Local Currency Watch: The Brixton Pound

Against an ever-worsening economic climate, Brixton, the south London area in the Borough of Lambeth famed for it’s diverse community, has decided to single handedly combat the recession within it’s borders through an ingenious adaptation of money. With small local businesses and the high street particularly affected by the downturn, Transition Town Brixton (TTB), a community-led organisation for action on energy issues and climate change, has initiated the Brixton Pound [B£] project – providing the area with money that will stick to Brixton and thereby supporting local trade and business.

The B£ is the UK’s first local currency in an urban area and has been widely lauded by community groups, whilst 70 local stores, pubs and cafes, alongside 700 residents, have signed up for the project, agreeing to swap their cash for the new currency. With a one-to-one exchange rate, and with the notes unusable outside of the Brixton area, Lambeth City Council has thrown full weight behind the scheme with a hope that the 40000 Brixton notes will stimulate a local renaissance in these turgid times. With well known Brixton figures, both past and present, gracing the watermarked notes, the initiative is a key example of the fantastic creativity and community spirit within the area.

Watch a video about the project below.

[image and video via Transition Culture]