Gatherings and workshops

Grow Your Own Home are establishing a series of combined social and skill sharing events intending to create a critical mass of empowered groups ready to start new Low Impact, Cooperative, affordable housing clusters.

Planning – How the system works and how to work with it at a local level in a mutually constructive way. Learning from others mistakes – and success!

Legal frameworks – there are many different ways now for groups to arrange their affairs to secure a range of possible objectives, be it a Charitable Trust, a mutual Co-op, a Community Interest Company or others understanding what each can offer is essential.

Finance – not all of us are fortunate enough to have cash to buy land, so we need to understand project finance and be able to make a case to possible lenders or grant makers. In addition there are many sources of financial aid for new start up social and commercial enterprises.

Group dynamics – a cooperative working group needs new kinds of interpersonal skills which are different from the family or workplace. Effective group working can be learned; building on the lessons of past to make meetings less boring, skills shared more widely and getting along better with the neighbours.

Building skills – as well as the conventional trades skills the techniques of the new Vernacular LID Architecture using round wood, straw bales and salvage and how to combine these with the best of conventional practice to make beautiful homes.

Land use – There are many ways to make a living from land. Starting with meeting our own needs for food, energy, shelter, and well being we can learn from the best traditional methods and modern tools such as Permaculture, ways to increase the productivity of our land.

GYOH is not a single project group with a rigid manifesto, we aim to create a framework in which anyone can join the gatherings, learn new skills and meet people with broadly similar aims. Our hope is that from this a variety of new LID projects will emerge formed by people already equipped with suitable skills to get started.