THE FOREST FIELDS SOCIAL CLUB¶

(from: www.veggies.org.uk/sumac/bar-1.html)

This is not a pub!

Officially we’re registered as “Forest Fields Social Club”. We are a private members club, which means that you’ve got to be a member or a guest to come in. However, membership is easy, and guests are very welcome!

We’re part of a network of independent centres working for social change, such as the 1 in 12 Club in Bradford and the Cowley Club in Brighton.

The bar is a space where people can socialise, organise and meet with like-minded people. It’s not controlled by a landlord who decides who can and can’t come in — you (the membership) do that.

Having said that, the membership should be diverse enough for a wide range of people to make the space their own.

What do we have in common?

Loosely speaking the social club is for people who believe in the principles of mutual aid, voluntary co-operation and organisation without hierarchy. So if you’re racist, homophobic or want to live in an authoritarian state, don’t bother joining!

The DIY Ethic

It’s the members’ club — we make it happen. Like the Sumac Centre, the bar is run entirely by volunteers. There are no paid staff. The day-to-day running of the bar is carried out by the Bar Collective, who are volunteers from the club membership. Even if you are not part of the Bar Collective, as members of the club you are encouraged to participate to help run it and make it a better space. When we achieve a society without bosses there will be no servants — if it needs doing, do it yourself!

How you could help

attend regular members’ meetings to have your say in how the bar evolves
join the bar collective
be creative to make a nicer space in which to socialise
be friendly and welcoming to our other members
bring back your glasses!
don’t chuck fag butts in the loo!
sign up for the cleaning rota!
The Vegetarian Thing

Everything sold and used in the bar is pure vegetarian (vegan).

Most commercial beer is made using isinglass (fish bladders), and a lot of wine contains blood, bonemeal or egg white.

If you are vegetarian or vegan you can drink here without worrying. We’re also going to try and get some organic, fairtrade and nonalcoholic stuff where we can.

Make your ethical suggestions at the bar.

Drink for the Revolution!

Money made from the bar will be used to pay off the Sumac Centre’s mortgage. If we make any money in excess of this it will be donated to activist and social change projects decided at members’ meetings.

THE LIBRARY¶

(from: www.veggies.org.uk/sumac/library.html)

Our library offers a rich source of information covering a wide variety of subjects, e.g:

Social Justice and Co-operative working
Environmental protection and campaigning
Human and Animal Rights
World Issues
Peace Issues
and more…
Pending the redevelopment of additional workshop space, the library facilities are currently quite restricted, with many materials in storage. If you are interested in helping with developing the resource, please get in touch

Whether you are involved in campaigning, project work, finding out facts and figures or simply curious, we stock information in many forms, from in-depth analysis to children’s books and videos:

Books — covering a wide variety of subjects are available to read in the Centre, and may often be bought for the cost of replacement.
DVDs/Videos — we have an extensive collection of documentaries, feature-films, cartoons etc. They are available for groups to borrow for their own events or for personal interest.
Leaflets — we hold a large stock of information & campaign leaflets – ideal for giving to people who want easily accessible information to take away.
Journals — we receive a large number of publications. About 160 of them are listed here together with links to their sites. Past issues are archived, going way back to the 1980s.
Press Cuttings — To keep up to date with the world around us we used to monitor the press and extract relevant items. We now provide internet access for this kind of research, through resources such as Indymedia and SchNEWS, and host presentations by visiting activists from overseas.
Your contributions are welcomed — You may have books which you could loan or donate to the Library. You could support your favourite organisation or journal by funding a subscription on our behalf. You could keep a spare disk handy by your dvd player to record programs relevant to our work. For a wish-list of resources that we would like to make available through the library see Reading and Research list from the Urban 75 Website.
In addition, the Centre compiles exhibition materials available for loan to anyone with a suitable venue, and for display at green gathethings during the summer season . We also assist people who wish to compile their own.

We may also be able to provide speakers on a wide range of topics for schools, youth clubs etc. If our volunteers cannot cover the subject, we can probably put you in touch with someone who can.

It’s not just information that’s available at the centre though; we also provide various other resources to help you put the information to work.

The Sumac Centre is very much a hand-on, ‘do-it-yourself’ facilty. All these facilities are subject to the availability of volunteers, on whom we depend to keep thing organised — so get involved.

RESOURCES¶

(from: www.veggies.org.uk/sumac/resource.html)

To help put your ideas into practice, we have a range of facilities available to individual users and affiliated groups.

Facilities include:

Message & Mailbox Services — Providing a reliable point of contact for your organisation.

Meeting Space — Sumac Centre’s Café doubles as a meeting room for up to 100 people.

Shared use of Office facilities with photocopier, telephone and fax — pay as you go, or on account by application, enabling groups to closely monitor and budget their printing and phone usage.
Computers — IBM compatible PCs with word processing, spreadsheet and database packages.
Internet Access — e-mail sent & received for individuals, volunteers & user groups.
Web page can be designed and hosted on this site. See User Groups for examples.
Desktop Publishing — Full facilities, including image scanning, for the design of leaflets & newsletters.
Sumac Library — books, videos, journals, press reports, leaflets and campaign materials on world issues such as human rights, animal rights, peace, the environment and social justice.
A small charge is made for use of some of the above to contribute towards running costs and maintenance.

VOLUNTEER¶

(from: www.veggies.org.uk/sumac/volunteering.h...

GET INVOLVED!

Volunteering at the Sumac Centre

How often have you heard people say “I’d like to do something but I don’t know how”?

At the Sumac Centre, it could hardly be easier to get involved and make a positive change. Don’t be put off by thinking that everyone here knows it all already. Individuals have their own areas of expertise to contribute.

The Sumac Centre is all about co-operating and sharing our knowledge and skills.

VOLUNTEERS AT WORK! — SEPTEMBER WORK DAY

Volunteering

Sumac Centre has always been and continues to be run by Volunteers. We are always in need of more people to help keep the Centre running.

You might want to contribute towards the running of the cafe, or the vegan-organic garden, help with Veggies or any of the user groups, answer public enquiries, help manage the information in the library or even help develop this web site! The list is endless!

So, if you have any spare time that you want to put to good use, get in touch and we can discuss it further.

COMPLETE OUR ON-LINE RESPONSE FORM

Campaigning

If you have a particular campaign or organisation that you wish to support, we can provide information and facilities to assist you.

If you don’t live near Nottingham, we may still be able to help you contact suitable organisations or individuals in you area, many of which will welcome your support.

All you have to do is contact us and (subject to the availability of volunteers) we will try and answer your queries as comprehensively as possible.

So whether it’s a specific project that you have in mind or just fancy helping us out and doing some good for the planet and its inhabitants, we’d love to hear from you.

Call in or e-mail: volunteers@veggies.org.uk