Scotland (Central & Southern) – Page 9

The first Green and Black Cross Network Gathering

London June 18th 11-6 Followed by a social. Venue TBC

Support is attack!

London June 18th 11-6 Followed by a social. Venue TBC

Support is attack!

Green and Black Cross were set up after the Millbank demonstration of November last year through identifying a need for the type of support that had been developed in the Climate Movement. Since then we have supported hundreds of people from many backgrounds in their rebellions and protests.
From a legal support hotline to tireless legal observers on the streets, brave action medics to a kitchen team smuggling flapjacks behind police lines. Our emphasis on support is to allow the potential for further rebellion, for people to rise up and in doing so take control of the direction of their lives and spread a relationship of solidarity and mutual aid.

It’s time to get involved!

At London we’ve developed working groups around forms of support including Legal, Kitchens, Medics, Toilets and Radical Child Care. We want not only to strengthen these groups in the region but also to expand a support network. If you’re from Manchester and you’ve been legal observing on demonstrations, if your from Leeds and you’re thinking about providing food at picket lines, if you live in Bristol and you want to be there when protestors get injured, where ever you live and you are thinking about getting involved – come! Share skills, swap stories and find out more. The day will be split between introductions to the project, questions and debate on the Green and Black Cross network structure, working group time to share and develop our practices and ending the day with a social event.

Why London? Unfortunately GBC is presently London based. We aim to bring about a horizontal network that contains regional autonomy. To do this though we want to share where we’re at so far and to make this possible to organise we’ve called the gathering in the big smoke.

Want to get involved sooner but need some skills and or information? GBC has set up a project to offer info/skill shares for groups who want to be trained up in a particular support role. We can offer skill shares in your rea. Get in touch with GBC@riseup.net.

We’re transforming relationships, we’re fighting destruction. Get involved with GBC and make way for the movement! For more info and possibilities of crash space email GBC@Riseup.net

Full details – follow the link in the Action Dates & Gatherings link, to the left

THWAC is dead, long live THWAC! Another era in the fight against Scottish Coal ends, but the struggle continues…

May 23rd, 2011

May 23rd, 2011
After eight months of occupation and struggle, Coal Action Scotland has decided to bring an end to the Happendon Wood Action Camp. The camp was taken in September last year to resist Scottish Coal’s plans to open-cast the woodland, and to act as a base in South Lanarkshire to take direct action and work with affected communities in the ongoing struggle against the coal industry. Having felt that those goals were met as much as they were going to be, and with Scottish Coal’s application being submitted for a new 4 million ton open cast at Glentaggart East, we have decided to change our focus. We are in no way abandoning South Lanarkshire, or the struggle against Scottish Coal, and will continue to be active in the area in new and exciting ways.

Surrounded by three active open cast coal sites, and multiple scars being “restored”, the residents of THWAC placed themselves alongside the people of the Douglas Valley, right in the belly of the beast. Making the threat of new coal exploitation and the constant noise and disruption a part of everyday life for ourselves is one way in which we felt we could show solidarity. We were able to build on links forged during Mainshill, and met many more people campaigning and working to halt Scottish Coal’s march across the Douglas Valley.

During our time at Happendon Wood we tried to impact as little as possible on the environment we were staying in. This included using solar panels to charge the batteries to power the laptops and the lights in the communal and office, donating our shit to a local housing coop who will compost it and use it to grow food in their orchards, grey water systems to filter our waste water and using paths to reduce the soil erosion. Great effort was taken to return the small area of woodland we inhabited to its original state as we left, and we left the land better than how we found it. More than Scottish Coal can say.

The camp became a useful hub in the community for sharing information and ideas. Public meetings were organised and links between the many communities were forged. During our time at Happendon Scottish Coal launched their “Forward Strategy.” Their land grab of the Douglas Valley involved three new open cast coal sites, with plans to remove a total of 5.4 million tonnes of coal, flying in the face of local opposition and global opinion on climate change. This catalyst ignited a local campaign with opposition reaching from Glespin to Lesmahagow and a series of public meetings, kick started by people from THWAC. People from all over the Douglas Valley have continued their generosity with food, water, building materials and lock-on cement. We would like to say a massive thank you to the all the people who came down and provided vital practical and moral support in a winter cold enough to rival last year’s at Mainshill.

