In a nutshell
In 1998 a group of us jointly purchased an old hospital site and converted it into 22 homes of differing shapes and sizes to suit our family needs.
We call ourselves The Community Project Ltd and we live on the edge of the small village of Laughton in East Sussex.
The 23 acres of land and a small number of other buildings on the site provide communal facilities. We have office spaces, guest rooms and events spaces, which are all available to the public.
We do not live “communally”. Instead, our lifestyle resembles the “co-housing” model. This isn’t so well known in the UK as other countries, but we aim to change that.
Our individual homes are private, yet we jointly manage the land, rental spaces and shared utilities such as our bio mass heating system. We are lucky to have natural spring water, great neighbours, lots of land for all our families and animals, and a beautifully peaceful setting.
There is no one specific ideology that defines us, but we have outlined some of our shared goals in more detail below.
Our ethos
We share resources where feasible and aim for our land and facilities to be as sustainable as possible.
We want to live next door to people we know, like and trust. We aim to positively support each other in various ways.
Regardless of liking our neighbours, or agreeing with them, we aim to treat everyone here with respect at all times.
Often, close friendships develop, both amongst the adults and the children.
There are no specific philosophies or lifestyles that we adhere to, and residents bring a multitude of cultural experiences for us all to share.
We are founder members of GENWISE, the UK branch of the Global Ecovillage Network, and aim to adhere to the network’s Dimensions of Sustainability.
GEN is a growing network of regenerative communities and initiatives that bridge cultures, countries, and continents.
GEN exists to build bridges between policy-makers, governments, NGOs, academics, entrepreneurs, activists, community networks and ecologically-minded individuals across the globe in order to develop strategies for a global transition to resilient communities and cultures.
In summary, we are joined by a broad sense or a spirit of community.

Who are we?
We are a group of families and individuals, with around 70 residents when the University kids are at home.
We range in age from newborn to seventies.
Most homes consist of families with one or more children.
We are keen to maintain a balance within the group of both age and family situation.
Some of us are at home engaged in childcare, others have either full or part-time jobs. We have several self employed residents and some are even retired.
Our professions are wide-ranging, including managerial, artistic, teaching, medical, computing, media, financial, to name but a few.
The land
The land is shared communally and consists mainly of open meadow land, with some clumps of trees, and a strip of woodland along one border. There are gardens immediately around the houses, and two ponds.
The large pink building, Shawfield, is our community space and provides considerable facilities, including a hall, a large kitchen, a games room, a music room, a dining area, meeting rooms, bathrooms, guest rooms and an office complex.
We have a workshop and tool pool and we have other smaller out buildings for art, woodwork and more.
Laughton Lodge is on the edge of the small village of Laughton, which has around 600 inhabitants, a church, a primary school, a pub and a thriving village shop.
Ringmer, a larger village, with a secondary school is just three miles away, and Lewes and Uckfield are both six miles away. Our nearest useful train stations are Lewes and Uckfield.
The coastal city of Brighton and town of Eastbourne are both about 15 miles away.
It’s not all roses…
It would be too easy to come and visit our beautiful site and be carried away by the romance of it all.
Sometimes communal living can be hard work, sometimes neighbours fall out, sometimes we get a bit too muddy.
If you want your experience here to help you grow as a person, you’ll need a different kind of commitment to normal living.
It’s not easy, for example, for a group of 30+ adults to make decisions together. Meetings can be lengthy as many people want their say and it can be difficult to resolve opposing views. Everyone, at one time or another has to let go of dearly held opinions, for the sake of finding consensus with the group.
Inevitably members need to give up certain individual freedoms.
For example, with no private land, people need to negotiate or take on a stewarding role before undertaking anything major in the garden. Compromise and negotiation are the name of the game, but people don’t say “no” to good ideas for the sake of it either.
With many long term residents still smiling, it’s clear we feel that the benefits we derive from the community far outweigh any individual sacrifices.
We are not all similar types of people. Some are naturally more sociable than others.
Some have strongly-held, very individualistic ideas.
Some love meetings, others loathe them!
Some adore the chaos created by children, others find it trying.
But the community way of life seems to suit us all in different ways — maybe it will suit you too?