Squatters take over University of Brighton building in Circus Street and hope others will join them

The site of the new “DIY squatted social centre and radical community space” in the derelict University of Brighton building in Circus Street is fast being renovated by a team of 30 activists.

The Argus was granted exclusive access to the site which is secured with padlocked gates and barbed wire where our reporter met some of the activists.

There are no organisers or leaders behind the occupation.

They explained that once the building has been cleaned and made ready for its intended purpose as a community centre, daily visitor numbers may reach the hundreds in addition to dozens of people who will be living and sleeping in the squat.

One activist suggested that by the time the two upper floors of the building had been made ready as sleeping quarters the building might house 60 or 70 people.

This will predominantly provide individual sleeping quarters for the homeless but with dorm rooms for activists as well.

Amanda, an activist with the Alt-SU group which is protesting at recent demotions at the University of Brighton, told The Argus that figure was perhaps a little optimistic.

She said: “Realistically we might have 25 people living here full time.

“We want to make sure the people coming in don’t upset those already here.”

There are plans for workshops to be held covering subjects as diverse as plumbing, women’s issues and political theory.

Squatters also intend to provide facilities for clothes washing, cooking and eating and for mobile phone charging.

Amanda explained: “We’ve already got six workshops being organised.

“I think we’ll literally have hundreds of people passing through the building most days.”

Banners were unfurled from the windows of the building, which has lain empty since 2015, earlier this week.

A dozen rough sleepers are now living in the upper floors of the building, most of who were moved on from a tented protest near St Peter’s Church on Wednesday.

Meanwhile a team of around 30 “autonomous activists” from several left-wing organisations have been at work rehanging doors, sanding floors and reconnecting the building’s plumbing.

The squatters’ grievances include the council’s Public Space Protection Orders which allow for the moving on of travellers and rough sleepers but which protesters claim are “disgraceful, racist and counter-productive.”

Last month the university announced it has put on hold its £100 million plans to redevelop the site into homes, student accommodation and office space.

IDEALISTS AIM TO CREATE A SAFE SPACE... FOR MOST

"WELCOME home" reads the red-scrawled graffiti which greets entrants to Brighton’s new squat in the abandoned University of Brighton building behind Brewdog in Circus Street.

Marginally less welcoming, one might think, are some of the slogans daubed on walls elsewhere, including “kill Tory scum” and suggestions for things to do to the Prime Minister which Mrs May would, no doubt, not appreciate.

But the activists who have claimed squatters’ rights in the building, and who opened the padlocked gate of their new home to The Argus for exclusive interviews and photographs, were polite and idealistic.

“To me, this is somewhere safe,” said a woman who gave her name as Kelly, 22.

“Somewhere we can do things without having money. And it means there is somewhere safe for people who need it.

“This is about pro-active activism. Not ‘slacktivism’,” she added, in a criticism of keyboard warriors happy to share a collectivist tweet but not likely to get their fashionable shoes dirty.

The walls also feature positive messages like “Freedom to the people” and “Peace, love and wash your dishes” and there is certainly no shortage of activity on the drink and drug-free site.

The sound of hammering and sawing rang out throughout the building when we visited on Thursday and young men and women in dust masks hurried past on their way upstairs, where old classrooms were being transformed into living quarters for the homeless and for activists.

Amanda, a service sector worker in her mid-twenties, said: “The idea is to have a space where people can learn skills they didn’t know.

“We’ve got women learning how to be plumbers and people learning how to hang a door. The idea is to implement your politics in your daily life even if only for a short time.”

There will also be communal cooking and mealtimes, with food salvaged from skips around the city.

She insisted all would be welcome in the community centre, once it is up and running on Monday, with a proviso that sexism, racism, fascism, homophobia and violence will not be tolerated.

How does this inclusivity square with the slogans on some of the walls? “Well we have lots of groups here,” she explained.

The squatters have no hierarchy or leadership structure and are made up of activists from groups including the Raised Fists Collective, Brighton Anti Fascists and Alt SU.

They are protesting against the council’s use of Public Space Protection Orders as well as recent decisions by the University of Brighton to demote and reduce the pay of lecturers. The university says changes have only applied to a handful of postgraduate students.

A large open-plan room on the ground floor will host workshops and what used to be darkrooms are being repurposed to provide phone charging points.

Upstairs, rooms are being converted into living quarters.

University of Brighton student Flick, 27, said: “There are people here who are activists and there are rough sleepers and there’s people who are of no fixed abode, but most people here do have somewhere else to live. But for me, this space means I’m finally free. Since I started studying this course, I’ve had nowhere to live for seven months.

“I’ve been to the university several times, and they’ve just said ‘you shouldn’t be studying’ basically. The lecturers have been supportive though. It’s hard, this is the first time I’ve had my own space.”

A spokesman for the university urged homeless students to make contact anonymously, adding: “The wellbeing of our students is one of our paramount concerns and we provide an extensive range of welfare, advice and counselling services that can help students on a confidential basis.”

Within days the imposing padlocked gates surrounding the site will have intercoms installed so visitors can come and go easily.

And a programme of events including music courses, circus skills workshops and peer-to-peer meetings for addicts and those in recovery will be posted on the group’s Facebook page.

And how long will this novel community centre be in operation?

“The university isn’t using the space, hopefully they’ll see this isn’t a problem for them and it’ll be here for a good few months,” said Flick. “We’re not any trouble.”

• Those we spoke to declined to give their real names.