Action AWE & Wool Against Weapons newsletter

Let’s Roll It Out on 9 August 2014

We’ve got less than 2 weeks to go and we’ve nearly reached the target of 7 miles of pink scarf! Knitters around the country are sewing pieces together and rolling up giant pinwheels of pink knitting, and we’re finalising plans for Nagasaki Day at Burghfield and Aldermaston AWE.

The scarf rollout will follow a fast at Burghfield which all are invited to join, either at Burghfield or at a distance: http://actionawe.org/hiroshima-nagasaki-no-nukes/

And now, here’s the latest information on the rollout, to help you prepare for the big day, all details at www.woolagainstweapons.co.uk, and www.actionawe.org.

See you there!

GETTING THERE

There are coaches organised from around the country – for more information see the website: http://actionawe.org/details-of-transport-available-to-wool-against-weapons-event-on-9th-august/

CND will run shuttle buses from Mortimer train station, but you need to let them know if you need this service. Email: [email protected]
There is very limited parking around AWE. Some country lanes have no parking restrictions (please park as safely as you can) and each milestone will have a small amount of parking. Another option is to park at the services between junctions 11 & 12 and walk across the bridge to The Mearings entrance to AWE Burghfield – this is the last Milestone of the scarf route. See the map here.

WHAT TO BRING

Don’t forget sun cream – and waterproofs!
Water to drink and snacks to keep you going.
Banners and messages to share – especially the core messages: Scrap Trident, Negotiate a Nuclear Ban Treaty to prohibit all nuclear weapons, NHS not Trident, etc.
Cameras.
Music, songs to sing, entertainment.
Some activists have suggested wearing clothes that reflect the colour of your milestone so that the ‘rainbow’ shows along the route.
There will be some refreshment stalls so bring a camping mug if you have one.

LOCAL MEDIA

Tell your local media you’re coming - local and regional media outreach is far more likely to be successful than getting national coverage. Action AWE’s media outreach worker Symon Hill [email protected] is happy to discuss with you how to interest and engage your local and regional media.
Contact your media before you go, tell them about the demo, email a press release as you leave identifying how many are going from your area and any names and quotes you want to highlight.
If you know one, bring a professionally trained photographer with you – even local media will prefer to publish professional standard photos.
Plan your follow-up work with your local media & politicians.

TWEET!
The hashtag for the day is #peacescarf.

THE MILESTONES

There are 8 milestones stretching along Goring Lane between Aldermaston and Burghfield AWE, each milestone will host people from a different part of the country:
Rainbow (Aldermaston AWE at corner of the Aldermaston perimeter fence at Red Lane): Stroud/Bristol/South-West
Purple (Padworth Common Carpark): Berkshire, Hampshire and South England
Blue (Englefield Estate Corner adjoining Wokefield Common): Scotland and North-east England
Green (Mortimer Road): Greens and feminists
Yellow (Goring Lane mini roundabout): Wales and the Borders
Orange (Lockram Lane green field): North of Oxford, Midlands, Yorkshire/Lancashire
Red (Dairy Cottage corner): Quakers/Faith Groups
Rainbow Burghfield (layby adjacent to AWE Burghfield): CND London, East Anglia and South-East

See the interactive map for more info: http://actionawe.org/mapwool-against-weapons-scarf-route-milestone-markers-with-info/

Each milestone will have an organiser and a first-aider, and there will be a few cyclists carrying messages between the milestones – in case there are mobile phone reception gaps.

PROGRAMME AND TIMINGS

8.00 am to 10.00 am: Pre-demo set up at milestones, including marking the route with pink sticks. Minibus shuttles will run from Mortimer station from 9.45 am to at least 4 pm.

10.00 am to 12.00 noon: Arrivals and setting up the milestones
We encourage you to come as early as you can, but anticipate that most coaches will be arriving and dropping off their passengers and sections of scarf from 10.00 onwards. Some activists will be camping nearby and in situ from 8.00 am to help set up the milestones.

12.00 noon to 1.00 pm: Connect up the scarf sections, fun at milestones! Aim to be fully joined along the whole route by 1.00 pm.
Joining up the scarf and spreading east and west (as appropriate) to link with activists from adjacent milestones will take time. There will probably be singers, musicians, speakers and other entertainers travelling the route, passing on news. Apart from the two ends at Aldermaston and Burghfield, the peace scarf should be stretched in both directions towards the milestones on both sides. We hope to have at least one walkie talkie at each milestone, as there are some mobile phone ‘dead zones’ along the way.

1.00 - LINK UP FOR THE WHOLE PEACE SCARF
When you’ve linked your knitted sections with those reaching out from adjacent milestones, ring bells.

1.00 - 2.00
When bells have been ringing in your area for 5 minutes, we then want a 2 minute silence to remember everyone who has been killed or injured by nuclear weapons, from the bombs that incinerated Nagasaki and Hiroshima 69 years ago to people harmed by nuclear weapons production and testing, including some workforce and families living and working near AWE in Berkshire.

2.00 - 3.00 pm: Disconnect the scarf and return to milestones for any milestone entertainment or speakers.

From 3.00 pm onwards – departure.
Buses will start to pick up from the milestones from 3.00 pm. Time to clear up – we aim to make sure that we take all our rubbish with us, as well of course as all of the scarf!

Hope you’re looking forward to it as much as we are – see you on the 9th!

Action AWE