Wintery Happenings

We hope you've all been having a great festive season. Our new members (and cat) are settling in well, we've been very busy doing lots of work and organising a variety of wintery happenings, and we have some great events coming up!

Events

Yuletide Storytelling 30th Dec: 
Join us tomorrow 30th Dec from 7:30PM for an evening of winter, yule, christmas and solstice stories from around the world with a fun and fantastic local storyteller from Bards Aloud. 
Food and drink will be bring and share. As usual all food should be vegan, and no almonds or brazils.

Folk-Punk Gig - Cistem Failure (and others) 9th Jan:
Come to the House of Random Camel for our first gig of the year, featuring Cistem Failure's rowdy political banjo folk-punk. More acts to be announced soon! 8 til late


Some stuff we've been up to/Work we've been doing:

The windows for one of the bedrooms have been repaired, and the window frames at the back of the house have been fixed and painted. The fire room now has a projector wall; a shelf was put up for the projector and laptop to be put on, and the wall above the woodburner was striped (the hideous scraps of wallpaper are gone! Yay!), filled using lime-plaster, and is being painted with white ecopaint.

International Pizza Punk Day on the 26th, an anti-capitalist holiday focused on mutual aid and co-operation celebrated with communal vegan pizza and punk music, was a huge success.


175g plain flour 
1½ teaspoons baking powder
½ tablespoon olive oil
½ teaspoon salt
125ml water
Should make 1 aprox. 12inch pizza, which can then be topped with your choice of sauce and veg (the most popular one here featured tomato sauce, sweetcorn, red peppers, soy "cheeze", and sliced vegan sausages), and baked at 200C for about 15mins. We also added herbs to the dough base, which was yummy.
Pizza Punk Day was started in Switzerland in 1997 by a group of orphan caravan punks and has now spread to Scotland, England, America, New Zealand, and beyond.

In less happy news, we are currently battling against the rodents that have moved in for the winter, and have been working very hard rat-proofing the houses. Holes have been filled in, the floors have been washed in a homemade peppermint-based repellant, and Rex (the newly resident house-cat) has been doing his bit to scare them away.

Application Deadline and getting involved

If you are interested in living here the window for applications to join has now closed !

BUT! We have a waiting list, so if you are really interested and want us to consider you for future vacancies just let us know you want to be on a waiting list.

If you were thinking about applying but didn't please keep in touch with us anyway - we're not just about housing people... you can use our place to run workshops, events, host community meetings, start up a group, etc. Use us!

Finally big thanks to everyone who came to our recent events and helped us raise money for the farm. Added to the money raised from The Oak Tree's kickstarted there is enough money to plant fruit trees, and there was some really positive feedback from the open day :-)

More to be announced soon to keep the winter blues at bay...

Previously unreadable post - open day on Saturday 12th September

Random Camel Co-op Open Day extravaganza !

Saturday 12th September

It's our open day next Saturday and we're getting ready to throw open our doors and welcome people with a day of workshops, activities, info sharing, and meeting new people. We got so excited that it's now extended beyond our own four walls!

Here's roughly what we've got drawn up:

10.00  Tea

10.30  Discussion/workshop: What are co-ops? A short history.

11.00  Tour of the house

11.30  Workshop: Introduction to Radical Routes 

12.30  Either A) Open slot for anyone to talk about their own projects
                      B) Food co-op tour [at CAB office on Tower Street]

1.30 - 2.30  Lunchtime

2.30  Workshop: introduction to Concensus decision-making and faciliting meetings

4.00  Tour of the house

4.30  Feedback/open slot [?]

4.30  Discussion/workshop: 'Living with Camels' discussion and workshop for those interested in             joining the co-op.

5.00  Garage door painting [bring old clothes]

Farm party in Rushemere from 7pm - all welcome!

Visual/ongoing things throughout the day:
People needing projects/projects needing people board
Visioning - what do you want to see happening and be part of?
Kids' space and activities

All welcome! Bring friends and enough food to share [no meat or almonds/brazil nuts though] :-)

If you're travelling from out of town and need to stay over let us know in advance and we should be able to put you up for the night.

Contact: randomcamel@phonecoop.coop

Previously unreadable post - Fundraising gig 18th September

This Friday we have a fundraiser gig for The Oak Tree Farm CSA  with music from the brilliantly talented Chantelle Love and the incredible Elly Tree! There will also be a fire pit into the night and a lot of beer to be drunk :-) Consider yourselves invited!

