Local fetes, egg rolling, the first Powershift Europe action, Sharks in Liverpool, Paula Bear in Edinburgh, Chain-saw Barbie everywhere, Supermarkets, VW forecourts, Magazine Covers, BBC TV, Facebook.
You’ll find Lancashire Greenpeace Everywhere. There’s lots to do and you can get involved at any level, on line, on the street, baking knitting or face-painting. You can join us for a drink at our monthly meetings at the Black Horse Preston or just for the annual Christmas curry.
Local actions this year focused on the common fisheries policy campaign. We were collecting messages from Longton Fete, Newman College, Preston’s Big Tent, Worden Park Eco-fair and Ashton Farmers Market.
Lancashire campaigners went to Princess HQ in the Liver Building in Liverpool to highlight the use of Fish Aggregation Devices (FADs). Later in the year we took the message to local supermarkets. Now all British tinned tuna suppliers have made a commitment to source tuna without FADs.
Mattel, makers of Barbie, saw that buying card and paper from Asia Pulp & Paper (APP) couldn’t be covered up thanks to Ken and our local Barbie hunt.
National and international action has included Lancashire campaigners. At Cairn Energy in Edinburgh Paula was helping to look for their elusive “Arctic Oil Spill Response Plan”. She wouldn’t smell as sweet without Lancashire GP. We were represented at the Climate Laggards conference in Brussels, where VW was identified as lobbying against climate change laws, and at the Department for Tar Sands in London. Oh yes! Cairn did publish their “Oil Spill Response Plan”.
In the Media three local campaigners appeared on BBC3’s Young voters’ Question Time during the Conservative Party Conference. We showed the Film H2Oil at the Green Centre in Preston and spoke to Didsbury Film Club about the Greenpeace and Common Fisheries Policy when they showed “End of the Line”.
Local MP Mark Hendrick appeared in the Lancashire Evening Post along with Campaigners for an effective the Energy Bill. As well as lobbying local MPs there have been training events around the country to encourage effective political lobbying. Lancashire campaigners have been involved in events in Glasgow, Liverpool and York.
The end of the year has seen the VW campaign of public engagement at Fulwood Farmers Market and Ripley St. John Green Fair. This campaign has been running online too. Are you signed up?
The baking and face-painting puts the fun into fundraising, at the Avenham Park Easter egg rolling and Green and eco-fetes and fairs
Of course there was Glastonbury. There was mud, there was music and there was curry for the workers. Four Lancashire volunteers were working at and enjoying the festival this year.
Rainbow Warrior III launched in October, and, yes some of Lancashire group was at the London open days acting as marshals and to welcome the purpose built ship into service.
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