Mary Ann Johnson Housing co-op

What we’ve been up to

It’s been a very busy year for MAJ, raising money to buy another flat and offering support to new and fledgeling co-ops. We don’t want to hoard our accumulated knowledge, we want to spread it far and wide! We’ve had numerous outreach meetings this year with newly formed co-ops and people interested in forming one, passing on decades worth of shared knowledge and contacts that we wished we’d had back when we first started. This work has become increasingly important to us as we want to see more people housed, and we believe the best way to do that is to show that the co-operative model of taking control of your housing is practical and possible. As part of this outreach work we will be hosting a workshop at the Antiuniversity Festival 2024 which is running from 12 – 19th October in London and online. This will be our third Antiuniversity workshop and we hope it will be as vibrant and well attended as the last one. Find out more and come along  https://festival.antiuniversity.org/events/how-and-why-to-set-up-a-housing-co-op

New Property – fingers crossed!

At the start of the year we hit the ground running to raise money to purchase a new flat for our co-op, and we are now incredibly close to taking one more property out of private ownership and making it into a secure co-op home for two people. We are not quite there yet, but we want to take this opportunity to thank everyone who made loans and especially donations, no matter how big or small, that make housing two more people in London a real possibility. Obtaining the funds we need has been a real nailbiter. Our figures stack up though, so we just need our solicitors to do their bit.

Fundraising and thank you’s

Fundraising efforts included two comedy nights compered by brilliant comedian Siân Docksey and starring 12 acts  who performed for free – thank you to Siân and all who performed. As well as enjoying the shows, we were thrilled and touched at how enthusiastically you donated your talents, embraced the co-op movement and encouraged the audience to do the same!

We owe a huge thank you to Argyle Street Housing Co-op, Yarrow Housing Co-op, South Camden Housing Cooperative and Sanford Housing Co-op for their solidarity in lending us money. Co-ops supporting other co-ops is an exciting precedent that we want to encourage, and in future we hope to see other established co-ops helping those who are raising funds to get started or expand. Thank you ASH, Yarrow, South Camden and Sanford for leading the way and showing what can be done!

We also want to warmly thank all individuals who have made donations or taken out loanstock. This solidarity not only puts us in a position to hopefully house two people currently in dire housing need, it also enables us to hold this property and all our properties as safe, affordable housing in perpetuity. For those of us who could not hope to be safely housed otherwise, we are incredibly grateful. Your generosity is life changing.

Donate!

Of course, once we have the keys and are safely in our new homes there are still challenges. Each property we have is a fixer-upper to some degree and keeping them in good shape means having money in the pot.  One house recently received a much needed new roof and windows, another will soon need damp proofing, and there are other smaller tasks that need doing to winterproof all our existing homes. Buying our new property may mean that some of these works are temporarily put on hold, as we need almost every penny to go toward this. As a result we are still gratefully receiving donations and offers of loanstock, so spread the word, and if you are in a position to help, please get in touch!

And once again, thank you so much