Brambles Housing Co-operative

Brambles owns two neighbouring houses in inner city Sheffield. The co-op has been running since 1990, housing over 40 people during that time, with members staying from a few months to several years. There is room for ten members at any one time. The two kitchens have been designated for either vegetarian or vegan use. The gardens of the houses are home to various fruit trees, vegetable growing and a wildlife garden. The co-op provides members with a secure, supportive base from which they are active in the local community. Brambles acts as a focal point for various local projects / campaigns, as well as providing a free meeting space for local groups. It runs a resource centre for use by the local community, and a radical library.

Catalyst Collective

Catalyst Collective Ltd is a worker co-operative. They help people set up and register co-ops and in the last ten years over 75 housing co-ops, about 30 worker co-ops, a couple of charities, and a variety of different companies with co-operative aims have been registered through catalyst. They have worked with various existing co-ops, as well as groups intending to set up co-ops and on issues such as group-working, legal structures, conflict resolution, financial viability of proposals, co-operation and meeting skills etc. They love working with and promoting co-ops (especially ethical & eco-friendly ones), and have a wide variety of skills & knowledge available. In the summer Catalyst members can be found at festivals, working as part of 'Swarm' - a radical mobile info space.

Cornerstone Housing Co-operative

Cornerstone owns two large Victorian houses in Chapeltown, Leeds, which have space for 14 members and lots of animals. They have a shared focus on social and ecological justice and are all vegetarian or vegan. They are developing an ecological lifestyle, growing food in the gardens and setting up workers co-ops, including Footprint (a printing company). Their small resource centre and cellars currently host Green Events, Leeds Earth First!, Rodent Rescue and Chapeltown Community Centre Action Group, as well other one-off campaigns. They are the publications and contact point for Radical Routes.

One Community Limited

One Community Limited is a housing co-operative that owns and manages the farmhouse at Keveral Farm near Looe in Cornwall. Keveral Farmers Limited, a workers' co-op, manages the land and farm buildings. Keveral Farm has been an organic community for twenty-five years, and the 27 acres of farmland is organically certified by the Soil Association. The farm was purchased in 1997 with the help of loans from Radical Routes and Triodos Bank (another socially responsible lender) after previously renting it from Patchwork Housing Association.

Most income from the land comes from the sale of organic vegetables through a local vegetable box scheme, started in June 1997. There is also a camping area and a visitors' barn for courses, gatherings and holidays. The general aim of the community is to create a more self-reliant and sustainable way of life, and to share resources and experiences with others.

Ringo Housing Co-operative

Ringo Housing Co-op owns a large house in Brighton. It was the first housing co-op in the Southeast to take up a Radical Routes loan, perhaps because spiralling house prices were forcing people to move away in search of cheaper housing. Ringo houses 10 adults and 1 child, many of whom had been living in seriously sub-standard private rented accommodation. They now enjoy a semi-detached Victorian house with a very large garden and lots of fruit trees. The members are variously involved in allotments, permaculture, campaigning and home education. They also run a mobile kitchen for community events, and help to run a community centre in a nearby estate.

Walden Pond

Walden Pond is a thriving small housing co-op based on the South Coast in St Leonards on Sea. We have nine housed members and a shared focus on anti-war and environmental activism. We bought our first house, a five bed Victorian terraced property near the sea, in 2001 using loan stock, a mortgage from Triodos Bank and a top-up loan from Radical Routes. Two years later we bought a nearby flat soley with loanstock we raised ourselves and a further small Radical Routes loan. In recent years we have rented additional flats from private landlords to house an expanding membership, but we're trying to work out our next steps in terms of taking more housing into collective ownership. Having a stable home has totally transformed our lives. Our houses are bases for our activism, local community engagement, work, fun, parties, child-rearing and skill-sharing. None of this would have been possible without the Radical Routes loans, and the support and encouragement of Radical Routes. We would encourage everyone to consider making an ethical investment in Rootstock as a way of supporting practical co-operative alternatives.