During the occupation of Happendon Wood, Coal Action Scotland continued campaigning against coal expansion in Scotland. The Health Study Group and Community Ecology Group carried out vital research into the negative effects of the coal industry. Ecological studies have been carried out at prospective coal sites in the Douglas Valley, discovering protected species which were somehow overlooked by Scottish Coal’s paid for ecological surveys. More and more research has been conducted showing the links between coal extraction and respiratory diseases, regardless of Scottish Coal or South Lanarkshire Council’s refusal to listen. CAS also continued to support the campaign in Midlothian against an open cast by Scottish Coal near the village of Cousland, and we thank the local campaigners for their support in return. The community managed to defeat the proposal at the planning stage.

A Smooth Newt found during tat down.

As the name suggests, THWAC was started as a base for direct action. During the eight months affinity groups from across the UK, and further afield, came and carried out a wide variety of direct action and protests at open casts in the area and targets further afield. This included: mine gates locked shut at night three times, digger diving at Mainshill twice, Mainshill offices were attacked with paint, Ravenstruther coal rail head was blockaded twice, South Lanarkshire Council’s offices had banners hung from the roof and stink bombs let off inside the committee room, Scottish Coal contractors RPS and Weber Shandwick had their offices glued shut and slogans painted on their walls, and according to anonymous reports posted online there were six sabotage actions with over thirty three vehicles incapacitated. These add to the already impressive list of actions taken against the coal industry since Coal Action Scotland formed. Through this campaign of sustained direct action we have cost Scottish Coal a considerable amount.

Over the next few months we will be setting our sites on Scottish Coal’s plot to tear up Glentaggart East in the Douglas Valley. We are joining with local campaigners in a call out for as many objection letters to South Lanarkshire Council against this application as possible. More information about this can be found on the STOP website. We will also continue to use direct action to apply pressure on them to abandon this open cast. If anyone wishes to join in then Target Brochures showing coal infrastructure across Scotland can also be found on our website. After the success of last year’s event we will be planning another Outdoor Skill Share from the 26th to the 29th of August, where we will run workshops on the practical skills needed to hold a protest site. More information can be found on the Outdoor Skill Share website.

All that’s left is to say thank you to all our visitors and see you all next time.

The Happendon Wood Action Camp

Grangemouth Biomass Protesters ‘Block Port’

16.5.11
Four people have been arrested in a protest against a proposed biomass power station at Grangemouth docks.

Twenty protesters from Action Against Agrofuels blocked both the access roads to the port, but police said South Shore Road had now been reopened.

16.5.11
Four people have been arrested in a protest against a proposed biomass power station at Grangemouth docks.

Twenty protesters from Action Against Agrofuels blocked both the access roads to the port, but police said South Shore Road had now been reopened.

The group said the wood-burning power station would threaten forests and worsen climate change.

Forth Energy has said it would use sustainably sourced wood that was a by-product of the timber industry.

The partnership with Forth Ports and Scottish and Southern Energy wants to create four plants in Scotland at Dundee, Rosyth, Grangemouth and Leith.

Central Scotland Police said the activists had been arrested for causing an obstruction at South Shore Road.
‘Necessary action’

Some of the demonstrators locked themselves to scaffolding tripods in the road to block the entrances to the port.

Protester Johnny Agnew, from Glasgow, said: “Vast renewable energy subsidies, paid through all our fuel bills, are being offered for big biomass, which causes more climate change, more deforestation and more pollution. We are effectively subsidising ecocide.”

The group said there was “nothing sustainable” about creating new demand for wood and that the plant would lead to health problems because of air pollution.

http://bio-fuel-watch.blogspot.com/2011/05/direct-action-against-forth-energy.html

The Climate Renegades are GO GO GO!

