We thought you might like a progress report…
You might have seen the BBC Inside Out programme on cohousing on 15th October. If not here is the link to the cohousing segment on Youtube. https://youtu.be/OLPnNPP3Kqg. It mostly features OWCH, but we get a look-in too.
There was a great video piece on the BBC News site as well, which featured Jude. Have a look here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-england-london-45836995/lgbt-h. Not sure how long this will be available.
So, to bring you up to date…
We have been working closely with the GLA Community Led Housing Hub. They have been helping us to develop and refine our business plan and to work out a strategy to take the project forward. Our next step is to find a housing association or registered housing provider which is a good fit for us, and we are beginning to sound them out.
We are fifteen strong at the moment, and as you may know, recruitment is paused while we undertake outreach work to make our membership more diverse. If you know black or minority ethnic women over the age of 50 who might be interested, please tell them to get in touch.
We are working hard to realise our vision. We meet regularly as a group, to hammer out policy, and to plan and organise, and we meet in smaller task groups every month, to push the project forward. We are all volunteers and there is more work than we can handle, so we are fund-raising for a project manager to steer us through the next stages.
We’ll keep you posted. And if you think you can help, please get in touch. Use the form here: https://lolcohousing.co.uk/getting-involved/
And in case you thought we were all work and no play, here are some of us on a group outing to the stage adaptation of Alison Bechdel’s ‘Fun Home’ in September at the Young Vic.