Letterkenny Diverse Groups

PROPOSAL FOR AN AUTONOMOUS, SELF FINANCED AND MANAGED COMMUNITY SPACE IN LETTERKENNY
‘Creating Alternatives’

Overview
This short paper gives an overview of a proposal to establish an autonomous, self financed and self managed community space in Letterkenny.

Background
Many people in the community have identified the need for an autonomous space within the town for people to meet, to organise activities and to work together as a collective.
The ongoing development of areas that focus on the economic and consumerist activities of shopping, eating and drinking has created a landscape within which many of the places where people gather are driven by profit for commercial ends.
There are several vacant premises in the town which could provide an important resource to the community and we are aware that the local authority is concerned about the extent of vacant properties. We are further aware that Derry City Council, as the local authority, is supportive of the idea of creating cultural embassies within the city.

What is needed :
• A space that is not-religious, non party political and non profit making
• A intercultural space that is welcoming and explicitly anti –racist
• A place for a variety of groups and community activists to meet, organise and come together to plan activities
• A cooperative space where local artists and performers in a wide range of disciplines can meet, practice and perform within their local community
• A space for individuals and groups to come together to develop income generating activities outside of the formal business and enterprise sector. For example, it is important to explore the idea of a co-operative café that is run and managed by local people. The focus would be to create a space for local people to meet for affordable and healthy food. It is envisaged that this initiative could look at links to local food producers and that some of the key values underpinning this project would be affordability, fair trade, GM free and promoting local produce.

We are committed to finding, creating and managing a space that has the potential to :
• Be a hub of positive resistance to commercialism, capitalism, sexism, racism, homophobia and environmental damage
• A centre for debate and exchange of ideas
• A place where information and resources can be provided



The idea for a self funded and self managed space : Why an alternative model?
The proposed project is both innovative and experimental. There has been significant investment in the community and voluntary sector, particularly over the past fifteen years. This funding has supported both capital projects and also the development of programmes and initiatives in a diverse range of areas from reconciliation and peace building, to enterprise, community development, the arts and intercultural work. Much of this work has been committed to the values of community based management and involving local people in the planning, the development and the delivery of programmes and activities. There is a value in this work and the community and voluntary sector provides vital front line services to the community in a wide range of areas.
Much of this work is funding dependent and unfortunately many projects have experienced cut-backs over the past few years. Many in the community and voluntary sector have lost their jobs and many front line services have either been lost or reduced.

This project proposes to operate on a different model which in a sense may be breaking new ground. We propose to establish the centre as a co-operative which is collectively and self managed. The project will be underpinned by a belief that by working together and making decisions together about how the initiative is run and managed that people will maximise their own potential and will develop an alternative way for communities and groups to organise. We propose that the centre will not have staff but will be volunteer led and that the volunteers themselves will manage the centre and all activities that are run within it.

The success of our project will be determined in the long term by its ability to develop an alternative model of management and organisation. It will be a place for creativity and the exchange of ideas where all those involved have an equal say in how the space is run.

NOT FOR PROFIT INCOME GENERATION:
There are a number of key reasons why we are not seeking support for this initiative. We want to develop our own potential to work collectively to generate sufficient income to run a centre without dependency on state or EU funding.

Should we be successful in getting a space, we would hope to develop a strategy to generate income through a variety of means :
• Seeking contributions from people and groups using the space (nominal fee)
• Running fundraising events with suggested donations.
• Membership contributions on a monthly basis
• Having a café and internet access
• Tea and coffee making facilities with suggested voluntary contributions
• Income generated from bookshop

This is a provisional copy, and the Author of this proposal has giving permission to publish this Document