We'll be asking for donations of £3-£5 [give what you can for unwaged/concessions] on the door and drink & snacks available on donation too. Please give generously to keep this wonderful project alive and well, so it can nourish the local community for many more seasons and years to come.

The Oak Tree Low Carbon Farm produces excellent food while really caring for the environment. It's a not-for-profit social enterprise based in Ipswich. Funds raised will be spent on bridging the gap to pay the people who run this excellent project the national minimum wage, and buy new equipment.
This is the last weekend of the crowdfunding campaign so every penny helps to get the farm closer to its target and save it from closure. [For more info on the crowdfunding and how to give something even if you can't make it to this event please see the website].

Thanks for reading and for all your support.

Also a special thanks to those who came along to our open day on Saturday and took part in workshops. I ran my first workshop and you guys made it a great experience :-) Much love xxx

Something weird is going on with our blog sorry!

This Friday we have a fundraiser gig for The Oak Tree Farm CSA  with music from the brilliantly talented Chantelle Love and the incredible Elly Tree! There will also be a fire pit into the night and a lot of beer to be drunk :-) Consider yourselves invited!

We'll be asking for donations of £3-£5 [give what you can for unwaged/concessions] on the door and drink & snacks available on donation too. Please give generously to keep this wonderful project alive and well, so it can nourish the local community for many more seasons and years to come.

The Oak Tree Low Carbon Farm produces excellent food while really caring for the environment. It's a not-for-profit social enterprise based in Ipswich. Funds raised will be spent on bridging the gap to pay the people who run this excellent project the national minimum wage, and buy new equipment.
This is the last weekend of the crowdfunding campaign so every penny helps to get the farm closer to its target and save it from closure. [For more info on the crowdfunding and how to give something even if you can't make it to this event please see the website].

Thanks for reading and for all your support.

Also a special thanks to those who came along to our open day on Saturday and took part in workshops. I ran my first workshop and you guys made it a great experience :-) Much love xxx

Fundraiser Gig!

This Friday we have a fundraiser gig for The Oak Tree Farm CSA  with music from the brilliantly talented Chantelle Love and the incredible Elly Tree! There will also be a fire pit into the night and a lot of beer to be drunk :-) Consider yourselves invited!

We'll be asking for donations of £3-£5 [give what you can for unwaged/concessions] on the door and drink & snacks available on donation too. Please give generously to keep this wonderful project alive and well, so it can nourish the local community for many more seasons and years to come.

The Oak Tree Low Carbon Farm produces excellent food while really caring for the environment. It's a not-for-profit social enterprise based in Ipswich. Funds raised will be spent on bridging the gap to pay the people who run this excellent project the national minimum wage, and buy new equipment.
This is the last weekend of the crowdfunding campaign so every penny helps to get the farm closer to its target and save it from closure. [For more info on the crowdfunding and how to give something even if you can't make it to this event please see the website].

Thanks for reading and for all your support.

Also a special thanks to those who came along to our open day on Saturday and took part in workshops. I ran my first workshop and you guys made it a great experience :-) Much love xxx

Random Camel Open day on Saturday 12th September

Random Camel Co-op Open Day extravaganza !

Saturday 12th September

It's our open day next Saturday and we're getting ready to throw open our doors and welcome people with a day of workshops, activities, info sharing, and meeting new people. We got so excited that it's now extended beyond our own four walls!

Here's roughly what we've got drawn up:

10.00  Tea

10.30  Discussion/workshop: What are co-ops? A short history.

11.00  Tour of the house

11.30  Workshop: Introduction to Radical Routes 

12.30  Either A) Open slot for anyone to talk about their own projects
                      B) Food co-op tour [at CAB office on Tower Street]

1.30 - 2.30  Lunchtime

2.30  Workshop: introduction to Concensus decision-making and faciliting meetings

4.00  Tour of the house

4.30  Feedback/open slot [?]

4.30  Discussion/workshop: 'Living with Camels' discussion and workshop for those interested in             joining the co-op.

5.00  Garage door painting [bring old clothes]

Farm party in Rushemere from 7pm - all welcome!

Visual/ongoing things throughout the day:
People needing projects/projects needing people board
Visioning - what do you want to see happening & be part of?
Kids' space & activities

All welcome! Bring friends and enough food to share [no meat or almonds/brazil nuts though] :-)

If you're travelling from out of town and need to stay over let us know in advance and we should be able to put you up for the night.

Contact: randomcamel@phonecoop.coop

Upcoming Events

What's goin' on?

