Over the last few months we’ve been working on our membership structure. We’re registered as a Community Benefit Society, which means we work to benefit our members and the wider community, and are led by our members.
Last year we piloted what a Redistro membership could look like, which involved 6 groups who shared a pot of money and supported each other through a Whatsapp group and meet ups. This was called the Redistro Solidarity Collective. We’re really grateful to those groups for helping us trial the idea.
Last month we had a meeting which was attended by 14 groups to go through the membership ideas and some changes in funding/ membership criteria. Another 6 groups also fed into the meeting via a survey. We are now open for applications for group and individual membership. Membership includes a commitment to meeting around 3 times a year to help build relationships across communities and across the city, as well as to support each other and share skills and resources. Members will be able to request funds without needing to keep writing applications.
We have always been a wealth redistribution group, hence the name, but we haven’t always communicated this very clearly so we have now introduced a criteria around only supporting working class led groups (with a definition inclusive of lots of people from migrant or diaspora communities). We also now have a statement around relationships with the police and a criteria excluding work that directly involves the slaughter of animals.
For more information on membership and to apply (deadline 23 May, 5pm), follow the link below:
Bristol Redistro 