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Yet another article about how to design for social cohesion on shareable.net’s excellent website has got me thinking.
I’ve always hated the stupidity of planners’ love of zoning: separating work, home, retail and play so that everyone has to travel to do the basic things of life. This has created suburban mazes where to only winner is the car manufacturer. In one of my previous lives I was a public transport market researcher working with public transport engineers and economists, and we saw people trying to find public transport solutions to ridiculous traffic congestion caused by planning idiocy. This zonal approach has had many dismal effects including a reduction in social cohesion caused by isolation, and the environmental and social (time wasted) dis-benefits of commuting and having to drive to achieve anything.
I’ve long been the odd one of my friends: choosing to take the train or bus if it is easier. And although I know live in deepest rural Norfolk (UK), where you really do need to own a car, I live in the centre of a small town. London friends who come and visit are quietly impressed by the fact that my butcher, supermarket, doctor, dentist, pharmacy and lost more are all a few doors away. Opposite is the bus to Norwich which takes 20 minutes. I do have a car, but I don’t use it much. As a result, we are quickly getting to know the people who live around us, and we’ve only been here three months. When I travel to London, which I do once or twice a month, I use the train. It’s very civilised: I lots of work done, or read the paper, or sleep, or chat to other passengers. You can’t do this in the car.
I hadn’t until today really linked my irritation with the reliance on the car and wish for social cohesion, to my strong instinctive wish to encourage as much sharing as possible. But I realise that it is the same pull to greater social cohesion. Every syndicate member I ever speak to tells me about the great community, shared responsibility, good buddies with a love of the same boat/car/horse/whatever. Sharing, even in small private syndicates, creates communities. By encouraging private syndicates, yours2share is creating communities and doing its bit for greater social cohesion.
Here is a great case study on shareable.net about sharing a house written by Janelle Orsi, attorney. The people are based in California, but the advice applies anywhere.
I’ve written before about sharing houses, in Suffolk and in Streatham.
To make this work you do need to put in considerable thought, discussion and negotiation at the beginning, but the benefits can be very significant. As usual with sharing, the economic benefits are usually the reason people first consider sharing: the community and social benefits become the ones they get the most pleasure from over time.
I’ve just stumbled over two great websites based in the US devoted to helping people share and showing them how to do it: the sharing solution and shareable.net.
The sharing solution is run by Attorney Janelle Orsi & Attorney Emily Doskow and is devoted to showing people how sharing can not only be economically advantageous, but also fosters community. I’ve realised over the last three years of running yours2share that once people start sharing, the pleasure at the creation of a new community based around something you love or feel strongly about, is far more important to them than the economic or environmental benefits.
I’ve written before about Sticky Stapleton’s newsletter, he runs sailing courses down on the south coast. However the course offered in the latest edition amused me, particularly the “we will then all watch the forecasts for worsening weather” bit.
Sticky has course in heavy weather sailing where the idea is that two come to join him and a boat owner who wishes to experience heavy weather and try out some of the tactics to make like bearable on his boat in strong winds. He went out last week in f7 and 8’s and had some excellent sailing in brilliant sunshine.
He is considering running a course for a weekend, 5 or 7 days on a commercial basis, but much will depend on getting a boat which has been inspected and found satisfactory. So if you would like a weekend, 5 or 7 days to practise, if possible, inter alia:
Beating into strong wind and wave, heaving to, running before strong wind, wave and swell, running under bare poles, fore reaching, steering shy, trailing warps, using a sea anchor, deploying a series drogue, scudding, lying to, lying a hull, and anything else you can think of!
(I’m not a sailor and I’m not going to pretend that I understand all these terms, but it sounds bumpy to me.)
The procedure will be, email Sticky (instructor AT sail-help DOT co DOT uk) with your phone number; saying you are up for two, five or seven days. (This does not apply to anyone who has already replied). He will then source a boat, inspect it and you will then all watch the forecasts for worsening weather; he will ring round to find five likely heavy weather sailors. Cost per head £200, Friday evening to Sunday afternoon, or for same number of days during the week; £450 for five days or £600 for 7 days.
At yours2share, we have lots of people using us to let and find weekday lodgings. I had an interesting question sent in through the comments last week and thought I’d post the question and answer here, as I get so many (what do I charge?” questions.
Question If a lodger has been quoted a weekly Monday to Friday rent and then decides occasionally to stay away for a couple of days during the week but wants to leave his stuff in the room when he isn’t there, should he be given a reduction for that weeks rent?
