The Spike Surplus Scheme was a community-run
self-managed social centre
Self-managed social centers, also known as autonomous social centers, are self-organized community centers in which anti-authoritarians put on voluntary activities. These autonomous spaces, often in multi-purpose venues affiliated with anarchi ...
in a
squatted
Squatting is the action of occupying an abandoned or unoccupied area of land or a building, usually residential, that the squatter does not own, rent or otherwise have lawful permission to use. The United Nations estimated in 2003 that there ...
building in
Peckham
Peckham () is a district in southeast London, within the London Borough of Southwark. It is south-east of Charing Cross. At the United Kingdom Census 2001, 2001 Census the Peckham ward had a population of 14,720.
History
"Peckham" is a Saxon p ...
,
South London
South London is the southern part of London, England, south of the River Thames. The region consists of the Districts of England, boroughs, in whole or in part, of London Borough of Bexley, Bexley, London Borough of Bromley, Bromley, London Borou ...
. It was occupied in 1999 and provided a range of mostly free activities for local people until its eviction in 2009 by
Southwark Council
Southwark London Borough Council is the local authority for the London Borough of Southwark in Greater London, England. It is a London borough council, one of 32 in the United Kingdom capital of London.
History
There have previously been a number ...
.
Occupation
The Spike Surplus Scheme was established in 1999 when a
fly-tipped, vandalised site at 39b Consort Road in the
London Borough of Southwark
The London Borough of Southwark ( ) in South London forms part of Inner London and is connected by bridges across the River Thames to the City of London and London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It was created in 1965 when three smaller council areas ...
was squatted.
The building had in the past been a doss-house or "
spike
Spike, spikes, or spiking may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media
Books
* ''The Spike'' (novel), a novel by Arnaud de Borchgrave
* ''The Spike'' (book), a nonfiction book by Damien Broderick
* ''The Spike'', a starship in Peter F. Hamilto ...
" (a shelter of last resort) serving the unemployed, homeless, and urban poor for over a century.
At the time of the occupation, the exterior grounds had been used for
fly-tipping
Illegal dumping, also called fly dumping or fly tipping ( UK), is the dumping of waste illegally instead of using an authorized method such as curbside collection or using an authorized rubbish dump. It is the illegal deposit of any waste onto l ...
. On arrival, the members of the scheme immediately cleared them using a
JCB digger.
Activities
The social centre provided rehearsal/recording facilities, health/martial arts space and a community garden. Running on a "
do it yourself
"Do it yourself" ("DIY") is the method of building, modifying, or repairing things by oneself without the direct aid of professionals or certified experts. Academic research has described DIY as behaviors where "individuals use raw and semi ...
" and free-where-possible or donations level, the facilities were used by a wide variety of local people. Other users were community garden
permaculture
Permaculture is an approach to land management and settlement design that adopts arrangements observed in flourishing natural ecosystems. It includes a set of design principles derived using whole-systems thinking. It applies these principle ...
groups, martial arts, and various alternative therapy groups.
Alongside other squatted projects such as
121 Centre
121 Centre was a squatted self-managed social centre on Railton Road in Brixton, south London from 1981 until 1999. As an anarchist social centre, the venue hosted a bookshop, cafe, infoshop, library, meeting space, office space, printing fac ...
,
491 Gallery
The 491 Gallery was a squatted self-managed social centre and multi-disciplinary gallery in Leytonstone, London, England, that operated from 2001 to 2013. Taking its name from its street number, 491 Grove Green Road, the former factory was home t ...
, 56a Infoshop and
RampART
Rampart may refer to:
* Rampart (fortification), a defensive wall or bank around a castle, fort or settlement
Rampart may also refer to:
* "O'er the Ramparts We Watched" is a key line from "The Star-Spangled Banner", the national anthem of the ...
, the Spike developed into an alternative institution promoting social movements and local initiatives.
Eviction
Having established a peppercorn rent contract,
Southwark Council
Southwark London Borough Council is the local authority for the London Borough of Southwark in Greater London, England. It is a London borough council, one of 32 in the United Kingdom capital of London.
History
There have previously been a number ...
decided not to renew the contract in 2008, giving the centre until September 26 to raise £440,000 to buy the plot.
Despite various fundraising drives, including selling 'Peckham diamonds' which were bits of glass from broken car windows filed down and sold in plastic wallets, the centre was unable to buy the site. In December 2008, the council gave notice of eviction, saying they would give two weeks' notice of the actual date.
The centre was then evicted without notice on February 12, 2009.
People were forced to negotiate with bailiffs to regain musical equipment.
See also
*
Homelessness in the United Kingdom
Homelessness in the United Kingdom is measured and responded to in differing ways in England, in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland but affects people living in all areas of the countries.
Characteristics of people experiencing homelessness
T ...
*
Self-managed social centres in the United Kingdom
Self-managed social centres in the United Kingdom can be found in squatted, rented, mortgaged and fully owned buildings. These self-managed social centres differ from community centres in that they are self-organised under anti-authoritarian pri ...
*
St Agnes Place
References
External links
Archived blogArchived website
{{SquatE&W
Social centres in the United Kingdom
DIY culture
Buildings and structures in the London Borough of Southwark
Peckham
Evicted squats
Squats in the United Kingdom