Next gathering
The dates for the next gathering will be
15th – 17th May 2026
This is a three-day gathering incorporating our AGM.
This gathering will be blended with digital access to all main meetings and workshops relating to agenda items.
Venue:
Earthworm Housing Co-operative,
Wheatstone House,
High Street,
Leintwardine,
Herefordshire,
SY70LH
Hosts: Earthworm Housing Co-operative and Gatherings & Access Working Group.
Purpose of Gatherings
Radical Routes business – decision-making and discussion, reporting on work done and allocating tasks to do
Introduction to how RR works and how to participate in it
Keeping up with each other’s co-op news – meeting new members, helping with problems, celebrating achievements
Socialising, skill-sharing, inspiring each other – building relationships of trust so we can work together well
Meeting new people and spreading consciousness of radical co-operation as a tool for re-making our world.
Who can come?
Gatherings are open to everyone:
Delegates of member co-ops
Other co-op members, associates and friends who want to participate in the network
People from new or existing co-ops who are interested in joining
Random other visitors or interested people.
What happens there?
Delegates of member co-ops need to attend business meetings on behalf of their co-ops
Anyone at a gathering can attend any meeting
There are workshops (consensus decision-making, facilitation, how to set up a workers co-op), trainings, discussions
at a physical gathering, there are lots of things to do outside meetings: putting up and taking down marquees, hanging out, food prep, kids group, queer space, banner-making, etc.
attending gatherings online, some gatherings offer support for blended access, with business meetings and workshops accessible via online video link and space to socialise on DiscordNew groups should attend the ‘New Groups’ meeting, and new people should attend the introductory sessions
Gatherings are usually quite intense, with lots of people trying to share a lot of information and make lots of decisions in a relatively small amount of time. If you particularly want to communicate with a specific person you don’t know, feel free to ask someone who knows what’s going on for help.
REGISTER HERE:
Use this link to register:
Registration deadline:
5pm, Monday, 4th of May
It is super important that you register on time so that the right amount of food can be bought and beds can be allocated according to need.
Online Access:
Online access to meetings and workshops:
This gathering will be blended, with digital access to all main meetings and workshops relating to agenda items.
All meeting links can be found on the Team Up calendar, HERE
Venue Information
Arrival Time:-
Financial Literacy Workshop participants are welcome from 11am. All others, arrival is from 3pm on Friday the 15th. Thank you.
Venue Details:-
Earthworm Housing Co-op, Wheatstone House, High Street, Leintwardine, Herefordshire, SY70LH
Accommodation & Park up:
There is lots of space to camp and space for a few small(ish) living vehicles. If you are unable to camp please register as early as possible and let us know your needs on the registration form.
Earthworm have some camping gear they can lend out to those who don’t have (or can’t transport) their own, and we can arrange help putting up tents if needed. There might be some limited floor space in the house for sleeping. There is also a hotel in the village, AirBnBs and a B&B a couple of miles away.
Access Needs:
There is a short piece of ground between the track and the marquee (where meetings will be held) that may be difficult for wheelchair access if it has been wet, so we are currently working out the best option to solve this. We are hiring an accessible portaloo.
About Earthworm:
We are in a village called Leintwardine with two pubs, a fish ‘n’ chip shop, a decent garage-supermarket and nice walks up the hill or down to the river meadow. On our own land we have a mix of orchards, young coppice, wilder areas, kitchen garden and lawn(ish)/meadow areas. The land also has some beautiful standard trees and a WET system for treating our sewage/ grey water.
There are 2 dogs and 5 chickens. Please don’t bring any dogs or other animals unless they are an assistance animal. Please let us know if you are bringing a dog, as one of ours is deaf and partially sighted and we need to manage other dogs carefully to not stress her out. Any dog here needs to be on a lead at all times. There are also lots of wild birds, bats and animals about to spot.
Although a ‘midnight wild wee’ can’t always be avoided, please use the compost toilets and sit-down and stand-up urinals the rest of the time. We have spent a long time scything the nettles down and don’t want to give them extra fertiliser!
Finally we have neighbours on 2 sides of our land, so please be respectful outside after 11pm. We will be able to have ‘noisy’ fun in our Events Room late at night!
