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Holocaust Memorial Day event in Stroud, Sunday 25th January 2026

From 2-3pm 25th January 2026 Community Solidarity Stroud District held our annual Holocaust Memorial Day event at Lansdown Hall. Here we reproduce the programme, videos of speeches (and text of these where possible).

Programme

The international theme for Holocaust Memorial Day 2026 is ‘Bridging the Generations’

Arrival music by The Stroud Red Band

Welcome by Adam Horovitz, poet and member of Community Solidarity Stroud District. Adam is presenting today’s Holocaust Memorial Day event.

Jeremy Green from Stroud Red Band and Community Solidarity Stroud District will introduce, Zog Nicht Keyn Mol, the first piece of music for Stroud HMD Event.

Speakers

  • Julia Wilton, Stroud Trades Council
  • Denise Needleman, Community Solidarity Stroud District
  • Baron Mendes da Costa, Three Counties Liberal Jewish Community will say Kaddish, the Jewish mourning prayer
  • Rev James Turk, representing Churches Together in Stroud
  • Mustafa Davies, Stroud Muslim Prayer Hall
  • Shelley Rider, Three Counties Liberal Jewish Community – poem about Anne Frank
  • Mohammed Elsharif, Sudanese Community Activist

Music – The Stroud Red Band – ‘Einheitsfrontlied’ (United Front Song)

Speakers

  • Simon Opher- Member of Parliament
  • Charlotte Levene, Na’amod Gloucestershire
  • Alice Jolly, local author of ’The Matchbox Girl’
  • Sue Oppenheimer, Stroud Together with Refugees
  • Freddie Janke, Stroud Against Racism
  • Teddy, Radical Youth Space for Education (RYSE)

Adam Horovitz – close

The Red Band will play ‘The Internationale’.

Videos

Livestream recording of event

This video is the recording of a livestream made from Community Solidarity Stroud District’s annual Holocaust Memorial Day event, held in 2026 on Sunday 25th January. Sadly the opening of the event is missing from the recording due to technical difficulties, but this video features the speakers from Denise Needleman onwards.

Video of speech by Alice Jolly – local author of ’The Matchbox Girl’

Text of speech by Teddy from The RYSE

Hello. I’m here on behalf of the RYSE
Thank you for inviting me.

Being here with you all today, I know that whatever I could say about the tragedy of the holocaust could only be achingly inadequate.
There is nothing I can say to recognise the depth and width of the tragedy, or understand the way it feels to live with the ongoing pain that is its legacy.

There are so many and so much that was lost
And as a young person of today, trying to figure out how to orient to a world still so full of such genocide and destruction, I look back
And I find so much strength in the few stories I know

Of those like Sophie Scholl who was executed at 21 for organising youth against nazism

Some of her last words are said to have been

“How can we expect righteousness to prevail when there is hardly anyone willing to give himself up individually to a righteous cause. … It is such a splendid sunny day, and I have to go. But how many have to die on the battlefield in these days, how many young, promising lives. What does my death matter if by our acts thousands are warned and alerted. Among the student body there will certainly be a revolt”

We hear in this, the power of youth. It is so often youth who are the first and fiercest to give their bodies to stand up against injustice.

And we youth need the olders.
For us to live “never forget” and “never again” we need intergenerational relationships.

We need the olders to remember, to tell stories, to share the past and its wisdom with us, to support us, and to hold us to account when we are shortsighted.
And the olders need us youngers, to shape the future with our energy, to act with the indignation and idealism, courage and hope, that so often comes with the youth.

The stories of the holocaust are full of such brave people

of those who’s courage burned brighter than their fear, who’s love and conviction called them to do things for the greater good no matter the personal expense, and in them I find the guidance I need to be what the world needs of me today, or at least to try

These ancestors teach us what “never again” really means
Because it is not just a slogan
The holocaust was a tragedy that bears no comparison, and yet, it was not the first or last pogrom
It wasn’t an isolated incident that came out of nowhere, and the conditions that created it did not vanish

They say fascism is the face that colonialism wears at home.

We cannot separate fascism from empirealism
And empirealism has got it’s claws round all our throats in a choke hold

As long as imperialism continues, we will continue to see genocides across the world, until capitalist imperialism eats itself and kills us all by destroying the earth.

We don’t just say never forget and never again, we live those things as tenets that direct our actions, every day.

We keep reminding eachother, keep holding eachother responsible for creating peace and justice on this earth.

We show up to oppose the racist protests happening outside asylum seeker hotels in Gloucester and Cheltenham.

We fight for the rights of our neighbours, and don’t let anyone be made into the scapegoat for the crimes of the rich.

We do all we can to figure out together, how we are going to take apart all empire all over the earth, and build a world together that all our children would be proud of.

We talk about ancestors of blood, but we also have ancestors of struggle, of our common cause. May we all join together as future ancestors in this lineage

In the names of our brave and precious ancestors, may they rest in glory, and we find our strength in them.
Thank you

Who are we:

Community Solidarity Stroud District exists to build community led solidarity in the Stroud district to oppose the hatred of minorities and oppressed people arising from false and harmful information.

Contact us
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A Message of Unity from the Children of Abraham

We, a Progressive Jewish Rabbi, a Pioneer Priest and regional Inter Faith Adviser in the Stroud Anglican Team, and a trustee of the Stroud District Islamic Centre, stand together today not merely as representatives of our respective faiths, but as grieving human beings united in horror and sorrow.

The atrocity committed at Bondi Beach, targeting families gathered for the festival of Hanukkah, was an assault on the very sanctity of life. To murder innocent people during a celebration of light is an act of profound darkness. We mourn the lives stolen, we pray for the healing of the wounded, and we extend our deepest love to the Jewish community in Australia and around the world who are once again reeling from the trauma of antisemitic violence.