At a time when cuts and austerity are grabbing the headlines, the need for action on climate change has never been greater. Floods, heatwaves, energy shortages, rising food prices – these are just the start if we don’t take action now.

This summer the Climate Renegades will tour the country to support grass-root and community struggles, both embryonic and established, based upon local needs and wishes. Are you part of a local campaign against cuts and/or climate change that wants to do something big this summer? Or perhaps you are someone who has skills to offer? If so, read on…

We are a roaming collective of experienced environmental activists with skills to share. We are looking to hold events that raise awareness of the need for action on climate justice, enable independence from a constricting economic system, and empower communities under threat. These events will create a space for collective creativity and free expression, will promote and utilise non-violent direct action as a viable tactic for inspiring radical change, and will act as space for a free exchange of skills, knowledge and ideas.

Climate Renegades is one of a few projects that came out of the Camp for Climate Action’s Space for Change gathering.

We wish to promote progressive change from people coming together within and across communities in the face of dominant powers, to confront problems and take their fate into their own hands. Through a diversity of tactics we wish to support this change.

We find repression and abuse of social struggles by concentrated power – be that state, big business or ‘revolutionary’ Political parties. For this reason, we share a tradition and commitment to active anti-hierarchy and collective decision making.

Climate Renegades is not envisaged to form a movement or a model for future years. Our role is one of facilitating and developing the strength of campaigns, enabling the visioning of common solutions and highlighting the importance of environmental struggles in this time of forced austerity.

For more info, e-mail us or check out our Facebook group!

climaterenegades@riseup.net
http://www.facebook.com/help/?mail_sent#!group.php?gid=116697736256

After Space for Change

The ‘discussion space’ on crabgrass is the place to share comments, concerns and ideas about the decision(s) made at Space for Change. Here’s how:

1) Go to https://we.riseup.net/discussion_space.
2) Click ‘log in’ at the top right corner
3) Once logged in, select ‘join group’
4) And you’re in!

The ‘discussion space’ on crabgrass is the place to share comments, concerns and ideas about the decision(s) made at Space for Change. Here’s how:

1) Go to https://we.riseup.net/discussion_space.
2) Click ‘log in’ at the top right corner
3) Once logged in, select ‘join group’
4) And you’re in!

If you don’t already have a crabgrass username and password you can quickly get one by going to https://we.riseup.net and selecting ‘new account’.

3) INTERIM WORKING GROUPS – get involved!

The following interim working groups were set up at Space for Change:

– Tat and Dosh: to maximise the usefulness of our material resources
– Communications: to address ongoing communications and media issues. To learn from and document our experiences
– New structures: to investigate new organisational forms, structures and tactics for possible next experiments.
– Next meeting: to organise a meeting in the next 2-3 months to share ideas about these next experiments

They each have Crabgrass pages that can be found by putting the following after https://we.riseup.net/
tat_dosh
communications
new_structures
next_meeting

Then click ‘request to join group’.

All of these groups are part of the interim Crabgrass Network ‘After Space for Change’ which you can join here:
https://we.riseup.net/after_space_for_change. Having groups be part of a network is useful to be able to see what other groups are doing.

You can either join the whole network or just one of the working groups.

If Crabgrass is a bit strange to you, check out the help pages here:
https://we.riseup.net/crabgrass

4) METAMORPHOSIS STATEMENT

In case you missed the statement coming out of Space for Change at Monkton Wyld, it can be read on the Climate Camp website here:
www.climatecamp.org.uk/2011-statement

Day of Action against Extraction, April 19/April 20 – 2011

Communities around the world are under attack from extractive industries that poison our families, kill our loved ones on the job, and destroy the ecosystems we cherish. The BP oil spill was unfortunately just one of an endless string of disasters born of an economic system that must endlessly consume the Earth’s resources.

Extraction is the act of taking without giving anything back. Extraction takes workers lives so corporations can make a few more bucks.
Extraction takes clean water and air and gives us blackened oceans and a climate in chaos. Extraction takes the natural wealth of communities and ecosystems and leaves behind poverty and ecological wastelands.