My reply: There is no hard and fast rule over things like this, it depends upon you and your lodger.
I wouldn’t assume a reduction if I was the lodger, as you can’t let or use the room with his stuff there.
However if this means that the arrangement is even more advantageous to you in that you are sharing your house less, and there is less heat, light, maybe food etc used, it may be in your interest to negotiate a small reduction. It also depends whether this is a permanent arrangement – and for how much of the time. So if the agreement was £xx for four nights, and now he will only ever be there 2 nights for the foreseeable future, you might choose to reduce a little. However if you really need all of £xx and would prefer to find another lodger to ensure that you get this, and it makes no difference to you that they are there 4 nights instead of 2, then explain this is why you can’t reduce it. If the number of nights away each week varies, I don’t think I’d accept a reduction as it is only fair that you know what your income will be.
Here is more guidance on Monday to Friday rentals.
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 Merlin - loves being shared Last months edition of Your Horse had a great article about a yours2share horse sharing case study. Many thanks to Geogie Lynch and Charly Sheringham for helping me with this, and of course to Merlin, for being soooo photogenic!
Here is the case study, guidance on sharing a horse and the latest horse shares – hundreds of them
I was flicking through one of out local magazines the other day and noticed an advert for Apple Sharing. I’d never seen this before and as with everything to do with sharing, I had to find out more.
Beccles in Suffolk has an Apple Share scheme as part of its Sustainable Beccles umbrella. This encourages people with apple trees and too much fruit to get together with people who would like to use the fruit. It also helps people who have difficulty picking their fruit.
When we lived in London, we had several fruit trees and every couple of years at least one tree would go into overdrive with a massive crop. The last time was two years ago and we still have left about three bags of the apple that we cut up, blanched and froze. In one mammoth apple production line, we created over 50 bags of apple mix: that’s a lot of apple crumbles. We also made an awful lot of chutney and apple sauce, and still have a few jars of these left. We also gave away about ten carrier bags of apples to anyone who would take them. I wish there had been an apple sharing scheme then.
It’s a great idea and I hope it is taken up by all the Transition Towns.
I’ve just had an email from Barbara Langford in Toronto, Canada, who I wrote about in my last blog post about dog sharing. She and Kristen were interviewed by CBC Radio in Toronto earlier this week. You can listen to the CBC radio interview here for the next few days.
Barbara shares a cockerpoo called Charley with Kristen and is very keen to promote the idea of sharing dogs. yours2share is very pleased to help her.
 Barbara, Kristin and Charlie Dr. Barbara Langford from Toronto, Canada recently contacted me because she has been so pleased with a dogsharing arrangement and wants to help other people to share dogs. Like me, she dislikes the concept of “renting” a dog that some agencies are promoting. We both believe that a dog should be shared by no more than two households so that the dog has consistency and routine. She also liked my dog share guidance notes – always good to hear. She has put me in touch with several other people in Toronto and between us all, over the next few months, we are going to develop private dogsharing in Toronto.
Six months ago, Barbara and her husband Robert lost their beloved dog Charley. He was a Cockerpoo, one of a kind and they truly loved him – they were three of a pack. When Charley died, they didn’t feel able to commit to having another dog at that time in their lives.
Five weeks later, they saw a woman with a dog that looked just like Charley and got talking. Barbara and Robert said they’d be delighted to look after her dog if she ever needed.
A few weeks later, Kristin called them. Now Charlie (the sequel) spends time with them whenever Kristin is at work or away.
Here is the case study in greater detail and here is yours2share’s current list of dogshares.
If you live in East Anglia and would like the opportunity to meet me and find out more about yours2share, I shall be at the WIRE Autumn Fair at World Horse Welfare (formerly known as the International League for the Protection of Horses (ILPH)) from 10am to 5pm on Saturday 31st October 2009.
As well as running yours2share, I have been a network leader for the WIRE Norfolk group for the last year, which is why I’m involved in this Autumn Fair.
There will be a wide range of products for sale all representing businesses run by women in the Norfolk area.
World Horse Welfare is located at Hall Farm, near Snetterton, just off the A11. You can walk around the farm where over a 100 horses are kept. There is a good café and play area. It’s heaven for any horse-lover!
There are still a few stands available for WiRE members and the stand fee is very reasonable. Please contact Sue Brewer on 01493 393256 or 07747 861243 for information and to book a stand.
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