27-410: The Forest , also referred to as Forest Café , was an independent social centre and arts centre located in central Edinburgh , Scotland. It was notable for being run by volunteers as a charitable, self-sustaining not-for-profit. The Forest was initially housed at a West Port venue from 2000 to 2003, then housed at 3 Bristo Place in the former Edinburgh Seventh Day Adventist Church, a building owned by
54-405: A Caffè sospeso system which worked on a pay it forward basis, this meant that a customer may pay for a coffee for someone who is unable to afford one themselves. Free Wi-Fi was available for public use, instruments and board games were also provided. There was a free shop where visitors to the café could exchange goods which might otherwise have gone to waste. Due to local noise restrictions
81-623: A Presbyterian minister, joined the Extension Department at the University of Wisconsin–Madison , organizing the Wisconsin Bureau of Civic and Social Development . By 1911 they organized a country-wide conference on schools as social centers. Despite concerns expressed by politicians and public officials that they might provide a focus for alternative political and social activity, the idea was successful. In 1916, with
108-440: A Seventh-day Adventist Church , who had purchased the building in 1942 and used it until 2000. The space was organised through multiple working groups that were open to the public plus a closed "Core" working group that accepted volunteers who had a longer-term participation. The working groups were run using consensus decision-making process featuring facilitation and hand signals, with minutes saved to an online forum called
135-411: A computer. Waldflöte is the designation of one of the organ stops available and was chosen because of the connection of the word " forest ". The argumentation of the keyboards was undertaken by Dorkbot Alba without any long-term modification of the original organ. The old Forest building was squatted on 30 November 2011 by a group of local residents protesting against the closure of several of
162-583: A major part in her concept of community development and democracy seen through individuals organizing themselves into neighborhood groups, and attending to people's needs, desires and aspirations. This can also include parks. In the United Kingdom, the oldest community centre is possibly that which was established in 1901 in Thringstone , Leicestershire by the old age pensions pioneer, Charles Booth (1847-1916). Extended in 1911 and taken over by
189-423: A walk-in freezer, a woodworking and machining room, a darkroom specialising in alternative photographic process , and unisex toilets. In August 2012 The Forest reopened at 141 Lauriston Place, Tollcross where it continued its activity as a volunteer-run vegetarian cafe with regular free events and workshops, assuming a pivotal role in the revival of the independent community development in central Edinburgh. In 2022
216-578: Is also another reason. Gray %26 Davison Gray & Davison was a large-scale manufacturer of church and cathedral pipe organs , based in London. The company was active between 1841 and 1973 and had its heyday between 1905 and 1930. Organs produced are stamped " John Gray ", then later " Gray & Son " and from 1842 onwards as "Gray & Davison". The company started with Robert Gray (1742–1796), and his partner and brother William Gray (1757–1821). John Gray, William's son inherited
243-556: The Debian annual conference— DebConf 7—was held in Edinburgh. During the week-long event, sufficient repairs were made by Tore Sinding Bekkedal and others to enable the organ to function again at which point it was played by Keith Packard . In 2008–2009, Project Waldflöte (English: "Forest Flute") was initiated, a musical experiment to control sections of the mechanical musical keyboard via an electronic MIDI interface from
270-690: The Leicestershire County Council in 1950, this centre still thrives as an educational, social and recreational community resource and was the inspiration for numerous others of its kind. There are also community centres for a specific purpose, but serving the whole community, such as an arts centre . Online community centres are defined as a web-based interactive, user-submitted network for groups, organizations, or businesses. Users create their own personal profiles, blogs, groups, photos, art, calendars, music, and videos to display on their own pages. Administrators provide oversight to
297-431: The " BB ". The clerical and financial administration was performed by a paid worker, with building related tasks performed laterly by a Building Manager. The cafe was organised by paid day-time Kitchen Managers (KMs) and voluntary evening KMs, with help from further rotad volunteers. Free events were held throughout the building regularly, including workshops and skill-shares, music, film, poetry, theatre and readings. There
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#1732790458129324-509: The Edinburgh University Settlement until August 2011. It featured a two room café with performance space, a single room art gallery named Total Kunst, a radical library named Old Hat Books housed in the café front room, an Action Room for consensus process based organisational working group meetings and internet access, artist gallery spaces, a meeting cum screen printing and crafting room, a rehearsal/music studio,
351-503: The UK many villages and towns have their own Community Centre, although nearby schools may offer their assembly or dining hall after school for Community Centre activities. For example, local schools near Ouston, County Durham may host dance or sporting activities provided by a local community centre. Parks are also considered community centers. Another pioneer of community centers was Mary Parker Follett , who saw community centers as playing
378-573: The Yahoo! Mail Internet Café Awards. A volunteer guide booklet called Don't Panic! was drawn up to record and spread information about how The Forest worked. The Edinburgh University Settlement - the charity that owned the Bristo Place building - went bankrupt in October 2010, and it was announced that the premises were to be sold. The Forest launched a campaign to raise £500,000 to try to buy
