Thursday 19 February 2015

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.

Thursday 12 February 2015

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