💜 We are very excited to announce the 30th ever Earth First! summer gathering in the UK! From 25th-29th July at Crabapple, a gorgeous community orchard in Shrewsbury in the West Midlands. We invite you to five days of workshops, skill shares, solidarity, socialising, and conspiring the destruction of capitalism, patriarchy, and all the forces of domination of humans and nature ✊ Travel info here, accessibility info here, info about wellbeing here.
🌈 It’s a space for radical thinkers, rebellious souls, and curious minds, bringing people together to strengthen and spread the radical ecological resistance movement across these northern isles that we call home. Join us! ☺️
🌱 Learn about current and past environmental struggles here and around the world, about (anti-)repression and movement victories, green anarchism and biocentrism, queer ecology and anti-colonial land justice. Or get your hands dirty in some of our more practical workshops, from direct action, skills to solar power, night navigation, tech security and more. Or just relax and enjoy the beautiful surroundings and let loose on the dance floor! 🪩🕺
🥕 There will be three vegan meals a day, cooked by the wonderful EatFirst! collectve, donation-based. 🍝
🫖 Tea, coffee, cake and a tug shop will be provided by the amazing Veggies collective ☕
🎲 There will be a kids’ space and programme too!
🚽 We’ll have compost toilets and even showers this year 🚿😯
🐥 Are you new to EF!, have never been, maybe feeling a bit nervous? No worries, there are wonderful humans who will show you around, explain how things work, and sit down and have a cup of tea with!
🌳 Do you want to share stories from the past three decades of EF! in the UK, offer a workshop, or help out with the kids’ space? Questions on accessibility, transport (there will be a shuttle service from Shrewsbury train station) or food? Get in touch! earthfirstuk@riseup.net
🦮🐕🦺🐕 Dogs 🐕 🐕🦺🦮 We have now reached our capacity for dogs at the gathering. We have a limit on the number of dogs we can accommodate this year because the site is a sensitive habitat with nesting barn owls, fledgling birds and small mammals living in the fields and woods. 🦮 If you have an assistance dog that you need to bring to the gathering then please do email us before the gathering to register your dog with: earthfirstuk@riseup.net
🔥 Bring your friends, comrades, energy and ideas, and please spread the word! 📢
🚐 Please note that (depending on the weather) we might have very limited parking space and CANNOT guarantee that you can bring your car or live-in vehicle onto the site. If you need your vehicle for accessibility reasons, you will be prioritised – please send us an email! 🚗
Pricing info
EF is as DIY as it gets, and doing it ourselves also means funding it ourselves. No one profits off of EF. No one gets paid.
EF gatherings always run on a donation basis, and no one is turned away for lack of funds. As a rough estimate, we ask that on average people pay £8 per day for food (three meals) and around £20 for the camp, depending on what you can afford.
The total expense of the gatherings is hard to say accurately beforehand, we estimate that it’s around 20 pounds per person (assuming there will be around 300 people) plus food.
At the welcome desk you will be able to donate whatever feels right, based on ‘solidarity pricing’:
- Solidarity pricing: Have more, pay more. Have less, pay less.
Here’s a little guide to help you judge how much you can afford compared to others, it’s not just about income, other factors are important. Class, wealth, and experiences of systemic oppression all play a part. Remember, it’s just a guide, an imperfect way to create a more economically liberating model while we work to smash capitalism and create different economic systems.
- Some factors that MIGHT allow you to afford more:
– Having above average income
– Owning land or property
– Being likely to inherit property or wealth
– Having significant wealth, savings, or investments
– Being easily able to meet basic needs and able to afford luxuries (holidays, takeaway)
– Having recognised educational background and qualifications (‘good’ schools, degrees, postgrad etc.)
– Being easily able to get well-paid work
– Having a safety net or strong social support networks (e.g. a parents’ house to retreat to, friends with money etc.)
- Some factors that MIGHT reduce how much you can afford:
– Earning less than average income
– Supporting dependents or having caring responsibilities (children, relatives, partners etc.)
– Having disabilities or long term ill-health
– Regularly being in contact with state/institutional violence
– Precarious migration status (eg being a refugee, asylum seeker, or person without papers)
– Being unable to legally work
– Experiencing financial distress (eg. unexpected court fees, losing a job, sudden rent increases)
– Experiencing systemic oppression due to things such as race, class, gender, neurodiversity, sexuality.
No one is turned away for lack of funds, please don’t let cost put you off attending!
We all have different relationships to money and we encourage everyone to be honest with themselves. The emotions that come up when we talk about what we can afford can often cloud our judgement. Capitalism breeds a culture of scarcity – for some this feels like emotional instability and uncertainty, and for others this looks like material poverty and a lack of resources. It is impossible to talk about things like class, money, wealth, or income without thinking about systemic oppressions like racism or ableism and yes, it’s complicated, but let’s do the best we can.
There are lots of hidden costs involved with gatherings like EF. Some stuff can’t be found in bins or borrowed and, while we try to keep costs down, there is equipment we would like to purchase to make summer camps like EF more accessible in the future (eg track matting for wheelchair accessibility, a minibus, lighting, solar panels.) By donating more generously you are helping achieve this!
For this year’s gathering we have squatted the site of the new coal proposed coal mine in Whitehaven, Cumbria!
