October. The usual venue is the Garden Ladder on Green Lanes,
Haringey. More information is on our website - http://www.thedrive.coop. If
you are interested in the project contact enquries at thedrive.coop or call
07967 091806
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