On the 8th of November 2011, we left the Whitmarley, which has been the first home of “the Birmingham social centre project”. The project through is much more than the building, it is the concept, community and people that have formed around it.

In easter, months before we started the project we set out these as the reasons “we”, then a bunch of students who had been organising on campus should create a squatted social space.

“Squats or free spaces have great history many have gone on host a wealth of unique exchanges and become centres of local and national activism by becoming centres for travelling plays, parties, music, cinema, talks, debate and workshops.

The spaces by their nature attract local residents, local activists and often create exchanges and meeting points that result in strong communities actively pursuing their civil power and asserting control over their own lives.

These communities that can grow can attract people growing up in the city and studying as students and activists to stay in the city after graduation and contribute positively too many causes…rather than as they become more involved just move to places were these communities exist like Oxford, Bristol, Brighton or London.

Birmingham is Britain’s youngest city, it also the city with the highest youth unemployment, the largest council cuts, and the most abandoned buildings and the highest rate of homelessness. Basically I think Birmingham is exactly where we should be.This city should be hotbed of alternative discourse, social empowerment and people forcing of change.”

These reasons hold as true now as they ever did, we are no longer an isolated, student campaign, stuck in bubble. We have built links with a wider community that will allow our movement and ideals that we are fighting for to become more entrenched and permanent. However in future I think we must think bigger, the social centre was to small, we couldn’t cater for all. Homelessness is spiralling out of control in Birmingham as is unemployment; we must take a space that is not limited by its size. For when skyscrapers are sitting empty and when 1/3 young people in the UK’s youngest city the city are stuck in unemployment the possibility for a creative radical politicizing space is endless.

The community garden at the social centre

The spaces by their nature attract local residents, local activists and often create exchanges and meeting points that result in strong communities actively pursuing their civil power and asserting control over their own lives.

These communities that can grow can attract people growing up in the city and studying as students and activists to stay in the city after graduation and contribute positively too many causes…rather than as they become more involved just move to places were these communities exist like Oxford, Bristol, Brighton or London.

The cafe and libary at the social centre

Birmingham is Britain’s youngest city, it also the city with the highest youth unemployment, the largest council cuts, and the most abandoned buildings and the highest rate of homelessness. Basically I think Birmingham is exactly where we should be.This city should be hotbed of alternative discourse, social empowerment and people forcing of change.”

open mic night

In these goals we have achieved some measure of success, the question is now what next for the Birmingham social centre, although we are leaving the current location, the concept and the community built up around lives on.

So where do we go from here? do you want to be involved in what we do next, what should we do differently next time?

please come along this friday at 7pm

We are going to be handing out bowls of free hot food and tea for anyone who is hungry. Please come along and eat it!
Food Not Bombs shares free vegan and vegetarian meals with the hungry in over 1,000 cities around the world to protest war, poverty and the destruction of the environment.

With over a billion people going hungry each day how can we spend another penny on war?

Filmed Last winter, when the coalition government in the UK announced sweeping changes to university tuition fees that set higher education in Britain to be the most expensive in Europe.

The film show a group of students at UCL voicing their discontent taking part and organising widespread protests that brought news footage into our homes reminiscent of the 70s and 80s; from horses charging marchers, to the windows of Conservative Party office being kicked in.

There will be also be few shorts included from actions by the University of Birmingham and introductions by Birmingham student activists, including a shameless plug of november 9thand November 2nd by Edd Bauer.

The Film showing is taking place at the birmingham social centre in stirchley, get directions here

photos courtsey of http://h-afblog.blogspot.com/

What the the NCAFC space will provide for you!

Between the 15th -21st of September the social centre will be open providing.

A base for affinity group action, if you want to come and take action at
the liberal democrat conference around the TUC organised national demo on the 18th. Come down to the occupied convergence space on the 16th of September, where you can meet likeminded activists and get direct
action training and legal support from NCAFC activists.

Food and accommodation, come to space bring a sleeping bag, don’t worry if you don’t have money we will keep you feed and give you a roof for the duration of the conference.

Training and workshops

On Saturday the 18th the day before the TUC march, a number of sessions will take place, with skill sets aimed to help activists attending the march go back to their campuses with the ability to organise strong
campaigns.

Timetable for Saturday 18th

16:00:
Room 1:Organising occupations and direct action
Room 2: Where is HE going? Understanding the White Paper

17:30: Dinner
18:30:
Room 1 How to build and sustain an anti-cuts group
Room 2: How to win a student election
19:30 Public debate, what next for the student movement?

The location is the Birmingham Social centre. Directions can be found here at

http://birminghamsocialcentre.wordpress.com/find-us/

Saturday 10 September 2011 – 1.00-5.30 pm (with tea breaks)

Come along to the Legal Observer training if you are interested in getting involved in the legal aspects of actions and protests. As a Legal Observer, you’ll be making lots of notes about arrests and other incidents, you’ll find witnesses, and you’ll monitor police behaviour. In this extensive training, you learn how to position yourself, what sorts of things to look for and some basics about the law. Legal Observers are consistently very key to helping people at protests, whether that is by handing out key legal advice on bust cards or finding witnesses.

More info about gbc can be found at : greenandblackcross.org/

The Battle for Stirchley

This Sunday, 11th September, we will be going ahead with our plans to take over the proposed ASDA site for a couple of hours and turn it into a sports field and community garden. The plan is to meet at Birmingham Social Centre (Whitmarley, Ivy Rd), from 1pm, and head onto the site. Bring a picnic.

If you want to take part in a football match, please wear suitable clothing and does anyone have a football they don’t mind being kicked about on concrete? Also we’ll need something to mark out goal posts if you have any ideas on that front…

If you want to take part in gardening bring any tools, compost, and plants/seeds you can spare. We’ll build some raised beds out of bricks available on the site. 

The space already has DIY Skatepark being built on site so feel free to bring a board.

There may be a press photographer there, but if not we’ll take some of our own photo’s and send them to the press – please bring your camera’s!

Come down at 18:00 Friday the 2nd of September for our launch night, wine and cheese provided. ART-MART will then be open 10am-5pm for a week.

Taking place in the Birmingham Social Centre a squatted factory, soon be demolished to make way for another WAL-MART owned ASDA super complex!

Instead of a Wal-Mart we give you ART-MART showcasing some of Birmingham’s best artists. ART-MART is like WAL-MART except the polar opposite. While WAL-MART creates dead spaces; vacuums of community and culture, ART-MART is refuge of culture and community in a city that is having its arts Budget cut and cut again.

Come down at 18:00 Friday the 2^nd of September for our launch night, wine and cheese provided. ART-MART will then be open 10am-5pm for a week.

We have oodles of room to display more art and we want more in, so tell your friends, lovers and brothers about the event and get them to put their art in!

The whole thing is being organised in a rather anarchic manner, just turn up and find a space for your art and get displaying! Make sure it’s all in by 5:00pm on Friday the 2^nd of September.

Email Brumsocialcentre@gmail.co.uk if you have any questions.