As an interloper from the Greenpeace Islington Group, I was thrilled to take part in the South London Greenpeace VW and 40th Anniversary Film Night last Friday evening at the Amersham Arms in salubrious New Cross, SE14...a stalwart stomping ground from my early London days.
Legendary venue...
The upper floor of this legendary and popular old leftfield live music venue, perched precariously on the corner of New Cross Road and the train station, provided a characterful location for the South London film night, with a suitably mixed loyal footfall from across South London.
The impressive organising team, consisting of Camilla, Steve and Anders of the Greenwich and Lewisham, Southwark and South West London groups respectively, were a force to behold. Having spent a few weeks organising the event, a good part of their Friday afternoon was spent lugging boxes upstairs, testing equipment and rehearsing presentations, fuelled by a steady stream of espressos and snacks from the bar below.
By 6pm balloons were inflated, posters stuck to the wall, powerpoints positioned and the brave stormtrooper was happily soliciting punters on the street below. All there was left to do was speculate how many people would actually make the trip to New Cross on a bustling Friday evening...
Full house
More than 60 people is the answer! By 7.30pm, a steady stream of guests had arrived at the venue on bikes, buses and tubes filling every chair and standing space in the room; a packed house of fresh and familiar faces, the perfect audience all round...
Let the fun begin
The ever-charismatic Steve Smith of Southwark fame kicked off proceedings as compare for the night, warmly welcoming guests with a quick overview of the evening’s itinerary ..
Mindbomb... pass the fairtrade hanky
This was swiftly followed by a screening of the hour long film 'Mindbomb', a powerful and emotional depiction of Greenpeace's challenges and achievements over the last 40 years, ranging from the early days of anti whaling and nuclear protesting to the most recent Arctic campaign; there was not a dry eye in the house by the time the end credits appeared... Personally, despite being involved with Greenpeace for over 10 years, I still well up like a girly girl with profound pride when I see footage of our direct actions, it's such a powerful motivator every time.
VW stormtrooper photo op
A swift break later, in which I took pictures of guests and stalwarts alongside the stormtrooper, brandishing a selection of Star Wars themed VW campaign message speech bubbles -'I've got a bad feeling about this VW' - 'VW das climate killer' - etc, and we were ready for more....
VW campaign overview
Second half of the night was kicked off by Anders Lorenzen of South West London fame, with a colourful presentation detailing of the conception, roll out and achievements of the VW campaign to date, drawing attention to a number of stunning campaign wins such as the 500,000 'Jedis' recruited via social media. Anders also screened a selection of the best VW film competition entries and an engaging short film on our latest VW day of collective campaigning on the Southbank, leaving us in no doubt of the multi-faceted genius of this particular campaign. We’re all definitely looking forward to the next VW steps in due course.
Final words
By 10pm, everyone was ready for some final drinks so each of the organisers rounded up proceedings with short presentations about their own motivations for being involved with Greenpeace, the work of their individual groups before ending the night with warm encouragement for new faces to join them for a chat by the bar... which the happy audience promptly obeyed!
Job well done
In all it was really fun and inspiring night for everyone involved - massive congratulations to the organisers for putting on such a successful evening, in particular the impressive and resourceful Camilla Behrens who was the organising backbone of the night and a privilege to work alongside.
More London events coming up...
Join us for more upcoming VW and 40th Anniversary events in London - in particular the Waltham Forest Greenpeace Film Night this coming Thursday evening and the Islington, Camden and Bethnal Green Greenpeace and VW Music, Film and Campaign weekend at The Forge in Camden over the Easter weekend - we hope to see you there!
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