Potential Dangers For Children:
There are several ponds/ bodies of water, which are fenced off on the land. There is a barn full of wood and large piles of unsawn timber, which are also fenced off. There are lots of smaller piles of wood around the site which you also need to be mindful of. We sadly have a currently dilapidated green house which is fenced off too. We are next to a busy road which is fenced off in
our inner area, but not the outer area. There will be two designated fire pits.
Fun things for children… all of which can be potentially dangerous and require supervision. There is a trampoline and tree house which are fun and we also have a zipline which needs some attention before use and will be fenced off if this isn’t done before the gathering. If it’s hot we can get paddling pools out and there are some swings and a slide for younger children. Children should be supervised at
all times, anywhere on the site and they are the responsibility of their parents.
About our children at Earthworm… finally we have 5 children here aged 8 to 13. They have some things they are happy to share with visiting children, which they will leave out and if a toy or game is behind some orange fence please don’t use it. Also some are very shy, so please make sure your children respect ‘private no entry’ signs, so they don’t accidentally freak out one of them.
Travel Information
By Car:
Our address is Earthworm Housing Co-op, Wheatstone House, High Street, Leintwardine, Herefordshire, SY7 0LH. Sat nav will bring you to our gate. Access is from Dark Lane and not High Street.
Parking:
Once our site is full there will be ‘overflow’ parking 5 to 10 minutes walk away. You will be able to pull in, drop your stuff off and be given directions to a suitable place to park.
DO NOT PARK ON DARK LANE – your car will be towed!
We will direct you where to park. If you arrive late at night, drive to the end of Dark Lane, turn right and park by the school, not on the yellow lines.
Lifts and Limiting Car Numbers:
If coming by car please try to share lifts and fill cars, as parking is limited. Please share on the registration form if you can offer lifts.
By Bus or Train:
The nearest train station is “Hopton Heath” which is a lovely quiet 3 mile ride or walk from our house mostly using the relatively quiet “Jay lane” which links the B4367 with Leintwardine High Street. BUT Hopton Heath is a request stop on the “Heart of Wales” train line, and is only served by about four trains a day, unlike the basically-hourly services to Ludlow or Craven Arms.
The best station is Ludlow. There are buses from Ludlow to Leintwardine which run at 8:50, 12:50, 15:55 and 17:50 every day except Sunday, service “740”. Ask to get off at Dark Lane at the top of the village by the Health Centre.
Some lifts-from-the-station will also be coordinated – let us know an arrival time when you book if possible.
There is also a station in Craven Arms about 8 miles from our door but no bus service. If you’re coming by bike the cycle is much nicer from Craven Arms (quiet, green, rolling) than from (steep, hilly, busy) Ludlow.
KIDS
IT IS VERY IMPORTANT THAT YOU TELL US IF YOU ARE BRINGING CHILDREN. Please fill out information about children you or your coop are bringing when you register for the gathering.
Please register as early as possible so we can plan appropriate activities. We are very glad that you are bringing children to the gathering and we are looking forward to spending time with them. The kids’ space is run by the Kids Working Group.
We are a voluntary group of people who are members of co-ops within the network.
We will be there for the kids while meetings are on but we ask that you come and supervise the children you are responsible for at lunch and dinner so we can eat too. Kids space does not continue into the evening. We will organise child-friendly food/snacks. Food & snacks will be kid friendly & vegan.
Please bring clothes for all weathers for your child as we are hoping to go outside!
Kids Group Volunteer Recruitment Procedure
Childcare and kids group Children are very welcome at the gathering and will have a great
time in RR kids group during meetings. There is a section on the registration form for children, please
fill in their details there. Kids Group contact for this gathering is Lucy – Lucy.day.music@protonmail.com
There will be a kids group working group meeting on Saturday at 9am for anyone interested in getting involved. Kids group urgently needs more people from regular involvement to occasional support but in particular we need more core members. Thanks.
Timetable
Friday 15th:
Financial Literacy for Co-operatives Friday 15th May, 1.30 – 6.40pm at the gathering
If you don’t know your Assets from your Equity, you’re confused about cashflow and annual accounts make you awfully anxious, come along and learn the language of finance.
An easy-paced day which will leave you feeling more confident about understanding and working with money in your co-op.
