The 1 in 12 Club refers to both a members' club and the building in which it is based, in

Bradford Bradford is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in West Yorkshire, England. It became a municipal borough in 1847, received a city charter in 1897 and, since the Local Government Act 1972, 1974 reform, the city status in the United Kingdo ...

West Yorkshire West Yorkshire is a Metropolitan counties of England, metropolitan and Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. It borders North Yorkshire to the north and east, South Yorkshire and De ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. Owned and run by its membership as a

collective A collective is a group of entities that share or are motivated by at least one common issue or interest or work together to achieve a common objective. Collectives can differ from cooperatives in that they are not necessarily focused upon an e ...

based upon

anarchist Anarchism is a political philosophy and Political movement, movement that seeks to abolish all institutions that perpetuate authority, coercion, or Social hierarchy, hierarchy, primarily targeting the state (polity), state and capitalism. A ...

principles, its activities include social and political campaigning—most visibly as a hub for the city's

May Day May Day is a European festival of ancient origins marking the beginning of summer, usually celebrated on 1 May, around halfway between the Northern Hemisphere's March equinox, spring equinox and midsummer June solstice, solstice. Festivities ma ...

activities—and use of the building as a

self-managed social centre A self-managed social center, also known as an autonomous social center, is a self-organized community center in which Anti-authoritarianism, anti-authoritarians put on voluntary activities. These autonomous spaces, often in multi-purpose venue ...

and host for

performing arts The performing arts are arts such as music, dance, and drama which are performed for an audience. They are different from the visual arts, which involve the use of paint, canvas or various materials to create physical or static art objects. P ...

. In the 1980s it was one of the main locations for the UK crust and

anarcho-punk Anarcho-punk (also known as anarchist punk or peace punk) is an ideological subgenre of punk rock that promotes anarchism. Some use the term broadly to refer to any punk music with anarchist lyrical content, which may figure in crust punk, ha ...

scene, and in the 1990s played host to much of the country's

straight edge Straight edge (sometimes abbreviated as sXe or signified by XXX or simply X) is a subculture of hardcore punk whose adherents refrain from using alcohol, tobacco, and other recreational drugs in reaction to the punk subculture's excesses. Some ...

metalcore Metalcore is a broadly defined fusion genre combining elements of extreme metal and hardcore punk, originating in the 1990s United States and becoming popular in the 2000s. Metalcore typically has aggressive verses and melodic choruses, combined ...

scene.

Background

The club was formed by members of

orientated Claimants Union in 1981. The immediate objectives of the club were to generate and sustain a social scene, accessible and affordable to both the low waged and unemployed. The expectation and hope was that this would in turn encourage the anarchist values of self-management, co-operation and

mutual aid Mutual aid is an organizational model where voluntary, collaborative exchanges of resources and services for common benefit take place amongst community members to overcome social, economic, and political barriers to meeting common needs. This ...

. The late 1970s and early 1980s saw massive job losses across Britain and Bradford was no exception with GEC and

International Harvester The International Harvester Company (often abbreviated IH or International) was an American manufacturer of agricultural and construction equipment, automobiles, commercial trucks, lawn and garden products, household equipment, and more. It wa ...

shutting plants in the City. Against this backdrop a particularly strong and active Claimants Union emerged which campaigned vigorously to improve the situation for unemployed and low waged people in Bradford. In 1981, a government investigation into benefit fraud found that '1 in 12' claimants was actively "defrauding the state", and the union adopted this statistic as its name. From the outset the 1 in 12 Club has identified itself with the anarchist principles of self-management, mutual aid and co-operation. As such the 1 in 12 logo has always been placed upon a red and black flag, the historic colours of the international anarchist movement. One member commented in 2003: "The club is about having a social space that's accessible to working class people. We also want a space, a journalistic space if you like, where we can state our ideas. I think it's about reclaiming what's ours to reclaim. We don't have the right to reclaim the Philippines, we do have the right to reclaim Bradford because it's ours. That's always been a really strong thing, that Bradford is ours – it's no more complicated than that really. From that, everything else flows – everything the club's done."

Functions

The 1 in 12 Club is two separate things: firstly it is a group of people who work together to promote certain political ideals and social change; secondly it is a building housing a

. The group formed in 1981 and the present building was found in 1988.Anita Lacey, A. (2005) ''Networked Communities – Social Centers and Activist Spaces in Contemporary Britain'' Space and Culture, Volume 8, No. 3, 286–301 The sovereign decision making body of the 1 in 12 Club is the bi-monthly Sunday Meeting which is open to all members. All other committees and collectives within the Club are answerable to it. However this created an apparent conflict of responsibilities with the General Committee required by law. This has been avoided by the elected officers of the General Committee meeting on a Sunday with the legally established proviso that all Club members can attend and contribute fully to any decisions made. In this way the Sunday Meeting effectively functions as the General Committee of the Club. Each October the 1 in 12 Club holds its Annual General Meeting at which the membership must elect officers to the various posts in the Club. The AGM is also an important opportunity for the membership to review the financial and general progress of the Club and the various collectives active within it. In addition an Extraordinary General Meeting which has the same powers as an AGM can be called by any ten members at any time during the year.

Objectives

The original objectives of the 1 in 12 Club were to develop and spread the anarchist values of self-management, co-operation and

. Through gigs, books, records and direct action, the Club has sought to extend the influence of these ideas throughout Bradford and beyond.

Activities

In 2005, the centre was recorded as having an infoshop, a café, a children's play area, a bar, large meeting areas and performance spaces. Alongside other groups like

Bristol Bristol () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, the most populous city in the region. Built around the River Avon, Bristol, River Avon, it is bordered by t ...

's Easton Cowboys, the 1 in 12 has an

anti-capitalist Anti-capitalism is a political ideology and Political movement, movement encompassing a variety of attitudes and ideas that oppose capitalism. Anti-capitalists seek to combat the worst effects of capitalism and to eventually replace capitalism ...

football club In association football, a football club (or association football club, alternatively soccer club) is a sports club that acts as an entity through which association football teams organise their sporting activities. The club can exist either as ...

and cricket club. The club has a library formally opened in 1996 by the

Albert Meltzer. The bar funds the rest of the social centre's activities. The club is a participant in the UK Social Centre Network and hosts the annual Means to an End punk/hardcore festival. The actor Sean Pertwee recently stated in an interview that he had enjoyed a visit to the club in the late 80's when he was in

researching a part for a film about people who had abandoned modern clothes. He stated 'it was an unusual little place that had a slightly damp feel and an odour of cat urine, however, I grew to love it and all the strange little people who went there, apart from the band Doom who were actually quite rude and a bit weird'

Notes

External links

*
Archived FAQ
{{DEFAULTSORT:1 In 12 Club Anarchist organisations in the United Kingdom Music venues in West Yorkshire Buildings and structures in Bradford Social centres in the United Kingdom Infoshops 1981 establishments in England