Where We're at - Spring 2021

We have started the year with some exciting news. We have gained 'Preferred Bidder' status for a council site in the ward of Sea Mills. We will now be embarking on the next part of this journey to put together a planning application to submit to the council. In order to do this we will be undertaking several site surveys & reports, conducting extensive consultation with the residents of Sea Mills, co-designing our first 'Nature First/Climate Positive' Tiny House Regenerative Settlement and continuing to apply for significant grant monies to pay for this crucial work.

We’re deepening our understanding and practice of Sociocracy and our relationships as a community. Members are learning a lot in their own areas of interest, taking on roles and responsibilities in circles, feeling excited to flex their wings in a safe and supportive space.

Alongside this we are progressing many other areas of work to support this/other intended projects and our organisation:

Our Mission Circle (Directors) is deepening its understanding of what it means to be a Director of a Community Benefit Society and looking at various trainings to support this; our Dreamocracy (Dragon Dreaming project management & Sociocracy governance) Circle is busy creating an induction/membership policy for our soon to launch call out for new members. They're also conducting a skills audit in each circle to form a more strategic process for recruiting new members into different circles; Community Psychology Circle is looking at Counseling Training, Collective Trauma Healing, Different Forms of Communication & Conflict Transformation Trainings, alongside meditation & mindfulness techniques; Design circle is looking at next steps/priorities for our Sea Mills scheme, namely surveys & access/planning restrictions and thinking about the composition of our Sea Mills Design Team.; IT & Comms Circle has done a beautiful job with updating & refreshing our recently relaunched website. They continue to brilliantly support members with our Tech Support ‘desk’; Funding & Banking Circle is sourcing & applying for match-funding to support and help unlock our conditional grant of £80,100 from Power To Change’s Homes In Community Hands Program, looking after our kitty subs and monthly banking; Diversity & Inclusion Circle is kicking off our work on exploring what a just, equitable and inclusive allocations policy could look like; Planning Circle is familiarising itself with The Bristol Planning Protocol, as our Sea Mills scheme is considered a ‘Major Development’; Sites Circle is continuing its exploration of other potential sites in our bioregion (roughly the West of England); our Community Outreach Helper Circle is soon to have their first meeting with the folks who put together the Sea Mills & Coombe Dingle Plan, to introduce themselves and start to talk about how we might work together to co-develop our plans; other ‘Helper Circles’ are looking at Insurance, Health & Safety, a narrative for a crowdfunder, plus many other pieces of work.