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Green Area Social Club (GAS Club)
A Live Earth GAS Club is for people who feel that
- they are part of the Earth / Nature / Planet
- all things and all beings are interconnected
- all things and beings are worthy of respect
- they would like human society to develop in a sustainable and harmonious manner.
When people come together they need to socialize and celebrate. This is especially important in the early stages. Through meeting each other and sharing experiences, trust develops and bonding occurs. This is essential human and animal activity.
The aim of the GAS club is to offer a program of regular social events of all kinds to facilitate this. When we sing, laugh, dance, play, eat and talk together the defences come down and a sense of belonging arises.
As well as this, regular seasonal celebrations reflect the different points of the year and seasons and help to locate people in time and space and locality.
In this way the knitting together of people and nature and the seasons is facilitated to help underpin the emerging community.
The GAS club forms the bedrock of the Area Co-op and is the first part to be put in place. Through turning the ‘social wheel’ people become involved and engaged. As well as strengthening the bonding process this also facilitates the organisation and communication with the members. This evolution is of course essential to the implementation of the various services and activities.
As the wheel of the year turns, celebration and activity act to develop and deepen the story line of the area co-op. Local identity arises and a strong feeling of belonging and cooperative fellowship emerges. This is essential for the healthy development of the Area Co-op.
This co-operative social experience forms the mulch or compost that the emerging ‘plant’ will grow in. As in all growth the roots must first go down before the shoots reach up.
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