For a stable climate, clean air and water, we must stop the extraction of fossil fuels and other “resources.” From the tar sands of Alberta to the Gulf Coast, people are fighting back against the extractive industries that have declared war on our planet. Rising Tide is calling for a day of direct action against extraction on the 1 year anniversary of the BP oil spill. On April 20th take it to the point of production.
Shut down a well site, occupy a mine, take over an office, blockade a bank. Nobody’s community should be a sacrifice zone. For climate justice and a liveable planet.

Rising Tide (North America)

Update from Coal Action Scotland & THWAC

30th October 2011
Hello all,

Here’s a brief update of what’s been going on with Coal Action Scotland and what’s coming up. There’s a week to go before the Autumn Gathering and lots has been happening!

1. New THWAC! short film
2. THWAC Gathering 6th-10th November
3. Coal Action Scotland October Newsletter
4. Action Roundup
5. Recent News

*1. New THWAC! short film*

30th October 2011
Hello all,

Here’s a brief update of what’s been going on with Coal Action Scotland and what’s coming up. There’s a week to go before the Autumn Gathering and lots has been happening!

1. New THWAC! short film
2. THWAC Gathering 6th-10th November
3. Coal Action Scotland October Newsletter
4. Action Roundup
5. Recent News

*1. New THWAC! short film*

A short film about the Happendon Wood Action Camp and fighting Scottish Coal in the Douglas Valley, and publicising the gathering next week can be watched here: http://politube.org/show/3075 and http://coalactionscotland.org.uk/?p=2206

*2. THWAC Gathering 6th-10th November*

The Happendon Wood Action Camp (THWAC) was occupied on 12th September 2010 to resist the destruction of the Douglas Valley by Scottish Coal and SRG Estates.

Join us for our five day autumn gathering in the woods!

As part of what they’re calling their “forward strategy”, Scottish Coal have begun the process of closing the circle of open cast mines around the communities of the Douglas Valley by announcing three new open cast applications.

For too long now Scottish Coal, (with the help of rich landowners and corrupt councillors) have been shitting all over the Douglas Valley, causing ill health to the local communities in the area and contributing to climate change. This has got to stop.

The eviction at Mainshill was not an end but just a beginning. We’re back to finish what we started. If Scottish Coal want to obliterate what’s left of the Scottish countryside, we will obliterate them.

We’re calling for affinity groups to come to the site with energy and ideas for action to destroy Scottish Coal’s plans.

There will also be the usual skillsharing, including action workshops, information-sharing and opportunities to get involved in the campaign and day-to-day life on camp.

**WHAT TO BRING:**

* warm clothes, boots and waterproofs, a tent, sleeping bag and mat
* tools for building work and action materials if you can
* Most importantly bring yourself and friends.

FOOD:
There’ll be communal vegan food for a donation, so come prepared to help with chopping veg.

GETTING THERE:
>The camp is near junction 12 of the M74, which runs from Carlisle to Glasgow. The nearest train stations are Lanark and Hamilton and there are frequent direct buses to near the site. Email us or call the sit phone if you need a lift from the train station.

MORE INFO AND CONTACT:
Email: contact [at] coalactionscotland.org.uk
Site phone: 07806926040
Post: Happendon Wood Action Camp
Wolfcrooks Road
South Lanarkshire
ML11 9PA

Check out the brochure of coal targets in Scotland plus Digger Diving for Beginners here <http://coalaction.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/Oct-10-first-three-pages.pdf

back page:
http://coalaction.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/Oct-10-back-page.pdf

*4. Action Round-up*

Borehole Drilling Machine sabotaged in solidarity with The Happendon Wood Action Camp <“>http://coalactionscotland.org.uk/?p=2185>

“Nae Coal at Hunterston”: Action against Ayrshire Power and Peel
Holdings <“>http://coalactionscotland.org.uk/?p=2166>

Beginnings of a new wave of direct action in the Douglas Valley against Scottish Coal <“>http://coalactionscotland.org.uk/?p=2197>

Scottish Coal given a slap on the wrist for environmental damage in Ayrshire < Author earthfirstPosted on October 30, 2010Categories Climate Chaos, Scotland (Central & Southern), Squatting / Free Spaces / Protest Sites, Wilderness Defence

SDL and BNP: Smashed out of Glasgow!

