Editorial
Hello, and welcome to the 1st AU published in Norfolk. Here like many other places, we have been ‘consumers’ of the Action Update for a number of years. We took it on when we realised the October edition might be the last and came to discuss just how important we felt it was. We produced a quite lengthy mailout in December which we circulated to local groups and via e-mail which covers our thoughts about and commitment to the update. If anyone would like a copy please get in touch. What appears here are some of the main points from that mail-out plus tips on distributing the AU and submitting articles to it.
We feel the AU is an incredibly valuable resource. Our hope is it can reflect the diverse and exciting range of activity going on out there. For this to happen we need as many people as possible to contribute their news and ideas. All feedback gratefully received. We won’t be considering another editorial until our final issue so many thanks,
3am, Feb 12th 2001
Why The EF! AU Is Important
The EF! Network in the UK is almost a decade old. In that time there have been some pretty major changes in the form and focus of ecological direct action but the network has survived and continues to play a role. While it would be arrogant and untrue to consider the EF! Network the be all and end all of ecological direct action in the UK, people and groups involved with EF!, by that name or otherwise have made a substantial contribution over recent years.
The reason for mentioning this is we feel the value of the EF! Network is often under appreciated (something we’ve been guilty of too). It may be far from perfect but there is much worth maintaining and building on. We feel the Action Update performs some important (and often unique) functions within the network. Broadly speaking these are:-
* The maintenance of a point of contact for the network
* The maintenance of the contacts list
* A point of information for those isolated from an active group, and inspiration for those not involved in radical ecological action.
* A way in for new groups to publicise themselves and make contact with others i.e. A way into the network
* The sharing of news and information, and publicising events; cheap, accessible information.
* A forum for the introduction of ‘new’ issues (At present anyone with a new idea can submit an article to the AU or raise it at a gathering — imagine trying to do this without those things)
* A record of what has gone before
A Few Changes
You may have already noticed a few changes dotted here and there in this AU. We don’t plan any major alterations and we would appreciate feedback on those we have made and any more you think we should make. We plan to publish 10 issue a year (basically monthly but with 2 joint issues a year) and have altered the subscription rate to £5 for 10 issues. We would also like to try to broaden the focus of the AU to include more about the ongoing community initiatives that seem to be on the increase in the Network. By this we mean things like social centres and community gardens, self-education things etc. that fit our understanding of ‘Direct Action’ but are less obviously ‘An Action’. We think this will be more reflective of what people on the Network are up to and give the Update a broader appeal.
We have changed our e-mail address to efactionupdate@bigfoot.com. We realise this is potentially contentious. It was not a decision taken lightly and we took a lot of advice before we made the move. There were problems with the system we inherited (probably not the fault of either the last collective or the e-mail company) and felt now was a better time than any other to make a change. We have aimed to set up a system that is easy to use, easy to pass to the next collective and minimises the likelihood of our losing information. We can’t promise we’ve got it right, but we have thought about it very carefully
A Quick Note On Money
As far as we know the AU has never yet managed financially on subscriptions. It has relied on donations from groups and individuals and the fund-raising efforts of the Editorial collective. We are concerned the AU doesn’t take too much away from local projects we are involved in so please support us if you can.
Distribution - get it out there!
Info stalls can be set up legitimately or otherwise — particularly useful if you have a new campaign or group in your area.
Car boot sale stalls a group in Brighton tried this and said it worked well.
Pub collections We are not sure what the legal position is with this, always approach the landlord and ask if it’s OK to come in. We’ve found this to be an effective fund-raiser and a good way to get talking to people.
Leave it around doctor’s waiting rooms, trains, libraries, staff-rooms - anywhere people might pick it up and have a look.
Ask local shops, community centres, pubs etc . if they will take a few. It’s quite easy to establish a route for dropping them off. Some places may even let you leave a collecting tin.
Anywhere there is a public notice board, stick one up.
Gigs sympathetic bands are often happy to have info stalls at their gigs and sometimes allow bucketing. Contact the venue or promoters and ask for a contact for the tour manager and see how far you get.
If there’s a big action or event in your area we are quite happy to supply you with extra AUs. On the off chance you make some money, please remember to send us some.
Tips For Submitting Article To The AU
* Articles can be submitted to the AU via e-mail, post or phone. Easiest for us is a text file, either on disk or as an e-mail attachment (add the article to the body of the text too).
* Articles should be between 80-150 words. We will try and edit only for length, spelling and clarity
* Make sure it includes a line explaining what the project, campaign or issue is (don’t assume all readers will know) a contact for further information and if applicable a date. If there is going to be further action to get involved in make sure this is included.
* If possible include a contact for you in case we have queries about your article.
* If you want to submit a feature article (these should be information NOT personal rants) please get in touch first to check we have space and what formats we can accept. Ideas for information towards features are also very useful.
EF!AU
PO Box 487,
Norwich, NR2 3AL
Tel: 01603 219 811
efactionupdate@bigfoot.com