Mutual aid

Mutual aid is when people work together to help each other with things they need. This could include:

 sharing food, clothes or medicine 
 running breakfast programs
 providing education
 helping during emergencies like natural disasters or health crises

 About mutual aid 

Mutual aid is different from charity because:

 there are no conditions on who can get help
 everyone involved makes decisions together 
 people take responsibility for supporting each other
 the aim is both to help people and to change the situations that created problems

 How mutual aid works 

 Working together 

In mutual aid groups:

 everyone can take part
 there are no bosses or leaders
 all members have equal power to make decisions
 decisions are made by reaching agreement as a group

 Types of support 

Groups work together to:

 identify what people need
 find ways to meet those needs
 share resources and skills
 tackle the root causes of problems

 History of mutual aid 

The idea of mutual aid became well known through Peter Kropotkin's book 'Mutual Aid: A Factor of Evolution' in 1902. 

Kropotkin showed that working together, not competing, helped humans and animals survive. This challenged ideas that competition was most important for evolution.

 Examples of mutual aid 

 Historical examples 

From the 1800s to early 1900s, mutual aid included:

 trade unions
 friendly societies that helped members with healthcare and funeral costs
 craft guilds
 working men's clubs that provided health insurance

 Recent examples 

More recently, mutual aid has been important in:

 Black communities
 working-class neighbourhoods
 immigrant groups
 LGBT+ communities

During the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic in 2020, mutual aid groups:

 delivered food and medicine
 helped people who were isolating
 provided support at neighbourhood and street level
 created connections between people during lockdown

 Challenges for mutual aid groups 

Groups may struggle with:

 finding people with technical skills
 getting funding
 being taken seriously by official organisations
 avoiding power imbalances between members

Category:Relationships