22.9.10

A last minute mobilisation of anti-fascists on Sunday saw off both the BNP and the Scottish Defence League, who both attempted to hold separate public activity in Glasgow city centre.

22.9.10

A last minute mobilisation of anti-fascists on Sunday saw off both the BNP and the Scottish Defence League, who both attempted to hold separate public activity in Glasgow city centre.

With fears that the SDL were attempting a ‘flash-mob’ style protest, in the vein of what the EDL organised in Oldham last weekend, SAFA activists were already keeping an eye on the city centre, when they came across the BNP setting up a stall around 1pm.

SAFA activists – plus people from left-wing stalls elsewhere in the city centre – were able to quickly mobilise to confront the BNP. Around 1.45pm, a large number of anti-fascists descended on the stall, which was kicked over and the contents of it torn up or seized. With a large crowd now gathered around, the BNP were left standing beside the ruins of their stall as up to 100 onlookers and anti-fascists chanted at them. The police showed up around 15 minutes later and attempted to gain control of the situation, but in the end were forced to remove the BNP members for their own safety.

Meanwhile, the SDL were beginning to gather in The Goose pub on Union Street. They indicated that they would heading to George Square at 5.30pm, for an assembly at the Cenotaph – their full intentions were unclear. By the time the 15 SDL supporters showed up, around 100 anti-fascists and local youth were gathered in the square. A brief confrontation ensued, with one SDL supporter arrested, alongside a 14 year old, who allegedly threw a punch in the direction of the SDL.

The SDL were denied the use of the Cenotaph, and the police were again forced to step in to remove the fascists from our streets.

All in all, a hugely successful day of direct action against fascism – let’s hope they got the message and don’t return any time soon.

Happendon Wood Occupied! New Direct Action Camp Against Scottish Coal

Early evening on Sunday 12th September a group of autonomous individuals successfully occupied a new site in Happendon Wood, South Lanarkshire!

Coal Action Scotland are inviting people to join The Happendon Wood Action Camp (THWAC) to help defend the wood from destruction by Scottish Coal, and to take action in solidarity with communities in the area resisting the expansion of the coal industry in the Douglas Valley.

You can find out more about the camp at http://happendon.coalactionscotland.org.uk — and more information about why we’re at Happendon and what we’re doing there will be coming very soon.

In the meantime, check our press advisory, for immediate release, below:

Contact:
Sam Macdonald (Off-site Contact: Information and Photos) 07984706188
Jo Reed (On-site Contact: Visits and Interviews) 07806926040
media@coalactionscotland.org.uk

Scottish Coal’s
Happendon Wood Occupied

Last night (12/9/10) a group of people occupied areas within Happendon Wood, South Lanarkshire (1) to defend it from destruction by Scottish Coal, part of the Scottish Resources Group. They have begun to build shelters and defences on the site, with large banners hung from trees at the front of the site that say: “Defending the Douglas Valley” and “No Opencast Here”. The Happendon Wood Action Camp has come out of a long-term struggle by the local community and Coal Action Scotland (2) to halt coal expansion in the Douglas Valley which is already one of the most heavily mined areas in Europe.

