There needs to be a capital fund that can be used to provide (by lease or purchase) equipment which 'skill-sharers' are unable to provide themselves. Thus the 'village carpenter' might be adequately provided with hand tools, but require capital fund assistance when it comes to a lathe. Painters and decorators might need the occasional use of scaffolding, and so on.
Such capital goods held in common for the 'village' need storage space, and in some cases - such as the lathe - working space. This already exists in the ownership of the community.
Why are our schools so underused?
Industrialists make best use of expensive assets by working them around the clock. Our schools should be open as community resources for every hour for which there is a demand.
School workshops should be available to the community at all times they are not in use within the educational environment. Their art studios, music rooms and cookery classrooms should be available around the clock to persons who wish to use them. Charge those who can afford to pay, for the facilities plus materials, charge the rest for materials. Our schools are our most underused resource.
Clive Akerman, 92 Sandbrook Road, London N16 OSP (tel 071 241 0866).
They point out that most schools open only during normal school hours (57% in their survey) and are thus not being used for 70% of the year, a very unproductive use of valuable resources. Only 8% of their sample were open till 6pm or later on five days a week. One such that did impress them however was Seymour Park Primary School in Trafford.
This school has had an after-school playscheme for the last ten years, with enough pupils each day for at least two football teams. This scheme has relied on the dedication of its coach Harry Singleton, who turns up five afternoons a week, whatever the weather. 'It's been wonderful for me,' says Harry, 'I've made so many friends. I know kids from the school who are having their own children now. My own son comes and the father of one of my four grandchildren.' Harry and three other workers are paid by the Local Education Authority who took over financial responsibility when Urban Aid funding ran out.
The campaign's proposal is that every school's governors should decide what after-school activities to encourage, ranging from sports and games, to computer practice, dancing and photography. And that these clubs should be staffed by part timers, such as students on educational courses, and by volunteers, who will often be retired people.
- Michael Young and Matthew Owen, Institute of Community Studies, 18 Victoria Park Square, Bethnal Green, London E2 9PF (tel 081 980 6263).