405-597: The building, or buy or rent another property elsewhere in Edinburgh. The upper floors of the Bristo Place building are the former church, the centre piece of which is a Gray & Davison -built pipe organ . This is powered by compressed air and has 16-foot (4.9 m) high pipes. It was originally installed at the Chapel Royal, Dublin Castle in the late 19th century and transferred to its present location in 1900. The organ fell into disrepair until mid-June 2007 when
432-483: The café was no longer able to provide late night music or loud entertainment, however during the daytime the café was often host to free performances by local musicians, poets or artists. All events were always free of charge and were never ticketed. The renovated basement was home to a pop-up art gallery space which rotated exhibitions on a twice monthly basis. The Forest maintained close relationships with other alternative community spaces and socially oriented projects in
459-593: The city's independent arts spaces including The Forest, though the protest itself was not affiliated to it. The activists stated that they wished to reopen the building to the public. In its new guise, the space played host to several events and affiliate groups before being finally evicted. The Forest moved to 141 Lauriston Place. The café served vegetarian cuisine , locally produced organic food , vegan food and Fairtrade drinks. The menu consisted of salads, wraps, chili, burritos, falafel based dishes and soups. Customers were able to pay for hot drinks for others through
486-450: The content and approve membership of users. In Singapore , community centres are distinct buildings that are officially designated by the government of Singapore . They are meant to play an urban planning role especially as part of Housing Development Board projects. Enrichment and grassroots organization are their functions like most other community centres, but relieving traffic congestion concerns by placing community centres nearby
513-641: The foundation of the National Community Center Association, the term Community Center was generally used in the US. By 1918 there were community centers in 107 US cities, and in 240 cities by 1924. By 1930 there were nearly 500 centers with more than four million people regularly attending. The first of these was Public School 63, located in the Lower East Side . Clinton Child's , one of the organizers, described it as: In
540-448: The greater community. Community centres can be religious in nature, such as Christian churches , Islamic mosques , Jewish synagogues , Hindu temples , or Buddhist temples ; though they can also be secular and in some cases government-run, such as youth clubs or Leisure centres . The community centres are usually used for: Around the world (and sometimes within single countries) there appear to be four common ways in which
567-553: The local area such as the Edinburgh Student Housing Co-operative , and the Swap and Reuse Hub (SHRUB). Social centre A community centre , community center , or community hall is a public location where members of a community gather for group activities, social support, public information, and other purposes. They may be open for the whole community or for a specialized subgroup within
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#1732790458129594-495: The national societies of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement . These centres serve as hubs for providing humanitarian aid, offering services such as psychosocial support (MHPSS), socio-economic development programs, social cohesion activities, and protection services for vulnerable populations, including refugees and migrants. These community centres are vital in crisis contexts, facilitating recovery and resilience by addressing
621-529: The operation of the kind of community centre are owned and organised. In the following description, " Government " may refer to the ordinary secular government or to a dominant religious organisation such as the Roman Catholic Church; and it may refer to the central, national, or international branch of a government/church or to the local subdivision of it. In addition to these models, community centres are also run by humanitarian organizations and
648-838: The physical space closed citing difficulties arising from the COVID-19 pandemic , despite arts activities continuing decentrally. The Forest organisation itself started in August 2000 with a venue in West Port, off the Grassmarket in Edinburgh's Old Town. Relocation to the Bristo Place premises started in September 2003 and The Forest Café opened there in October 2003. After leaving in August 2011, The Forest Café reopened again in Tollcross in August 2012. The building at 3 Bristo Place
675-527: The social and emotional needs of affected individuals. The community centres typically have their own origin and history. There are some examples: Early forms of community centers in the United States were based in schools providing facilities to inner city communities out of school hours. An early celebrated example of this is to be found in Rochester , New York from 1907. Edward J. Ward ,
702-466: Was a community darkroom catering to black and white, alternative and historic process photography. During each summer the venue ran the 'August Forest Fringe', a theatre and alternative arts programme as an alternative complement to the mainstream Edinburgh Festival . In 2004, the Forest Café became one of only four internet cafés in the United Kingdom to have won a highly recommended citation in
729-541: Was constructed during 1899–1900 to a design by Sydney Mitchell and Wilson for the Evangelical Union on the site of a former Baptist Chapel. The category-B listed building has 659 square metres (7,090 sq ft) of floor space and was previously owned by the National Museums of Scotland , who sold the building for £600,000 during 2003. The plaque over the door reflects its subsequent use as
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