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MMMM! on Monday 5 Feb: Four inspirational housing-related films

MMMM! on Monday 5 Feb: Four inspirational housing-related films

Hi all,

Get your tickets and pre-book your food now 🎟️ 🍲😋 https://ud.coop/housing

Delicious food from 6ish

This week's yummy menu will be:

Aloo Gobi - Cauliflowers and potatoes
Stewed Beetroot
Masoor Dal - Red Lentil dal with spicy tarka
With basmati rice and salad.

Then the films starting around 6:30-7pm:

We Can Make – a low-carbon community-led solution to the housing crisis (17 mins) 2023

WeCanMake is a community land trust and neighbourhood test-space in Bristol, imagining and making new ways to create homes that build social infrastructure and community wealth. So far, WeCanMake has delivered two community-led, low-carbon, locally-made Living Rent homes in Knowle West – a 100-year-old council-built estate in south Bristol.

This documentary short film is a story about what community and place-led innovation looks like. Meet housing pioneering residents John, Toni and Bill, and hear about how the WeCanMake model works on the ground, and how it could be scaled and replicated by other communities across the country.

Find out more about WeCanMake and download their Playbook at https://wecanmake.org/

Bonnington Square (20 mins) 2012

Bonnington Square is right in the heart of London, just two minutes walk from the river and just ten minutes from the Houses of Parliament. In the early eighties the one hundred houses of the Square were all squatted, forming a bohemian community from all around the world.

The squat had two community gardens, a cafe, a wholefood shop, a nightclub, a newsletter and even a milkbar. Although it is no longer squatted, there are still many low rent housing cooperatives, and the cafe and the gardens are still collectively run, and the Square is now a model of a modern sustainable urban community.

Against the odds: Walterton and Elgin from campaign to control (26 mins) 1988?

In 1992, residents of Walterton and Elgin estates took control of 921 homes after a history of neglect by various authorities. The estates faced challenges such as rundown conditions, squatting campaigns, and neglectful ownership. After rejecting the council's proposal to sell the homes to private developers in the 1980s, residents formed the Walterton and Elgin Action Group (WEAG) and later the Walterton and Elgin Community Homes (WECH) in 1988.

WECH successfully utilized the Tenants' Choice provision of the 1988 Housing Act, and by April 1992, residents secured ownership and control of the homes. Westminster Council paid a 'dowry' due to the neglected state of the properties. Between 1993 and 1997, Westminster Council invested over £22 million in WECH for a comprehensive building and refurbishment program, emphasizing resident participation in design decisions.

The achievements of WECH included replacing asbestos-containing tower blocks with safer, low-rise housing. Despite initial challenges, WECH has fostered a collaborative relationship with Westminster Council since 1992.

Homes & Hands - Community Land Trusts in Action (46 mins) 2001

Three low-income communities find new ways to develop permanently affordable housing.

It has been over 40 years since leaders of the southern civil rights movement formed the first community land trust to secure access to land for African-Americans. This equitable and sustainable model of affordable housing and community development has since become a critical tool in preventing rampant foreclosures and land price speculation while stimulating revitalization without gentrification.

Through the personal stories of community activists in Durham, North Carolina, Albuquerque, New Mexico, and Burlington, Vermont, audiences are compelled to rethink their assumptions about housing and community development in the United States.

"The most effective and inspiring visual portrayal of community land trusts that we have. It is widely used by CLT activists, housing professionals, and community organizers to educate people about the model and to spur the creation of new CLTs around the country."

 – John Emmeus Davis, Dean of National Community Land Trust Academy

"The principles embodied in community land trusts and brought to life in this powerful film are lessons that should be incorporated into all federal, state and municipal housing initiatives."

-- Rachel B. Bratt, Chair of Department of Urban and Environmental Policy, Tufts University

"We frequently show Homes & Hands to groups of neighborhood residents and find it never fails to move and inspire people who tend to feel disenfranchised and left out of the planning process. They see that they can actually take matters into their own hands and have an impact on their communities."

-- Hank Herrera, Northeast Neighborhood Alliance Community Land Corporation

"Highly Recommended. Groups thinking about forming a community land trust will want this video. Moreover, this interesting video would be of value to public library collections, particularly in urban environments. In addition, academic libraries will find this video valuable for urban planning classes."

-- Charles H. Burkart, MC Journal: The Journal for Academic Media Librarianship

"An extraordinarily informative and inspiring film that presents a clear and vivid description of how land trusts work and why they are an attractive mechanism for providing affordable housing and developing strong communities. A terrific teaching resource for courses in urban studies, housing and community development."

-- William M. Rohe, Department of City and Regional Planning, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

"This excellent video...is ideal for nonprofits, community planners and housing lenders hoping to provide affordable housing today and assure that such housing remains affordable years from now."

-- Shelterforce: The Journal of Affordable Housing and Community Building

"A refreshingly optimistic view of what nonprofit and community groups can do to stabilize housing costs, develop local leadership and provide homeownership to residents in low-income neighborhoods."

-- Bish Sanyal, Department of Urban Studies and Planning, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

We'll also have:

Delicious organic vegetarian curries from Fergus Bradbeer aka Vegie Vortex (who also does the curries at Beach and Barnicott), plus hot and cold drinks. Please pre-order your food if at all possible.This week's yummy menu will be:
Aloo Gobi - Cauliflowers and potatoesStewed BeetrootMasoor Dal - Red Lentil dal with spicy tarkaWith basmati rice and salad.

Please note:

Our room hire costs £42/ week so if you're able to able to contribute more than the default ticket amount then please do so. 

We also need to ensure enough people come along to make it worthwhile for Fergus to keep coming along to cook up the delicious food - so invite a friend!

Many thanks in advance. Together We Have Everything.

Get your tickets and pre-book your food now 🎟️ 🍲😋 https://ud.coop/housing

United Diversity Bridport

Our goal: get the Bridport bioregion into the Doughnut by making "rapid, far-reaching and unprecedented changes in all aspects of society" a reality in our locality.

If you'd like to help out or get more involved: