#empty stores

People in Munich are starting to buy the stores empty and it’s kinda unsettling...

Guys, c’mon.

Saturday, the hubs and I went on an adventure. It was an interesting adventure full of many different experiences. While out, we encountered a zombie village!!! I didn’t see any zombies out, but they had to be there… Notice the “empty” store fronts?? I am sure there were stirrings somewhere in the backs of these dark stores. We also found a last century relic: No dial tone, however. A close up…

I’ve written about my own political problems as reasons to defect, but this is on top of the common and everyday problems that most Czechoslovakians had to live with.

There was a lack of merchandise we wanted buy and could afford. Standing in line to shop was a daily chore. Milk and meat were sold out by 5pm. Nuts and lentils were available at Christmas but not the rest of the year. Toilet paper was always hit or miss. Feminine hygiene products? Forget it. We made our own for the ladies in our home. We had to bribe or know an employee at a store or factory to get the item we wanted - washing machine, motorcycle, you name it.

Educational opportunities were limited for many. If I had been born in a working class family or a Communist family, I could have gone to university. However, my grandfather owned a deli in Prague when the Communists came to power. They confiscated the deli and marked our family as a capitalist pig family and denied higher education to us.

There was a general lack of freedom and choice. We didn’t even get to choose our family doctor. One doctor was assigned to each neighborhood, and that’s who you went too. If you wanted a different doctor, you had to move to a different neighborhood which was almost impossible. Waiting lists for apartments were up to 25+ years long. You might get an apartment about the time your children were adults. If you wanted to swap apartments with another family, it had to be approved by the government.

3Space, a charity who negotiate with the owners of empty property to allow other charities and community projects access, have an exciting competition.

Read on to find out how you could win up to £1,500 and free access to an empty store for your dream charity project!

Empty shops blight our high streets, it's estimated 30% won't be used for retail ever again, yet charities funding is being cut and community centres are closing.

Which is why 3Space are delighted to announce 'High Street Hijack', a competition to reward charitable organisations who can come up with innovative and creative ideas about how they can temporarily use these vacant spaces. Yes, that's right we're looking for charity pop-ups, community projects or anything else that you can come up with centred around the occupation of one of our empty units.

All you have to do is come up with something truly original and impactful. To balance this we want to see applications that are feasible and that you'll be able to get off the drawing board. Past projects have included social enterprise incubation, drop in centres and community education workshops. More examples of past projects in our spaces can be found at our website.

Not only will the winning project get FREE use of an empty retail unit, but you'll also receive up to £1,500 to help you pull off something that is not only memorable but that will also be of a real benefit to the surrounding community and your organisation.

So what are you waiting for, get planning how you could take over an empty shop to benefit the community!

Register your interest by emailing us at [email protected] and keep an eye on www.3space.org and @3spaceorg for updates on how to apply.

Preliminary details:

You must be a registered charitable organisation or social enterprise based in the UK

All entries must be submitted by 10 November 2011 

The judges will select the top 5 entries, and then there will be a public vote for the overall winner from 23-30 November 2011.

Projects will be judged on:

Originality & creativity

Reach & benefit

Community involvement