Popular searches:
Railway children Access What's on Learning Visit
Large black and red banner reading “It starts with words! It ends with action!” hanging in front of bookshelves.

Podcast – At The 1 in 12 Club

A new podcast series that dives deep into the history, spirit and everyday realities of one of Bradford’s most enduring radical spaces.

Published: January 13, 2026

Author: Home of Metal

At The 1 in 12 Club explores a remarkable story of liberty, equality and solidarity at the centre of Bradford’s radical history.

A brand new podcast and publication

From Home of Metal

The 1 in 12 Club, founded in 1981 by the Claimants Union, grew from a self-managed, member-run social centre for the city’s unemployed community into a thriving hub of DIY culture, rooted in anarchist principles of co-operation and mutual aid. Capturing that legacy has been an inspiring journey.

Home of Metal have brought our signature approach to this work: celebrating the creativity and community that build cultural movements, and treating these underground scenes as vital pieces of contemporary heritage. It’s been a privilege to help ensure these stories are documented rather than left to fade.

Over the last year, we’ve collaborated with a brilliant group of volunteers to collect oral histories and digitise decades of ephemera. The result? A brand-new publication and an accompanying podcast series, available to read and listen to using the links below!

Not Just a Building

Publication: The history of the 1 in 12 Club

Taken from over 50 interviews and extensive archival material, this publication brings together memories and ephemera, from personal photographs and flyers to handwritten notes to create an intimate, tactile portrait of the 1 in 12 Club’s evolving history. It celebrates collective memory and the care, curiosity, and commitment of all who contributed.
More than a venue, the 1 in 12 is a living community, joyful, resilient, imperfect, and ever-evolving. The publication and accompanying three-part podcast series tell the Club’s story through the voices of members and artists who have sustained it for over four decades, revealing a space shaped by solidarity, resistance, and chosen family.

At The 1 in 12 Club – Not Just A Building

Episode 1

A Place of Resistance

In Episode 1: At The 1 in 12 Club – A Place of Resistance, we’ll hear about how the club has managed to survive as a social centre owned and run by a membership that operates on the anarchist principles of self-management, co-operation and mutual aid. And whilst the club motto ‘More than just a building’ does speak to those political ideals – sometimes it boils down to more practical matters, as long-running member Jon Gregson so eloquently puts it:

“Dialectics is fine, but it doesn’t answer the real life question of, who’s going to clean the bloody toilets.”
Jon Gregson Member, 1 in 12 Club
Episode 1 - A Place of Resistance ↗

Episode 2

A Place of Community

In this episode, we explore how the 1 in 12 Club is a vital hub for connection, solidarity, and shared purpose. Through personal stories and memories, we uncover how the space fostered belonging, activism, and a sense of home for those who needed it most. As Gary Cavanagh puts it:

We are a members’ club, so everybody who pays their membership owns the building and there’s no leaders, there’s no ownership, everybody owns it, so it’s collectively run basically.
Gary Cavanagh A founder, 1 in 12 Club
Episode 2 - A Place of Community ↗
Credits →
This is a Capsule production and a Home of Metal project, commissioned by Bradford 2025 UK City of Culture. Home of Metal’s work connects music, social history, visual art and fan culture to offer a fresh perspective on counterculture. We celebrate the creativity and community that shape scenes, recognising them as a vital part of our contemporary heritage, shining a light on underground stories that might otherwise fade into the haze.

Podcast produced by Martha Kean.

This project was made possible with funding from The National Lottery Heritage Fund.

Team:
Designer – David Hand
Project Producer – Sophie Powell
Editor – Andy Abbott
Exec Producer Home of Metal – Kate Self
Artistic Director Home of Metal – Lisa Meyer