ACTION AWE – NEWSLETTER NO. 1 – MARCH 2013

Welcome to the first of our irregular newsletters that will hopefully keep you up to date on the progress of our campaign and draw your attention to upcoming events and news. If you have any ideas of what you would like to have included please contact [email protected]

LAUNCH

Action AWE was launched on 27th February 2013 in Reading. Around 8 local people dropped banners at various locations around Reading - off bridges, in front of the Town Hall, the Railway Station, the Lion, Queen Victoria - you can find them athttp://actionawe.org/action-awe-launches-in-reading/ Leaflets were handed out about the public meeting to be held later that day.

The public meeting was attended by over 60 people and addressed by Dr. Kate Hudson and Dr. Rebecca Johnson. The presentations were informative, outlining the problems associated with nuclear weapons in general, the UK Trident system in particular and why Action AWE was needed. Rebecca showed a version of the slide show that you can find at http://actionawe.org/action-awe-slideshow/

We encouraged everyone present to take some of the window posters and get their friends and locals to put them up in their windows. Maybe over the next couple of years we could see if this could take off – it is a simple action but can help put No Trident on the political agenda.

See http://actionawe.org/action-awe-window-signs/

READY FOR ACTION

Action AWE is now ready for you all to organise your own actions and events. The website is our joint resource and a method for us to communicate what we are doing so we can all feel energised and inspired. So please contact your friends and organisations, plan your actions (there are trainers available if you want help with this) and contact us to put up your information and reports on the site.To publish your news yourself, register with the site and let us know who you are by emailing [email protected] – we can give you instructions on how to put your event in the calendar and how to post your news. We are a very small co-ordinating group and would like you to take an active part in putting up your own reports and pictures, if at all possible.

LEARN HOW TO DO LEGAL SUPPORT FOR YOUR ACTION

There are still a couple of free places left for anyone wanting to learn how to do the legal support for their group. 19th May from 10a.m. To 4p.m. in Reading. For more information contact Angie on [email protected] or ring 0845-4588-362.

FORTHCOMING PUBLIC ACTIONS YOU CAN JOIN

Some actions will be hidden and a surprise to make them more effective at disrupting the illegal business-as-usual work of building weapons of mass destruction at Burghfield and Aldermaston but some are public and open and wish to invite you to take part. You can find these on the calendar at http://www.localendar.com/public/actionawe

To give you a flavour of some of these and to encourage you to join them:

• 1st April 2003 there will be a big CND demonstration at Aldermaston, called Stop Fooling with Nuclear Weapons – see http://actionawe.org/cnd-action-at-awe-aldermaston-april-1st-2013/
• From Hiroshima to Nagasaki Day there will be a 4 day fast at Burghfield – seehttp://actionawe.org/paris-burghfield-4-day-fast-6th-9th-august-2013/
• 26th August to 7th September (with 2nd September as the international blockade day) there will be a Trident Ploughshares Summer Disarmament Camp seehttp://actionawe.org/trident-ploughshares-burghfield-camp-2013/
• To register for this camp go tohttp://tridentploughshares.org/awe-burghfield-summer-disarmament-camp-2013/

But there are many others and you can find them by looking at the calendar on the website.

CREATIVE FLUFFY HIGH-PROFILE EVENTS

Wool Against Weapons is a project to knit a 7 mile long pink peace scarf that will be stretched between Aldermaston and Burghfield on August 16th 2014. Hundreds of knitters are already picking up their needles, from all over the U.K, Europe and America in what will be the biggest yarn bomb to date in this country. The project has already had extensive local press coverage in Gloucestershire, and has a presence via social media groups, knitting groups, faith groups, youth groups and other activist groups. Jaine Rose, an organiser of the event, said: “I am very excited to be linking up thousands of knitters, crocheters and weavers in a fun and accessible protest to send a clear message to our Government and the larger world - that we want to challenge current global militarism and redirect our resources in to health care, education, environment and positive change. We need about 11,000 metre long pieces of scarf - so it’s all hands to the deck! It will look fantastic when we unroll it in August 2014 between these two sites - knitting for peace, what a hugely empowering and inspiring thing we can all be a part of!”

Why pink? “I was quite taken with the idea of pink after seeing an image of a Danish Army tank that had been covered with a beautiful pink peace blanket - like a big tea cosy. It is such a powerful anti-war image. I also have been excited about CodePink -a women-initiated grass-roots and social justice movement in the America that work to end US funded wars and occupations and bring awareness to global military power. Pink is feminine, beautiful and strong, an anti-war colour indeed!”

Groups around the country are gearing up for this action.For instance, in Knighton, Powys, on 30th March there will be a knit-in around the clock tower to get people started.

POLICE LIAISON

Police liaison work has started to assure the police of our nonviolence. For instance, we explained that if there are blockades but emergency vehicles (apart from police vehicles) need access, our nonviolence guidelines would mean that blockaders would move to allow them in and then move back to blockade again afterwards. For an account of why we do police liaison work and of the reports and emails plus a picture of the police liaison officers involved see http://actionawe.org/topics/police/

FUNDING
We are very grateful to have received several generous personal donations that helped us get started and have now also received funding from Lush, XminusY, Trident Ploughshares, CND and the Network. Many thanks indeed for all of this.

We will still need donations from the general public to keep us going over the 3 years and it is possible to transfer money directly – our bank details are http://actionawe.org/donate/

T-shirts are now available for sale – see http://actionawe.org/action-awe-t-shirts/ and look really good on demos or for handing out leaflets. It is another way to get our message across as our logo is on the front and on the back it says NO TRIDENT REPLACEMENT.

Download Action AWE 1st Newsletter as .ODT or .PDF