Why set up a Social Centre? How to Set Up a We live in a society of atomised, alienated individuals, rendered powerless by the grind of work, consumption and ever present authority. Opening and running a social centre can open up endless possibilities to change this situation, creating a sense of community and helping us wrest back control over parts of our lives. This booklet has been compiled to promote the idea of opening and running libertarian social centres in the UK. Spaces run in a non-hierarchical grassroots manner, in order to socialise, pool resources and base projects; all in the spirit of Social mutual aid, co-operation and do-it-yourself. The focus is on co-operative social centres - those owned and controlled either by people who use them, people who work in them, or both. Squatters and renters will also find much useful information. Centre For more information or to find out what else we do please get in touch: Radical Routes 16 Sholebroke Avenue Leeds West Yorkshire UK LS7 3HB 0845 330 4510
[email protected] www.radicalroutes.org.uk This publication is available in large print ISBN: 1-899212-01-9 EAN: 9781899212019 Printed by Footprint Workers Co-op www.footprinters.co.uk Radical Routes This booklet is licensed under the Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 UK: England & Wales license, available at http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/uk/ 1st Edition June 2009 88 INTRODUCTION 1 Signatures of founder members Full names in block capitals WHY OPEN A SOCIAL CENTRE? 1. SETTING UP AND RUNNING A CO-OP 3 What is a co-operative? 3 REGISTRATION 3 Different co-operative structures 3 Registering as a co-op 4 What you need to register 4 Once you have registered 5 ORGANISING YOUR FINANCES 6 Bank account 6 Accounts 6 Auditing 7 VAT 7 JOINING RADICAL ROUTES 8 2.