From EnviroWiki
Social centres are community spaces. They are buildings which are used for a range of disparate activities, which can be linked only by virtue of being not-for-profit. They might be organizing centers for local activities or they might provide support networks for minority groups such as prisoners and refugees. Often they provide a base for initiatives such as cafes, free shops, public computer labs, graffiti murals, legal collectives and free housing for travellers. The services are determined by both the needs of the community in which the social center is based and the skills which the participants have to offer.
Social centres tend to be in large buildings and thus can host activist meetings, concerts, bookshops, dance performances and art exhibitions. Social centres are common in many European cities, sometimes in squats, sometimes in rented buildings.
The UK Social Centre Network is a grass roots initiative to establish a network between self identified radical independent social and community centres in the United Kingdom. There is no single policy statement but clearly a general desire to improve communication and co-operation between the growing number of autonomous spaces "to share resources, ideas and information". Self selected participants draw a clear distinction between their radical autonomous spaces on one side and the state or large NGO sponsored community centres on the other. While there has been something of a tradition of social spaces in occupied buildings (also known as squatting), recent years have seen an upsurge in the creation of social centres in rented or purchased buildings. The network of social centres network in the UK is very much in its infancy compared to some other places in Europe such as Holland, Italy or Spain.
See a list of UK Social Centres
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