It organised free parties and became involved in housing, social exclusion, and community projects, founded upon the principle of DIY culture.

The fortnightly raves in venues across Bedfordshire attracted up to 10,000 people and, especially during the Marsh Farm riots of 1995, served to defuse tensions locally.

Exodus as a sound system was formed on 5 June 1992, when the collective hosted a free party near woods in Dunstable, Bedfordshire, promoting it through word of mouth in local pubs.

[1] It was renamed Long Meadow Community Free Farm and had goats, sheep, chickens, geese and Vietnamese pot-bellied pigs.

[3]: 84 [2] Whilst the Exodus collective attempted to create alternative approaches to social problems and crime, they regularly encountered police raids, injunctions and court appearances.

[2] Police later claimed that they had found £2,000 worth of ecstasy tablets next to a member of the collective's personal belongings and subsequently charged them with possession.

[3]: 84 Bedfordshire County Council voted unanimously in 1995 to support of a public inquiry into the alleged police harassment of Exodus, to be chaired by Michael Mansfield.

[2][5] MixMag profiled the collective in 1996, writing: "Exodus is more than just a free party sound system – it's a housing co-op, a city farm, a ray of light in the concrete no-man's land of Luton.

In an uncommon sequence of events, the trial was first brought forward six months and then the presiding judge (Maurice Drake) agreed to step aside since he was a Freemason and the Exodus collective had for years come into conflict with masons.

Further, the police had applied to revoke the licence of a pub in Luton run by Glenn Jenkins's mother, which was frequented by members of the collective.

[11] At the beginning of January 1993, Exodus had supported fourteen homeless people who were squatting a long-empty property in Luton called the Oakmore Hotel.

[1]: 194 [12]: 112  All the occupiers would pay their rent or housing benefit into a pot, and decisions as to how the money was spent (for example, renovating the building) were reached by consensus.

The rave was attended by 1,500–2,000 people and the local radio station is reported to have called the collective to tell them that whilst the event was happening there was no rioting at all.

[12]: 112–113 [14] In the aftermath of the 2011 England riots, Jenkins later commented in Red Pepper magazine: "From 1995 onwards we proved that youth diversion works better than police oppression.

[16] Member of Parliament for Mid Bedfordshire Jonathan Sayeed called on the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions to support a decision to evict Exodus from the farm.

[17] However, by the end of 1999, the collective had bought the farm co-operatively with loans from Triodos Bank and the Industrial Common Ownership Movement (ICOM).

At the cost of £25,000, the police used a helicopter and 140 officers to stop vehicles, seize the sound system and arrest three people on suspicion of obstruction.

Despite the difficulties, members of the group would persevere in their vision to build a truly "people-led" community and social centre in Marsh Farm, referred to as The Ark.

[1] After initially securing funding from the Civic Trust's Regeneration Unit, the application was blocked when Chief Constable Michael O'Byrne raised concerns over the group's support for the legalisation of cannabis.