The Scottish Resources Group have applied for planning permission for a mixed use development (3) on this land (which is in an area of Great Landscape Value) in the Douglas Valley, but they intend to opencast the area first. The South Lanarkshire minerals plan highlights areas within the new development as having recoverable coal deposits that can be excavated during the current local plan. Scottish Coal actually wouldn’t be allowed to build on the land without open casting it first, otherwise this would be “sterilising the nations asset” and therefore illegal. (4)

Scottish Coal have not yet publicly declared their interests in opencasting Happendon Wood but many members of the local community have expressed deep concerns that they will be blighted with yet another opencast coal mine. In a recent meeting about the development, MSP for Clydesdale Karen Gillon told local residents that she did not doubt that they would remove the coal, in spite of the fact that the area that SRG wish to develop takes in the opencast workings at Poniel, which are currently due to be restored. Local resident and Douglas and Glespin Community Council Chairperson Lindsay Addison is enraged by the behaviour of Scottish Coal in South Lanarkshire:

“We have serious concerns that this is an excuse for another opencast. We do not want this development, let alone another mine. We will fight it all the way and support the efforts of the wider community in its opposition to new coal in the Douglas Valley.”

SRG’s application for planning permission for this development is ongoing; the decision by the council will likely be made in the coming months. Questions have been raised about the close relationship between Scottish Coal and South Lanarkshire Council (SLC) resulting in SLC issuing each member of the Douglas and Glespin Community Council legal notices stating that proceedings against them are to begin at Lanark Sheriff Court over alleged libel claims. This move is seen by the community as an attack on their freedom of speech. (5)

Notes to Editors:

1. Location: In South Lanarkshire, about 30 miles south of Glasgow, Happendon Wood is an area just off the B7078, surrounding the Dewers warehouse site and Poniel Opencast workings. To reach the site, driving south along the B7078 from Lesmahagow (running alongside the M74), take the first left after Happendon Services onto the C-road; the site front is on your left after about half a mile. A map is available at http://coalactionscotland.org.uk/?page_id=1974#Where

2. Working with and supporting communities across Scotland, the Coal Action Scotland collective exists to challenge the advancement of coal as an energy source by informing people about the dangers posed by new coal, promoting alternatives, working with those involved, and directly challenging new coal exploitation from source to point of use. Mainshill Solidarity Camp was set up just along the road from Happendon Woods last year where people stayed for over seven months, ending in a five day eviction and a total of 45 arrests. See: http://coalactionscotland.noflag.org.uk/

3. This application is Poniel / Happendon Mixed Use Development application from the Scottish Resources Group (Scottish Coal). It is for “Mixed use development comprising industrial and storage and distribution warehousing, business units/office accommodation, hotel with conference and commercial leisure facilities, retail/restaurant floorspace, landscaping, open space and associated infrastructure (planning permission in principle)”, but it is expected that once they get permission for this they will actually be bound to opencast the area for coal. The planning reference for the application is: CL/10/0180.

4. The Coal Authority issue licences to coal companies. The following was discovered in correspondence between them and Scottish Coal:
‘Where development is proposed over areas of coal and past coal workings at shallow depth, The Coal Authority is of the opinion that applicants should consider wherever possible removing the remnant shallow coal. This will enable the land to be stabilised and treated by a more sustainable method; rather than by attempting to grout fill any voids and consequently unnecessarily sterilising the nation’s asset.’

5. For articles and quotations on the legal threats to the Community Council see:
http://www.lanarkgazette.co.uk/news/South-Lanarkshire-Council-copyright-threat.6526004.jp
http://coalactionscotland.org.uk/?p=1966
http://www.jonathanmitchell.info/2010/09/02/whats-wrong-with-south-lanarkshire/

Crude Awakening info update

12 Sept 2010

THE CRUDE AWAKENING MASS OUTREACH EMAIL

A mass action to switch off oil

Saturday, 16 October 2010, Central London

12 Sept 2010

THE CRUDE AWAKENING MASS OUTREACH EMAIL

A mass action to switch off oil

Saturday, 16 October 2010, Central London

Have you been thinking it’s about time a whole load of people got together to take mass action against oil in central London? We thought so. And so it followed that the Crude Awakening was launched. The mobilization is now in full swing and everyone is invited to help publicize and prepare. There is loads to do….please have a read through this email and get involved!

The email is in three parts:

Upcoming events and how to get involved
Frequently asked questions
The call out – please copy and paste and help this get all over the Internet!

1. How to get involved and build up events you are all invited to.

Events already planned are listed bellow:

In London……

17th September, networking meeting at 6pm just inside the entrance to the Brunei Gallery at SOAS, a meeting for people interested in helping to do outreach in the London area the Climate Camp outreach group are meeting.

