Case Study 2
GIROSCOPE: a workers co-operative
Location– Hull, East Yorkshire –
Contact– Martin Newman orJohn Wood –
Local Authority – Hull City Council –
Market Renewal Pathfinder– Gateway - Hull & East Riding of Yorkshire
Background – ‘Giroscope was conceived in the Mid-Eighties by a group of students and unemployed people. With the country ill at ease with itself under the premiership of the Thatcher government we had been involved in various protests about many issues of the day. Rather than just protesting and complaining we decided to attempt to do something positive about our own housing situation. Inspired by the writings of Colin Ward and Ivan Illich we set about hatching a plan. Initially we set out just to provide accommodation for ourselves as we were fed up with being exploited by private landlords. We clubbed together our giros to put a deposit down on our first house.
We persuaded friends with jobs to take out mortgages and bank loans and purchased four houses over the period of about a year. House prices at the time in West Hull were relatively low. We had no skills and no idea about letting which we now decided was to be our next move. Advertising our first property we were inundated with prospective tenants as we charged no deposit and welcomed people on benefits.
In August 1986 we registered ourselves as a limited company and workers co-operative. We managed to borrow some funds from the Co-operative Bank to clear the loans in individuals' names and buy a further house. Giroscope was thus born, and later we changed our rules to that of a company with 'Charitable Aims' enabling us to obtain funds from trusts and charities. Slowly we learnt the skills to take on larger and larger renovation projects as we bought more houses.
We assisted and inspired other people to set up similar projects including a co-operative shop and a co-operative printers. Later we established a crèche in one of our properties to provide much needed child care for ourselves and others. We attracted a lot of interest from the media and won the 1989 -1990 Housing Associations Charitable Trust Award for Housing (The Times/RIBA Community Enterprise Scheme), getting to meet Prince Charles in the process. Many people passed through our organisation including many volunteers gaining valuable work experience. A strong sense of community developed in the Co-op which is still present today.
Over the years the challenges facing Giroscope have changed. We are not living from hand to mouth these days although we still need to fundraise for specific projects. We helped with the severe homeless crisis in the late Eighties and today are seeing abandonment in our neighbourhood. We now are facing threats of demolition to some of our properties and are offering positive alternatives to such plans.
We are currently assembling an archive of peoples' experiences and encounters with Giroscope and would welcome contributions from people via post or email.’
Giroscope is an award winning Workers Co-operative based in Hull, England. They are a community based organisation that has been providing work and accommodation in West Hull for more than twenty years.
They buy and renovate empty and dilapidated properties and then let them out to people in housing need. As well as providing housing they offer work experience and training to a wide range of people in their community.
Since 1985 they have bought and renovated more than thirty properties to provide affordable homes for many hundreds of people. They also support people wishing to run other community businesses by providing affordable retail and workshop space.
They are an 'environmentally-friendly' organisation incorporating energy efficient features into their properties. Giroscope have Hull's only solar power station that provides electricity for their workshops at their 'Green' business park in Arthur Street in West Hull.
With the whole issue of housing near the top of the social and political agenda in this country, Giroscope provides a sustainable and alternative housing management model. They actively contribute to all aspects of the housing debate both on a local and a national level. Currently they are making the case against the wholesale destruction of the North's Victorian/Edwardian terraced housing heritage under the direction of the government's Pathfinder programme.
Contacting Giroscope
If you wish to contact Giroscope please contact us using the information below:
Martin Newman or John Wood
Giroscope
Unit 3
23 Arthur Street
Anlaby Road
Hull
HU3 6BH
Tel: 01482 576374
Mob: 07751 350 385
Email: