What an AMAZING week at Reclaim the Power action camp.

An action camp is where people come together for several days to learn from each other and to take action on an issue. Reclaim the Power is about taking action against climate change and extreme energy (such as fracking). The group organises horizontally meaning that they are anti-hierarchy and work to increase equality, using techniques such as consensus decision making. Hundreds of people not only attend but work to create the camp, it’s workshops and it’s actions with people encouraged to learn and take on responsibility.

During the camp I was co-ordinating the toilets. Many of the people organising parts of the camp were completely new to the group at last years camp. By having several people shadowing a role and continually bringing new people in to roles you can very quickly grow the capacity of the movement.

As well as a march in Blackpool there were 13 different ‘affinity groups’ who undertook direct actions and protest against fracking. An affinity group is a group of people with similar aims who come together to take action on something. Direct action is where rather than ask for someone else (e.g. a politician) to do something for you, you do it yourself. So if you think something is harmful and should shut down, you don’t just ask, but you go and try to shut them down. Protesting is very similar and can even involve the same activities but is designed to get a third party to take action. One group blockaded DEFRA because of a redacted government report to demand the full version be released. Others put themselves in the way of fracking companies.

Jonny is the creator and editor of Stir magazine which focuses on community alternatives for a positive future. I asked him about how he had managed to get the magazine started.

This year was my first time at The Green Gathering festival. Although it had many of the normal components of a music festival it felt very different. People come together at the Green Gathering not just to party but to network, learn and protect the environment. There was a permaculture area, a craft skills area, music, campaigns, speakers, kids area, healing area and earth energies spiritual area. The days menu of options started early with free yoga and Tai Chi and ended late with music and talks. The food included gorgeous vegetarian and vegan food (I met Veggies again, doing a great trade), and many activities such as massage were by donation. A place were I spent a lot of beautiful time was the mobile Sento Spa. Fueled by a woodstove and funded by donations, the people working there made you feel so cared for it was a world away from a commercial space.

Although the festival has music it doesn’t have any of the big mainstream names which means that people going there are going for other reasons too. I bumped into several lovely people that I’d met along the walk as well as meeting new people doing amazing things like Tom the morris dancing pilgrim.

The Trust for Conservation Volunteers (TCV) in Leeds works to enhance habitats but like a number of TCV groups they also enhance the well being of people. A number of the staff have a background in the health profession and people are referred to them for therapeutic reasons. I’d come accross the Green Gym idea years ago at TCV where participants keep fit by doing practical work, however in Leeds it goes much further. Due to the interests and care of the staff, they are supporting people with serious health problems who are referred by health and social workers. The success stories are many but include literally saving people from ending their lives. The huge society benefit and social care that this group is providing is hidden underneath the label of ‘environmental conservation’. The health of our environment and ourselves are intricately linked. To have a habitable planet we must also pursue social justice. To have social justice we must protect the life around us. The lines blur everywhere I look as it does not make sense to divide and separate our aims. We want a healthy future, for all of us. My gratitude and respect go out to all the wonderful people working so hard to bring it about.

The diploma is an incredible way to help people turn their lives around and is free to people who are unemployed and over 19. It’s one more way that people have found to retrain, to change their lives  and to follow their heart.

Walking in to Bradford was a shock to the system after the beautiful countryside. Many areas suffer deprivation and there were empty shops all over the place except for in the city center. The Transition group in Bradford no longer operates, as they found the city too big for the Transition model. But what happened instead was that the group seeded other wonderful initiatives. I’ve come across this in a few different cities now that groups come together for a purpose and even if the original group closes down it starts off other groups with related aims. The important thing seems to be coming together and trying to make a change. No effort is wasted. Like a wave that washes up and then recedes, the energy of it’s passing changes the land beneath it.

Horton Community Farm is one fantastic example of this. Through the work of local residents over five years, a derelict allotment site that was attracting crime has become a community farm.

Leaving Manchester someone said to me:

So you’ve done the flat bit then, it’s all hilly here on up!

Having already crossed the Pennies once I can attest that the Yorkshire Moors really are very hilly and the best way to see them is on foot (you can’t take a motor vehicle on to them and, judging from the facial expressions I saw, biking looks like torture).

Stunningly beautiful but watch out for the wiry slippery grass, it’ll move your legs from under you without warning! 🙂

As fossil fuels become harder to get and more dangerous to burn there is a push to exploit ever more extreme forms of energy. Fracking is one of a number of controversial ‘extreme energies’ that the current governement is pushing and local communities are resisting. Reclaim the Power is a grassroots organisation that comes together to oppose climate change. People volunteer their time to work together and this 14th-20th August will see an action camp in Blackpool.

The camp is an opportunity to oppose extreme energy, to network with other people who care and to learn new skills. If you’d like to go, save the dates in your diary and head to Blackpool. Check the facebook page as the final site location will be revealed at the last minute!

See you there 🙂

Incredible Edible is now a phrase that you could find labeling projects around the world, but the first one was in a small town called Todmorden…

Incredible Edible grow food around the town in public places for anyone to take and eat. Usually the group doesn’t ask permission but simply finds an area that is derelict, or unloved and plants it up. Gardening without permission is known as Guerrilla Gardening. Incredible Edible Todmorden has really put the town on the map, leading to thousands of visitors a year from around the world for ‘vegetable tourism’. The group asks for donations for tours and to give you an idea of the scale of their success, last year, after they had taken all the money they needed for the project and to expand, they had £10,000 left over which they donated to other community projects. Every single one of them is a volunteer and has signed an agreement that they will receive no personal benefit from the project.

During my time in Sheffield I saw a lot of new spaces which have been created in just the last couple of years year. The empty buildings are where there is space to create. It’s where the start up businesses try out, where the broke bands practice, where people can do things differently. As well as going it alone and finding a building there are several projects in Sheffield to share space and facilitate others to create.

Regather trading co-operative offers rooms and a kitchen to small groups and businesses to help strengthen a local economy. They run a vege box scheme and support the Sheffield Organic Growers. I met Johnny in the kitchen working on his delicious Savvy Spreads.

In the centre of town it seems it would be difficult to find space to operate but Union St is to be a co-working space for work and collaboration without high entry costs.

Hagglers Corner provides small spaces for different businesses, from picture framing to yoga, sewing to journalism.

A lucky bit of rain led me to take shelter and meet Maureen before crossing the beautiful curves of the peak district. The best way I can think to describe the wide range of work that she has done over the years is to enable other people to fulfil themselves.

A protest march is a classic technique to show strong feelings. No matter how many other tactics are developed there’s still something uplifting about seeing people on the streets.

Meanwhile leases can enable fantastic projects to get off the ground in unused spaces. Normally a business or group has tenancy rights which enable them to keep renting a space, but when a landlord wants to develop a property they may be wary of allowing someone to occupy it who might then be difficult to remove. A meanwhile lease grants the tenant use of the space in the meantime before it is developed.

Young Friends of the Earth has a network of activists all over the world and sometimes starting a group in your local area just needs someone to volunteer…

By shear luck, I was passing a point in the Tour de France route before crossing the peaks to Manchester. Thankfully I was prepared for it, having watched Amelie, who compares it to her love life: “You wait for hours and it’s all over in seconds”!

The corporate sponsorship and commercialism didn’t sit well with me, but the Tour de France was originally a way for people to see the world beyond their town. My favourite part was the reclaiming of the streets from cars. Many of the normally busy roads were closed and children and adults were chalking messages on them. Cyclists were cycling the route and I was able to skip (a version of with my big pack) down the empty streets imagining a world without cars.

Ay up! Th’as like a pack o’ wippets!

Public talks are a great way to learn about an issue and find other people who care in a non-intimidating environment. A variation on talks is a rally where people gather in a public space to hear speakers and to express their view publicly.

In Manchester I went to a TTIP talk which was part of a national speakers tour. There’s something very reassuring about a room full of other people who care without anything being demanded of you.

The four speakers each had a different angle on TTIP and there were lots of information and leaflets to give you a more in-depth understanding than any newspaper would cover.

The following day as part of the National Day of Action on TTIP there was a rally in central Market Street, complete with costumes and stilt wearing ‘CEOs’.

With only four days left on the TTIP consultation I’ll be focusing on TTIP activity whilst in Manchester ending with a march on Saturday.

If you would like to take action here are some resources for you. My previous post about TTIP has a link to complete your comments to the EU, but there are other ways to continue to oppose it too.

• Write to your MP and MEP – the classic but always useful. Letters are more effective than emails as emails can often be bulked together or dismissed, but check whether it will reach there before the consultation deadline. You can get your MP’s address using this site.
• Join one of the speaker tour events in Manchester (tonight) and London (tomorrow).
• Learn more online and raise awareness through social media. Some sites for you to check out are: Corporate Europe, NoTTIP
• Take part in the National Day of Action on Saturday 12th.

Pass it on.

When I first heard about TTIP I was hit with a despairing sinking feeling, so apologies for being the bearer of bad news. TTIP stands for the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership. It is a proposed trade deal which would undermine our democracy and allow corporations to sue our government for passing legislation which harmed their interests, for example environment, health, human rights or nationalisation. To those of you thinking “but they can’t do that!” I need to mention that Canada and China have already signed just such a trade deal. I was in Canada when they signed it and was horrified to see most Canadians had no idea it was happening until it was too late. I do not believe our government has the authority to sign away our rights, but whether they have or not, they are intending to do so.

Friends of the Earth has produced a factsheet which you can see here, but further amendments have also been made on the submissions page here. The consultation can be completed here. You can put whatever you like in each of the boxes, I emphasised that I was opposed to the deal in its entirety. Your comments must be your own as they will disregard any that appear to be duplicates. Some example comments from my awesome bro are below.

PLEASE share this widely and have your say before the deadline. Whatever other awesome things you are working on for our society TTIP would affect them all so make this your second campaign.