Editing WOMBLES (section)

== Social centres ==
[[File:London Social Centre Russell Square squat 1 20060329.jpg|thumb|right|250px|The Square social centre in 2006]]
The WOMBLES were also inspired by [[self-managed social centres in Italy]] and therefore began a series of [[Self-managed social centres in the United Kingdom|social centres]] in London. Firstly, they [[squatted]] the Radical Dairy on Kynaston Road in [[Stoke Newington]]. This lasted from 2001 until 2003.<ref name="City" /> The aim was to build long-term relationships with local people and to avoid capitalist property relations. From this centre, participants were then involved with other projects such as the Ex-Grand Banks, [[RampART]], the Institute for Autonomy and The Square.<ref name="City" /> The Button Factory squat in southeast London was evicted by police and partially demolished by the owner before the 2001 May Day demonstrations.<ref name="Base">{{cite news |title=Police raid 'anarchist' base |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/1254086.stm |access-date=24 November 2019 |date=1 April 2001 |archive-date=17 August 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170817045427/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/1254086.stm |url-status=live }}</ref> The Ex-Grand Banks at 156-158 Fortess Road, in [[Tufnell Park]], north London was opened on 4 March 2004. It became an activist hub before being evicted in August.<ref name="Banks">{{cite web |title=Today in London's squatting history: Ex-Grand Banks social centre opens, 2004 |url=https://pasttenseblog.wordpress.com/2016/03/04/today-in-londons-squatting-history-ex-grand-banks-social-centre-opens-2004/ |website=past tense |access-date=24 November 2019 |language=en |date=4 March 2016 |archive-date=24 November 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191124204316/https://pasttenseblog.wordpress.com/2016/03/04/today-in-londons-squatting-history-ex-grand-banks-social-centre-opens-2004/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

As well as organising in physical spaces, the WOMBLES used the internet to reach a wider audience, enabling solidarity networks.<ref name="Networked">{{cite journal |last1=Lacey |first1=Anita |title=Networked Communities |journal=Space and Culture |date=18 August 2016 |volume=8 |issue=3 |pages=286–301 |doi=10.1177/1206331205277350|s2cid=145336405 }}</ref>

The third [[European Social Forum]] (ESF) was held in London in 2004. The WOMBLES organised a countersummit held at Middlesex University called 'Beyond ESF' which provided a space for European radical social movements to meet and engage, focusing primarily on the issue of [[precarity]].<ref name="Practices">{{cite book |last1=Mattoni |first1=Alice |title=Media practices and protest politics : how precarious workers mobilise |date=August 2012 |publisher=Ashgate |isbn=978-1-409-42678-3 |page=4}}</ref>