Bradford’s 1 in 12 Club still fighting after 45 years

Bradford’s 1 in 12 Club, an anarchic volunteer‑run social centre and gig venue, is 45 years on and remains active in the city. As part of Bradford’s year as the 2025 UK City of Culture, and in collaboration with cultural history organisation Home of Metal, a new book and three‑part podcast tell 1 in 12’s story, with contributions from members and bands including Lankum, Chumbawamba, Therapy?

and Neurosis. The club grew out of the early 1980s. "Things were getting grim," Gary Cavanagh recalls of Bradford in the early 1980s, when he was working for the city’s claimants union in 1981 and a government report claimed "one in 12" dole recipients were defrauding the state. He and friends reclaimed that statistic as an identity and became the 1 in 12 Club, initially putting on gigs and leftwing political meetings in pubs.

Since 1988 the club has occupied a building the volunteers spent two years converting, its walls bearing a mural reading "liberty, equality and solidarity." Over three floors, each plastered with leftist stickers and posters, it houses a cafe, members’ bar, games room and extensive library, and a 90‑capacity gig room that has hosted acts ranging from New Model Army to Pulp and Bikini Kill.

Politics are central but not imposed. The club was built around anarchist principles of self‑management, co‑operation and mutual aid, and Cavanagh says: "We were always fighting fascists.

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