Resource Centres – The Hidden History of a Radical Movement

This article examines the overlooked history of trade-union and community-based resource centres that flourished in the UK during the 1980s and 1990s. Emerging from the Community Development Projects of the 1970s, these centres responded to mass unemployment, industrial decline, and the rise of Conservative neo-liberal policies. They provided welfare rights advice, political campaigning support, and community arts programmes, offering vital spaces for solidarity and collaboration between trade unions and grassroots groups.

 

At their height, resource centres formed a national network supporting tens of thousands, combining practical resources, such as meeting rooms, printing facilities, and early computing, with grassroots activism. However, funding crises, technological changes, and shifting political contexts led to their decline and closure by the early 2010s.

 

In this article, Steven Schofield (of Friends of Bradford Resource Centre) argues that the legacy of resource centres lies in their innovative, locally driven approach to radical politics, offering valuable lessons for contemporary movements facing austerity and political disenfranchisement.

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