Please book on at finlitreg@radicalroutes.org.uk, with your name and co-op/potential co-op
This session is run regularly as part of the May and November Radical Routes gatherings and is always free and open to all
18.30 – 19.30 Supper
Saturday 16th:
8.00 – 10.00 Breakfast
10.30 – 13.30 Meetings and Workshops
13.30 – 14.30 Lunch
14.30 – 18.30 Workshops
18.30 – 19.30 Supper
19.00 onwards – Disco!
Sunday 17th:
8.00 – 10.00 Breakfast
9.30 – 11.00 Workshops and Working Group Meetings
11.00 -12.00 Presentations
12.00 – 13.00 Lunch
13.00 – 14.30 Sunday Business Meeting
SLEEPING ARRANGEMENTS
Please see venue information above.
What You Need to bring
What to bring:
● Everything you need to camp including tent, sleeping bag, roll mat
● Torch
● Boots/Wellies and wet weather gear
● Warm clothes and sun hats!
● Camping chair if possible (we do have some if you can’t)
● Cash for cake stall and bar
● Songs/ Poems/ Improvised Dance routines etc for open mike on Friday
● Sparkles and glitter for Saturday Night Disco
We have some tents, roll mats, sleeping bags and blankets we could loan to travelers avoiding bulk. Please state what you need on the registration form.
Please bring card payments for meal tickets and cash for bar and cake stall.
Food
Three meals a day plus hot drinks will be provided, and all food will be vegan. It’s best for us if you pay for the whole weekend when you arrive (new groups and individuals who are not members of an RR co-op need to pay for food in advance, details will be emailed when registrations are received). Card payment for meals is hugely preferred please! If arriving Friday evening, it will be £20 for the weekend. Alternatively if you’re only having a couple of meals they can be paid for individually at £3.50/meal hot drinks are included.
Kids eat free. If you have any special requirements ie. gluten free, nut free please state on the registration form.
Please make sure you tell us ASAP if you have additional dietary requirements on the registration form. If you tell us after the 4th May we can’t guarantee to provide what you need.
Entertainment
CAKE, BAR & FUN
There will be a bar run by Ashbank, and Earthworm will be selling cake. On Friday night there will be an open mic session and on Saturday night a Sparkly Glitter disco…don’t forget to bring your glad-rags and sparkles!
NEW GRoups and People
If you’re new to Radical Routes (whether you’re a new member in an existing co-op or you’re a new co-op looking at Radical Routes), there is a series of workshops designed to introduce you to the workings of Radical Routes and Co-ops in general. They’re informative, exciting and essential! If you’re from a new group, it’s essential that you register your presence with Co-op Support Group by attending the New Groups meeting. This is so that they can confirm you have attended the gatherings as required, arrange joining visits and generally keep you on track.
DONATIONS
If you’re attending as a new group/non-member co-op/interested
individual, we would be grateful for a donation if you can afford it, to help cover the costs of putting on a gathering – suggested donation from £5 to £50 per person. We don’t want this to be prohibitive and it is absolutely not compulsory if you’re not in a financial position to do so. There will be a cash collection tin on the Welcome Desk for this.
PoC HUDDLE
Look for the PoC Welcome, Friday evening.
There will be a Saturday lunchtime PoC Huddle, to which all people of colour are welcome. To avoid the lunch queue eating into our time together, if you are a person of colour and would like to come to the Huddle, please sign up by 10am Saturday at the welcome Desk, and we will try to get lunch delivered to us! For more info about the Huddle, please call Mil (Walden Pond) on 07980 748 555.
DOGS
Strictly no Dogs Unless they are Service Dogs. Sorry we love them furry things too.
Other info
Please come and see us at the welcome desk if you can facilitate, co-facilitate or minute take for meetings or workshops – there will be a sign up sheet.
There will also be a sign up sheet for help needed in the kitchen, washing up rota etc
If you would like a buddy to help you navigate the gathering come and see us at the welcome desk. If it’s your first gathering it can be a lot to take in, but there’s a lot of friendly folk around who’ll be happy to help.
SEND US YOUR WORKSHOP/ SKILLSHARE/ DISCUSSION IDEAS! It’s a really good idea to timetable them. Gatherings@RadicalRoutes.org.uk
Any other questions? Please email enquiries@radicalroutes.org.uk