What does it take to start a cohousing community?
Thanks to Sandy McMillan – one of our founding fathers – we have some records of the early days and years of Postlip in his two books: Someone to Lift the Other End: How the Postlip Community Began and Survived and Postlip People & Puzzles: And Incomplete History of the Postlip Mason and Some of the People Who Made It.
He wrote them as a tribute to the early founders of the Postlip Hall cohousing community and to, perhaps, amuse Postlippers past, present and future.
In Sandy’s words, "It was the 'Age of Aquarius', when anything seemed possible, when they dreamed of other ways of sharing that would offer spaces, resources, land and facilities. Most of them didn’t have money but they had dreams and faith and were willing to take risks and work hard - very hard.'
He wrote them as a tribute to the early founders of the Postlip Hall cohousing community and to, perhaps, amuse Postlippers past, present and future.
In Sandy’s words, "It was the 'Age of Aquarius', when anything seemed possible, when they dreamed of other ways of sharing that would offer spaces, resources, land and facilities. Most of them didn’t have money but they had dreams and faith and were willing to take risks and work hard - very hard.'
Links to cohousing resources and other communitiesPostlippers talking
Faye Hatcher of BBC Radio Gloucestershire got three of us together in May 2010 and recorded half an hour about how Postlip started and what we do together. You can listen to the programme here. Faye's article about the programme is here. www.gloucestershire.camra.org.uk Gloucestershire CAMRA are our partners in the Cotswold Beer Festival. See CAMRA's website for information on this year's festival and other festivals in the area. www.diggersanddreamers.org.uk Diggers and Dreamers is an organisation that coordinates communities in Britain. Their site has a directory of nearly all the active communities, with a description of each one and its contact details. There are sections for communities who are currently looking for new members, or for volunteers, as well as lots of other interesting information. www.cohousing.org.uk UK Cohousing lists active, forming and proposed new projects. In a cohousing group, people live in private 'houses' and cooperate in a communal framework to govern their own activities. Postlip has been cohousing from its beginning in 1970. www.thresholdcentre.org.uk The web site of an active cohousing community in Dorset. The Centre runs regular courses on cohousing and other subjects. www.canonfromecourt.org.uk One of our nearest 'neighbours' in the cohousing world, and home to the Wildflower Housing Association. www.ic.org International directory of intentional communities courtesy of the Fellowship for Intentional Community. www.wwoof.org.uk While WWOOF isn't cohousing specific, it certainly upholds the values of welcoming strangers, hospitality, hard work, sharing skills and ideas and, of course, organic farming. |
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