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Edinburgh's Forest Cafe under threat

imc uk | 07.12.2010 19:18 | Free Spaces | Social Struggles

The landlord of the social centre network member "Forest Cafe", the over a hundred year old charity"Edinburgh University Settlement" (EUS) filed for bankrupcy end of October, with reported debts of over 4m [analysis].
The Bristo Place property is currently for sale and in a planning dispute.
Now the Forest Art and Event Space collective is running a fundraising campaign [ info pdf] to buy the building [ Ryan's report]. The Forest Art and Event Space started in 1999 in a small shop at the Grassmarket primarily as a collective of artists, but quickly became much more. It hosted a street party and the Independent Media Access Centre during the G8 protests in 2005 as well as supported grassroot political film screenings [Dan's account] and events such as the Argentina Autonomista Tour, activities around the "Smash Nato" protests, Painting with the Zapatistas, The Lost Film Festival, Food Not Bombs and much more such as punk gigs, feminist, video activism and climate change weekends.
Main Reason for the bankrupcy of the EUS seems to be the financial advice of David Duff, former Hibs chairman, who nearly brought the football club into administration, too, and who had been jailed for property investment fraud before [ analysis ].


police in front of IMC at Forest Cafe
police in front of IMC at Forest Cafe





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Comments

Display the following 27 comments

  1. What a loss — Jamie J
  2. We'll get over it — Edinburgh Resident
  3. Can I chip in? — Danny
  4. TRUTHS ABOVE — ALIBI
  5. where da money at — psychedelic warlord
  6. Political activists in Edinburgh will be fucked if we loose the forest. — Fabbri
  7. free art IS political — xray
  8. "because they don't have to try and find venues" — Overblown sense of your own importance
  9. Free spaces Vs Capitalism — Peacelover
  10. comment war — pfunk
  11. Pissants not peasants — Exit, stage left
  12. response — arctic
  13. Further response please — Danny
  14. response — arctic
  15. The world is under threat, not the Forest — cyrus
  16. Substantial Rent or Peppercorn Rent — Bollinger Boyo
  17. response — Matthew
  18. What is a Free Space that charges 50 pounds per hour called? The Forest? — Bollinger Boyo
  19. reply — Matthew
  20. Confusing?? — Bollinger Boyo
  21. It's all went a bit Richard Branson — Danny
  22. reply — Matthew
  23. Forest - Its a Jungle out there!!!!! — Pandora's Box
  24. reply — Matthew
  25. Fact Not Rumour : EUS subsidised The Forest — Pandora's Box
  26. reply — Matthew
  27. Ha — psychedelic warlord