The Spike Surplus Scheme was a community-run self-managed social centre in a squatted building in Peckham, South London.
The Spike Surplus Scheme was established in 1999 when a fly-tipped, vandalised site at 39b Consort Road in the London Borough of Southwark was squatted.
[1] The building had in the past been a doss-house or "spike" (a shelter of last resort) serving the unemployed, homeless, and urban poor for over a century.
[2] Alongside other squatted projects such as 121 Centre, 491 Gallery, 56a Infoshop and RampART, the Spike developed into an alternative institution promoting social movements and local initiatives.
[1] Despite various fundraising drives, including selling 'Peckham diamonds' which were bits of glass from broken car windows filed down and sold in plastic wallets, the centre was unable to buy the site.