There is going to be a London coordinating and planning meeting for the Crude Awakening very soon, and the details will be announced shortly.

Thursday 23rd September at 7.30pm, Climate Action Film Night, London Action Resource Centre, Whitechapel (for address see www.londonarc.org)

An evening of films and discussion about climate activism and the oil industry, hosted by London Rising Tide.

A screening of two short films of recent actions against BP and Shell by Rising Tide and friends, plus Petropolis, a visually stunning and disturbing documentary about the Canadian Tar Sands. Followed by a brainstorming session on taking direct action against the oil industry in London – including all the latest info on the Crude Awakening, an oily mass action happening on Saturday 16th October. For anyone who believes in climate justice and wants to help make it happen; anyone hacked off with the greed and irresponsibility of oil giants like BP; anyone back from the Climate Camp and looking to get involved locally… everyone welcome….and there’ll be cake!

The Crude Awakening London Rabble Rouser – a mass outdoor team game, warming us up for the big day– date, place and time to be announced.

Saturday 2nd October. MOLASAPULTPARTY FUNDRAISER …. Venue TBC, more details to follow shortly

Saturday the 2nd and Sunday the 3rd October Stilt making workshop for the stilt block on the mass action!….
This time we’re thinking big, we’re thinking high, we’re thinking tall…. and we’re going as a Stilt Bloc.

Yep, thats right! On stilts!

So in order for this to happen we’re having a skill share weekend in London to build stilts and learn how to walk on them. The weekend is Sat 2nd and Sun 3rd October, 10am to 6pm.

And even if you don’t want to be up high, each stilt walker will need a buddy staying on the ground so there’s a place for everyone, young and old, big or small, high or low…… we need you at this weekend too!!!

Its all free and lunch is included….

We need RSVPs so we know numbers. Email: stilt.bloc@gmail.com

Oh and its MEXICAN DAY OF THE DEAD theme…..

In Manchester….

Sat 9th Oct – Mass Action training

Tue 12th Oct – Publicly announced rouser for CJA international day of action

Crude Awakening mobilisation

We hope that there will be loads more to follow but this is what is lined up so far. If you are planning a build up event let us know so we can advertise it please.

There is a huge amount to do to mobilize quickly for an event this big. Maybe you could organise a film showing or talk (we can probably send a speaker if you email us). You could put on an affinity group or action training workshop, or host a fundraiser. You could book a coach and fill it. You could run a workshop so people can build practical stuff , for example a load of disposable bikes to bring along (email us to let us know if you do make lots of useful stuff). You could have a stall and hand out flyers at your freshers fair (again email for materials). You could make a stencil and graffiti advertise for it all across your city/ region. Unless everyone gets involved there is a real danger we won’t get the numbers we need.
The Crude Awakening is now on crabgrass! Join it, join a working group and lets get planning! https://we.riseup.net/thecrudeawakening (crabgrass is a little bit like facebook for activists and is a way of organising on line). And sign up for more information by email and text alerts on the website. www.crudeawakening.org.uk. Our facebook page is a little slow to get off the ground but it will soon be buzzing.

Please also raise The Crude Awakening as an agenda point at the next organising meeting at your Social Centre/ Friends of the Earth Group/ Union/ Climate Camp neighbourhood/ Housing Coop etc. Get people talking and excited and committed to the idea that they are going! If you are not already in a group or affinity group you are of course still totally welcome. You will probably want to make contact with some like minded folk to talk things through and make some plans before the big day. For example you could go to climatecamp.org.uk or risingtide.org.uk and find your local active group, or email us and we can try to signpost you on. At the least try to get a couple of mates to come with you, so that you have some support as a group of friends (known by activists as an affinity group).

