[matilda] Campaigns? Skills? Equipment? AT Coop Launch... Resources for social change!

[AT Coop]

Hiya,

We are emailing to let you know about our new workers cooperative to 
help grassroots campaigns that we think you may be able to help with, 
and perhaps that can help you in turn.

Do you have a pile of useful equipment that you hardly use, cluttering 
up your space? Do have or know of a large storage space being underused? 
Do you maintain large vehicles that never quite earn their keep? If you 
answer yes to these and would like to see them benefit other good 
causes, then we are interested in hearing from you. The AT Coop is 
currently compiling a list of equipment, skills and spaces that people 
have and wish to use for the benefit of other groups engaged in radical 
social change.

If you have any equipment, skills or storage on offer, please fill in 
our survey: http://tinyurl.com/3bl8ny

You can also contact us directly. For more background info, please see 
below.

Hope to hear from you soon,

Max Byrne


AT Coop
c/o 40 Sholebroke Avenue
Leeds, LS7 3HB
Email: atcoop at atcoop.org.uk
Web: www.atcoop.org.uk
Tel: 0845 217 8997

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AT Cooperative: An Overview

 From camps to urban convergences and squats, we want to help campaigns 
groups access the skills and materials they need to be effective and 
sustainable. This helps reduce work load of campaigners putting on 
grassroots events and effectively distributes equipment and knowledge 
throughout our networks. However, we will be more than that - by working 
with AT Coop we will ensure that your equipment is not just used for 
good causes but is properly maintained and stored as well. We want to 
take the risk and worry out of lending your equipment by being truly 
professional about it. Though cooperation everyone benefits, and as AT 
Coop grows we can provide more and more at ever cheaper rates.

The AT Coop is a new, not-for-profit collective, formed to acquire, 
store, maintain and monitor materials like solar panels, wind turbines, 
vehicles, tools, marquees, field kitchens and other equipment. It also 
aims to provide practical support to grassroots campaign groups by 
sharing the knowledge and skills of those who have them already. For 
example, building grey water systems or compost toilets, plumbing, power 
generation, site management, transport logistics, and so on. Currently 
we are compiling a database of equipment, skills and spaces which can be 
made available to other social change movements.

Our aim is to reduce reliance on expensive commercial businesses, and 
encourage groups to support each other by sharing their resources. We 
will focus on recycling and reusing equipment wherever possible. Aside 
from our database of skills and equipment (and what we are planning to 
provide ourselves) we are working on a how-to guide for putting on 
events, developing skills and maintaining equipment. We can then enable 
groups to become more autonomous by providing training and knowledge 
based what we learn. Longer term we plan to invest in our own vehicles 
and equipment.

The newly formed collective works along the principles of non-hierarchy 
and mutual aid. Our focus is to support non-discriminatory forms of 
campaigning on issues of social justice, ecological defence, animal 
rights, or any other groups adhering to the PGA hallmarks. All of us are 
experienced in putting on various campaign events, both rural and urban.

If you are working on a project or event which needs volunteers, or 
might provide an opportunity for training then please let us know. If 
you want to support the ATC but don't have skills or equipment, we are 
currently fundraising to move into the next phase of our 
project...please get in touch!

To help you we need information about what is available! Please forward 
this onto contacts within your movement, post this text on your website, 
and get in touch for more information.