Earth First! Gathering

Last Summer saw the biggest Earth First! Gathering in the UK to date. 400 people from all over Britain, as well as Europe and the rest of the world, spent 5 days in a beautiful, remote part of North Wales. The aim of the gathering was to learn, share ideas and debate about actions in defence of the earth. The gathering was an introduction for newcomers and a place for old timers to be reinspired. There were talks and workshops ranging from actions to save the Australian rainforests to self defence classes, blockading nuclear convoys to setting up solar panels. There was also plenty of football, tai chi, acoustic music, swimming in the lake and all round having a good time with old and new friends.

Overall last years event was a major success. Therefore the '97 gathering will be very similar, but there is always room for improvement. For the last few months we've been collecting peoples opinions on the last gathering and asking what they would like from this one. The main criticisms over last years event were that the action was rather unclear, there was no large organised talking circles for people to raise issues, and there were too many things going on. Reducing the number of events going on may prove difficult, but we will be giving higher priority to certain debates that directly affect our movement. These include organising national actions, gatherings and regional networks.

So far about 15 people have offered to be involved in organising the event. As always there are no paid workers, offices or big bank accounts, just ordinary people getting together to put the event on, while leading normal, slightly hectic lives like everybody else.

The Site

We have a couple of potential sites at the moment but none are ideal so we are still open to offers. We need a site at least the size of a football pitch, with a friendly land owner, running water, disabled access and land that is suitable for camping. The site needs to be in a fairly remote part of the country, but near to public transport links. If you think you might know of such a site then please let us know. We would fully discuss conditions with the land owner before they had to make any decisions.

The exact location of the site will not be announced until the day before the gathering although the rough area will be publicised in May. This is to stop police hassling the land owner. This year we are going to ensure it is easy to get to the site by public transport, so there's no excuse to bring a vehicle, unless you live in it or you're bringing a minibus full of people.

Rainbow Circle Camps are offering to help set up the site. If anyone can get hold of any marquees or other large structures then that would be very useful. Composting toilets, showers and sweat lodges will need to be built and we need people with 1st aid knowledge and fire safety equipment. Rampenplan from the Netherlands have offered to provide cheap vegan organic food throughout the gathering. They catered at the last gathering and if you were there you'll remember how good the food was.

A creche will be available for people bringing kids. Toys, games and art materials will be needed. The kids area will be in the centre of the camp, not tucked away on the edges.

Campaign Workshops

We want presentations by most eco-direct action campaigns in Britain and abroad. If you are involved in a campaign that you'd like to publicise, please get in touch. We also want offers from anyone who knows about an issue that would interest campaigners, such as the history of previous UK movements, how to run a successful campaign or gender issues.

Training

The gathering is an opportunity for people to learn new skills and techniques that are of use to direct action campaigns. We need training workshops on such things as: building lock ons; producing press releases; self defence; first aid; putting up tripods, legal support ... you name it, we need it. If you've got the skills we need YOU!

International Speakers

Radical eco activists from across the world will be coming to give talks on struggles in their countries. The gathering is a great place to build international cooperation. If you're an activist outside the UK, get in touch.

Debating Forums

A space will be provided to allow discussions on sometimes controversial issues within the direct action movement. What are the hot issues of the moment? If there is something you feel needs to be sorted out then tell us.

Entertainment

Acoustic bands, musicians, performers, story tellers, comedians ... would all be great. We can have a rerun of last year’s chaotic football matches or maybe you know of some other games we could all play. There will not be any sound systems or loud amplified music on site.

Campaigning And Staying Sane

There will be an area for sessions on such things as alternative medicine, yoga, permaculture and meditation. As with the other events, the sessions available will depend on the skills offered. The Buddhafield Festival organisers have already offered yoga, tai chi and meditation workshops.

Stalls

Please bring information and stalls about campaigns you are involved in. However, commercial stalls are not welcome. The gathering is not a place to make money from each other, but to share knowledge and resources. There will be a trading board on which to advertise any goods people have, and where they are camped. You are welcome to sell things that will be of interest to campaigners such as cost price D-locks, rope and books. These goods will be on display for an hour each evening, around dinner time.

An Action

At the last gathering we disrupted an RAF training base and a British Aerospace Engineering (BAe) factory, involved in the supply of Hawk aircraft, and the training of their pilots, for the Indonesian military. These were two very successful actions, but there were some complaints about the BAe action. These were that the action was not well organised for large numbers of people and it was too far away from the gathering site. These problems were due to having to cancel the original planned action at the last minute. A bit more forward thinking could prevent this happening again, but to organise such a large action is perhaps too much work for the people already organising the gathering. There was also a problem with the police hassling the owner of the gathering site. Therefore we are suggesting that there is a national action as a separate event within 50 miles of the gathering site, the day after the gathering. This would be organised and publicised as a separate event, with a safe camp, full, clear briefings and legal support. Obviously having 500 people just up the road would be a coincidence, but it could not be blamed on the land owner of the gathering site. As always we need your comments and help.

Coordinating Transport

We need people to coordinate transport from their area. This means we would publish your telephone number so that people in your area could meet up and travel together. Any offers please contact us.

Cash

We'll need money to make this all happen. Although people are doing this for free, there will still be a lot of expenses - printing fliers, phone bills, possible marquee hire, money to get the catering teams set up, bond for the land owner... This will be over a thousand pounds. Anyone up for a benefit gig, or got some cash? Send cheques to 'Earth First!' at the address below.

Depending on how much cash we raise before the event, we'll be asking for a donation from people coming - around ten pounds for the week.

Advertising

A flier for the gathering will be coming out in May. If you'd like a copy or can offer to distribute them, please send a stamped, self addressed envelope to us. Also if you've got any suggestions about magazines that we could put articles in or places where we can distribute fliers, let us know.

The exact location will be available the day before the gathering. It will be on several phone lines and mailed out if you send a 1st class SAE