2. Frequently asked questions

Q. Neither the website nor the flyer gives much info. What is going on?

A. As you have probably twigged there is also a deliberate sense of mystery around the action. So often with recent mass actions we have said exactly where we are going to go, and the police have had as much time to prepare as us, making things much more difficult for people who want to be involved in mass and effective direct action . With this project we are experimenting a little bit. The 10 targets are left unspecified, giving the action more chance of being successful. But at the same time we can openly advertise that we all need to be in Central London so we can get loads of people together at the same place at the same time for the mass action. And those people need to be ready to take action and to have fun. This is not a march and it’s not a camp. This is an action that needs preparation and we can all be involved in most of that preparation….although the targets will be a surprise until much later.

We can’t be sure that this mix of secret and public planning will work, but we can give it a go, have some fun and maybe make some progress…..but maybe, just maybe we have got it totally nailed and this will be the best mass action in London ever! If you don’t show up there it will be difficult for you to know. Our advice is don’t miss it 😉

Q. So what do I need to do to prepare?

A. People need to be ready to move, and to stand their ground. Don’t bring with you anything that you can’t easily walk with or get on a tube with. But do bring with you stuff that will help you and your affinity group hold a space in what ever way you feel you want to. Whether you want to bring armtubes, disposable bikes or a huge slow moving metal and wooden tower with a papier-mâché rhino head (that can fit on and off a tube!?); diversity of tactics and affinity group planning are key to this working. People can also prepare stuff to make this action look beautiful; puppets, masks, banners, a portable molasses fondue……you get the idea.

Q. Why Oil?

A. For a whole host of reasons. Here are just a few…..
Because oil companies search for new oil reserves to make themselves richer while our climate spins into crisis.
Because the UK government starts wars for oil.
Because of human rights abuses and murder in West Africa.
Because of the Deepwater Horizon spill.
Because of the destruction of wilderness in the Arctic and the coast of Rosport in Ireland.
Because of UK public money being used by bailed out banks to fund new oil projects.
Because London is brimming with oil money, oil sponsorship and oil companies.
Because global energy resources are the peoples commons.
Because oil companies and the filthy rich people who profit from them have no place in a sustainable future.
Because Copenhagen failed and now it’s down to us.
Because oil has had it’s day and it’s time we pulled the plug.

Hope that that made things a little clearer. And more specific information will be sent out soon. If you are still struggling with the idea, it is a bit like the Great Climate Swoop of 2009, except where we are going is kept secret. Remember, you are being asked to come and move around London, so stay mobile, be creative, be prepated and be ready to stand your ground. So talk in your affinity group about the ways in which you are going to be able to hold a space and equipment and materials that you might want to bring along to help you. The action is open, and will be shaped by the people who are there. Only the targets and how we are getting to them are secret.

3. The call out – please copy and paste and help get this all over the Internet!

THE CRUDE AWAKENING

A mass action to switch off oil

Saturday, 16 October 2010, Central London

Floods in Pakistan, drought in Russia, huge glaciers breaking up in Greenland…

Our climate system is rapidly sliding into crisis, as oil companies destroy people’s lives and the environment to keep sucking up their profits.

Oil saturates every aspect of our lives. Oil profits lubricate the financial markets and its sponsorship clings like a bad smell to our cultural institutions. It flows through pipelines to the pumps, airports and factories of our cities.

The failure of the UN COP15 process showed us – if there was ever any doubt – that government and industry can’t tackle climate change. It’s up to us and it’s time to up the ante.

As a movement, our actions against coal and aviation have made a real difference. Now oil’s time is up.

Together, on October 16, let’s give the oil industry a Crude Awakening.

Meet in central London. Be ready to move. Be ready to stay and stand your ground.

Be creative. Be prepared. Be there.

Find out more, get involved and sign up for text alerts at www.crudeawakening.org.uk
Facebook: http://bit.ly/c6S0kg
Twitter: @crudeawake

Part of the CJA global week of action for climate justice
Supported by: Space Hijackers, Climate Camp, Plane Stupid, Rising Tide, Liberate Tate, Laboratory of Insurrectionary Imagination, UK Tar Sands Network

Hope to see you on the streets,
Crude Awakening
crudeawakening.org.uk