Bridgehouse Gardens
61 Rollins Street, London, SE15 1EP
1 June 2024
Convened by Beth Bramich and Sophie Chapman
Building on public event ‘Artist-led, Artist-run, Artist-owned’ organised by Beth Bramich and Sophie Chapman for DeptfordX in 2023, ‘Creative Organising Today’ brought together 12 local organisers of creative and community spaces including Harts Lane, PemPeople, Calico, Nettle Housing Co-operative, members of Bridgehouse Gardens, and our workshop and activity leaders Caleb Elliott of Principle Six; community-builder and organiser Lateisha Davine Lovelace-Hanson; and Liam, Liz and Abigail from Community Assets and Social Housing (CASH).
The afternoon started with a workshop led by Caleb of Principle Six, which introduced the co-operative model, explaining its key principles and local case studies like music venue Sister Midnight and Ceramics Studio Co-op. A key learning was how many of us already shared values with or used some co-op principles, and how much interest there was in moving towards models that better support equality, democracy and solidarity.
After lunch, Lateisha led creative activities on capacity-building, to support us to imagine different futures, and CASH facilitated a discussion on barriers to culture. Key learnings were the joy in organising with others, the value of our cultures, and possible routes to create tangible change in our lives.
Bringing together different kinds of community and creative spaces supported a rich exchange of knowledge, as well as potential future collaborations, resource sharing and mutual aid.
