3.3.1 Self-help and mutual aid

There are lots of examples of communities organising to share resources.

Buyers’ clubs – by acting collectively, organised groups can access resources more cheaply by buying in bulk. Notable examples include purchasing expensive medicines in the US or buying family essentials like nappies and food.

Community land trusts – at other times communities can access extremely expensive assets like land by pooling their resources. More recent examples have included community energy and community solar groups.

Credit unions – as covered above, mass membership organisations can allow for large sums of money to be organised under one roof. Credit unions are one example of using these cash resources to provide low/no interest loans to people in the community.

The above examples can be classified as self-help and mutual aid – organising people, so that resources can be pooled and used to provide services to the constituency they seek to represent.