ACE formed out of the Edinburgh Unemployed Workers Centre of the 1980s, which was originally a non-partisan council office, which later split from the council when it became increasingly politicised due to the struggles of the period such as resistance to the poll tax.
[3] In a flyer circulated in 1996, ACE stated the following aims for the project: In 2000 the following groups were using the centre: Autonomous Women of Edinburgh, Angry Youth, Edinburgh Animal Rights, Youth Solidarity Group, the Mutiny Collective and Prisoners’ Support, May Day Edinburgh, anti-terrorism bill.
[5] The revolutionary, class struggle anarchist news sheet Counter Information was based in the centre.
[6][7] In 2014 those involved with the ACE collective produced the statement "From Yes to Action", an attempt to understand the political context after the failed Scottish independence referendum.
[8] In 2016 ACE supported University of Edinburgh students who occupied Charles Stewart House demanding divestment.