Put it in your diary! On September 12th Random Camel Housing Co-operative are opening the doors to host a day of workshops and discussions on housing co-operatives and alternative forms of organising, living, and communicating. Come and learn about Co-operative principles and methods, take a tour around Ipswich's only housing co-operative, and hear more about our current vacancies.

The day will run from 10.30am - 5pm with breaks, and lunch will be veggie/vegan bring and share. If you include ingredients lists for the food you bring it really helps people with food allergies/intolerances. I'm seriously allergic to Almonds and Brazil nuts so don't bring anything made with those, and please tell us if you have any specific dietary needs beforehand so we can make sure it's inclusive & safe. Also if you have children you are bringing please let us know so we can run a kids' space.

Details of workshops etc to follow nearer the time.

Future goings-on>>>

On the subject of events, we're also looking into hosting a music related day of workshops for winter [date yet to be announced]... if you're an artist/musician using circuit bending, making your own electronic instruments and generally making noise, and if you want to get involved with that, please get in touch.

More soon...

Deadline extended!

Hi all

A really quick post to say our membership deadline has been extended to April 20th 2015.

Sorry for the delay in notifying y'all

As usual get in touch with applications or questions or pop in

Happy Spring!

RCHC

New Vacancies - Mega Post!

Who would like to live in a community with seven adults and two part-time children? We have a couple of vacancies for new members coming up in March.

Rent is £55 per week, which is within the local housing benefit rate and there is no council tax to pay.

Our vision is to create a better Ipswich – we're looking for a proactive motivated individual, happy to muck in with building work or, if that isn't an option, to help out with radical social change projects or community engagement, as well as the the administrative side of running the co-op.

We are a community in its infancy so your influence will make a strong impact. The ideal candidate would be respectful of other members' needs, open to listening, honest and supportive. We expect to give the same in return and we're open to questions, suggestions and feedback. All co-op decisions are arrived at by consensus.

Our housing co-op is a member of the Radical Routes network, we're a vegetarian/vegan household (one kitchen each) with no smoking indoors. We often eat together and cook with fresh ingredients every day, sourced from the Community Supported Agriculture scheme in Rushmere. In return, we do some work on the farm about once a fortnight.

We also pool resources to buy organic, fair trade and local produce communally from our independent food co-operative. We split all bills equally.

Current members range in age from late 20s to early 50s, with a wide range of skills and experience. We put on events, help run the Ripple food co-op, and have interests ranging from belly-dancing to film-making.

Here's some criteria to help us see if we're right for each other:

A commitment to co-operative principles and radical social change.

The ability to communicate in a co-operative way.

Participation in home-making – energy efficiency, construction, tidying and washing up!

We have an evolving set of agreements for how we live together, called our Secondary Rules, on a separate blog page (click on secondary rules page on right of screen) These will help you decide on our mutual compatibility.

INTERESTED IN APPLYING?

All applicants will be moved forward through the application process together.

We're happy to answer questions but the flowchart below will be the process for everyone.

Please see the flowchart to see how to apply and return a completed application form by MARCH 20th.

We will not accept applications after this date!

We really look forward to meeting and talking further with anyone interested in the housing co-op :)  

 Note: We had to add these documents as JPEG's to be visible on the blog. You should be able to use a JPEG converter online to make them editable. Otherwise you should be able to copy the membership form into a word document. If these options fail, email us or drop in for a hard copy.

Random Re-boot

Imbolc has been and the days (though still freezing!) are at least getting longer with the promise of Spring. Spring is a time of renewal, growth, transmutation, looking forward, laying plans.

Fitting the themes of the season, our housing co-op is very much in a time of transformation.
We concluded winter with some soul searching culminating in an all member meeting to give our honest thoughts about the co-op and our place in it.
As always this was challenging but as always worthwhile and unifying.
It resulted in deciding that we would create a members review. This seems essential for members to stay connected, focused and evaluative.

Following on from this, even bigger changes afoot! The co-op will opening up an application process for some new members from February 20th.
A big post will appear on the blog shortly before this date with all you need to know about the co-op,how to find out more, get involved and apply if you wish.
We're happy to be going through a similar process to those wishing to apply and are looking forward to the new energy, ideas and perspectives of new members.

It seems fortuitous that all this questioning, focusing and changes are happening at the same time and like a snowdrop, our energies may have been coalescing in winter darkness for a while but we're excited and ready to burst forth and bloom!

Helen
RCHC member