Case Study: Glasgow Autonomous Space
Who are Glasgow Autonomous Space?
Glasgow Autonomous Space (or GAS for short) is a collectively-run social centre in the Southside of Glasgow.
Now in their second location, GAS has a kitchen, library and various rooms which is used for hosting community meals, meetings, workshops, banner making sessions and more.
Alongside regular groups, the space is available for hire (free or by donation) to groups and individuals organising for justice and against capitalism and its impacts.
GAS has no paid staff and is run non-hierarchically by a ‘crew’ of people who split up the work of running and maintaining the space.
Why did GAS come to us?
Having operated informally for a number of years, GAS came to us looking for support with setting up a legal structure.
They hoped that a legal structure would help with securing the future of the organisation, but had concerns about who would be eligible for membership and how this could end up creating hierarchies between those who are and aren’t members.
There had been some previous discussion about which legal form might fit them best but they wanted to make sure they had considered all of the options and understood the process of getting registered.
We decided that the support priorities were:
- Considering options for legal structures and choosing the most appropriate one
- Understanding the process of setting up a legal structure
- Signposting to model rules sponsoring bodies to start the process of registering an organisation
What work did we do?
-
Facilitated in person session with representatives of the GAS Groups to understand key concerns and requirements for a legal structure
-
Discussed how a formal legal structure might support more structured membership responsibilities and provide structure to the group as a whole
-
Followed up with research on how requirements about inclusivity of membership fit into various legal requirements
-
Met with members of the governance working group to follow up on priorities for a legal structure and how to choose between different model rules options
-
Signposted the governance working group to the sponsoring bodies (owners/ creators) of various sets of model rules so that once they had chosen which rules they wanted, they would be able to start the process of getting registered
Member, Glasgow Autonomous Space
The support was excellent and got is moving in the right direction. Flawless stuff.
Jo Elston, Co-operate Scotland
Supporting an organisation like GAS reminded me why I started doing this work.
It was great to be able to combine their drive to run a space for social good with our understanding of the ‘behind the scenes’ legal requirements with the aim of supporting them to be as effective and long-lasting as possible.