There are around 2 million
empty buildings around the country and about 500 000 homeless people. Squatting
is a real, viable and legal solution that we believe is worth promoting.
Leeds is becoming a centre for overpriced, corporate, entertainment outlets
that are more about grabbing your cash than providing a useful social function.
We do not have the resources to invest £2m in doing up a building to open
a place such as this so we take a building to enable us to demonstrate how an
alternative can work. http://www.a-spire.org.uk/main/faq.php
Now defunct:
On the night of the 23rd of November, the Aspire social centre at Buckingham
house was raided by police using tear gas and excessive force to gain entry
to the building. The people living at the building were then illegally evicted.
About twenty people were arrested on the night and many more were assaulted
and verbally abused outside the building. One ‘arrest happy’ officer
had four people detained and then bailed on bogus charges of affray. Unsurprisingly
all charges have been dropped by West Yorkshire police. Aspire are offering
support and advice to people who would like to make a civil claims for damages
(sue) or make a formal complaint against the police.http://www.a-spire.org.uk/main/legal.php
Aspire is the name used by 2 different collectives who have squatted a building
close to (and owned by) Leeds University. The first group was made up of a large
number of people all with different ideas and focuses for the use of the building
who squatted between 24 April and 24 May 1999. The second group wanted to hold
a smaller more focused weekend event and did so in November 2000.
On the first opening the Aspire collective stated ...
'It is a place where people can go during the day or night and socalise away
from the buy, buy, buy mentality that is present day capitalism. Once there
you can do pretty much whatever you want to (within reason). You can sit and
chat with a cup of fair trade tea or coffee, Bring your lunch to eat in comfortable
surroundings or eat some of our vegan almost organic food (but please leave
a donation to cover costs). You can go to or put on a gig, read books from our
radical library, organise a meeting, juggle, paint, make a date to come back
for a specific gig or workshop etc. etc. etc. Basically we've opened up the
space if you want to use it then do so.'
http://www.a-spire.org.uk/index1.htmWhy
circle the A on Aspire
While the majority of people
who helped set up the centre would probably not consider themselves to be anarchists
the place is run with a healthy dose of anarchist principles. Just to set the
record straight and to paraphrase Alexander Berkman - Anarchism is not Bombs,
Disorder and Chaos. It is not Robbery and Murder. It is not war against all.
Anarchism means that you should be free, that no one should enslave you, boss
you, rob you or impose on you.
We operate with no hierarchy, no bosses and no leaders. All decisions are made through concensus. That means that if one person disagrees with the a proposal at the meeting then we have to find out how to change the proposal to make it so that everyone agrees. This can make for long meetings but ensures that everyone is happy with all decisions. The circled A was decided upon during the almost legendary nameing game, ironically the naming of the centre was the only decision that we accepted we would not get concensus and so didn't even try but in the end I think everyone was happy with the outcome. http://www.a-spire.org.uk/faq.htm
Aspire V: Buckingham House,
41 Headingly Lane (now defunct)
Aspire IV: 5 Concord Street * off North Street * Near Leeds College of Building
(now defunct)
Aspire III: on the leeds university campus (now defunct)