We are compelled to speak with one voice because the intent of terror is to divide us. The gunmen sought to sow fear and hatred between our communities; we refuse to give them that victory.

To our Jewish brothers and sisters: We see your pain. We acknowledge the terrifying rise in antisemitism that has led to this moment. You are not alone. We stand around you as a shield of friendship and solidarity.

To our Muslim brothers and sisters: We affirm that such acts of violence are a betrayal of true faith. We stand firm against any retaliatory Islamophobia that seeks to blame an entire community for the crimes of a few.

To all people of good will: We call upon you to resist the pull of polarization and to stand together against oppression and injustice. Do not let this tragedy harden your hearts against your neighbours. In the face of those who wish to spread hatred and conflict, our most powerful weapon is our unity.

Let us be the light that defies the darkness.

Mustafa Davies
Trustee, Stroud District Islamic Center

Rabbi Anna Gerrard,
Three Counties Liberal Jewish Community

Rev Simon Howell,
Stroud Parish Churches/Gloucester Diocese

Chanukah killings, Bondi Beach

At the start of the Chanukah celebrations on Sunday on Bondi Beach in Sydney, Australia, a 10-year-old little girl called Matilda, her face freshly painted with sea shells and a dolphin, was chosen by a gunman as his next target. A little girl. Out with her family and friends celebrating a holiday with her family and friends. She was one of 15 people killed and 26 people seriously injured. Alexander Kletyman was also killed. He and his family knew what that kind of ‘being chosen’ means. Alexander was a survivor of The Holocaust. 

It wasn’t just a holiday. It was a Jewish holiday where Jews come together to celebrate the festival of lights – Chanukah. The killings were antisemitic murders, planned and organised. 

In the hours and days that have followed these terrible shootings, conspiracy theories have abounded. As have the excuses, the justifications, even the celebrations – in short, an outpouring of online antisemitism. And, also troubling, silence from too many friends and comrades. In the days and weeks to come, we will do what we can – as is the purpose of our organisation – to challenge racism, antisemitism and hate-filled conspiracy theories, and to break that silence.

We mourn the victims, and send love to our Jewish friends following our work at Community Solidarity Stroud District, and thank the friends who have reached out to some of us privately. We welcome the following statements released by local organisations, and those from Na’amod UK and Rabbis for Ceasefire, and encourage our supporters to read and share them:

Sandi Adams and antisemitism (again)

Project Libertas, the Stroud based organisation that last year booked Holocaust Denier John Hamer to speak on The Protocols of the Elders of Zion and to celebrate Hitler’s birthday, have booked Sandi Adams again to speak at the Old Convent on 28th November 2025.

Sandi Adams is no stranger to Stroud.  Many Stroud residents were concerned at her speaking at an anti-lockdown rally in 2020 where she promoted her conspiracy theories about COVID-19.

She was booked to speak at the Old Convent last year and was angry that her antisemitism was called out.

Sandi Adams doesn’t want to be associated with the views posted on her website.  She claims that she is not antisemitic and that a previous business colleague posted antisemitic material on her website, which she since removed. We have no difficulty accepting her version of events in respect of this. 

However, Sandi Adams continues to host antisemitic conspiracy films on her website. There is no ambiguity in the sub-title of the film “The Crucifixion Of Russia- Bolshevism & the strategy of divide and conquer”. A few seconds into the film and its true title is revealed: “The Jewish Crucifixion Of Russia” (still on her website 25th November 2025 – when the screenshot below was taken, the link is to Internet Archive record from 11th October 2025). 

Adams also promotes blatantly antisemitic conspiracies in an article ‘The World Order – How It Works (there’s nothing particularly new about it!’) on her website (again, still on her website 25th November 2025, link is to Internet Archive record from 11th October 2025). This article begins with a quote from Eustace Mullins, an American white supremacist, antisemite, Holocaust denier and conspiracy propagandist. We first raised these two examples in our article published in February 2023. Why has Sandi Adams not removed these pages from her website over two years later? The removal of other pages we raised as an issue shows she can – why not in these cases?

Given she says it was her previous business colleague’s fault that some antisemitic material was on her website, we can only conclude that she is responsible for its current content and is happy to host it. Would you trust someone who says they have removed the antisemitic content on their website but leaves these examples for years?

Adams also explained her position on free speech in an email to Community Solidarity Stroud District on 11th October 2024. She was concerned that calling out the antisemitism on her website attempted to interfere with a positive business relationship. She said: “I trust this clarifies for you my position on the matter, and now that you are fully informed may I remind you that any further tort of defamation would be proven by public presentations or dissemination of information by email on your part that further defamed, either directly or indirectly, my character and views.” 

We are fully informed by Sandi Adams’ own website that she continues to promote and support antisemitism. We will continue to use our right to freedom of speech to point this out.

We again call upon The Old Convent to reconsider accepting this booking and ask why its owners are happy to promote antisemitism and racism.

As we’ve said before, Sandi Adams’ theories about Agenda 21 / Agenda 2030 are dodgy too. “In fact, “Agenda 21 was a non-binding planning paper, adopted by the UN Conference on Environment and Development in 1992. It is not a treaty. It has no force of law, no penalties, and no significant funding. It sought to encourage communities around the world to come up with their own solutions to environmental problems rather than to impose them. In the decades since, right-wing groups in the US like the John Birch Society, have claimed that this document is a blueprint for a totalitarian world government – but people who care about our environment shouldn’t be fooled.”

The Project Libertas event will feature – alongside Sandi Adams – Mike Yeadon and Ben Rubin. Yeadon claimed in April 2021 that recipients of the “top-up” booster COVID-19 vaccines will die within two years. It’s now over 4 years since this prediction and while there have been a some tragic deaths and some people have experienced damage as a result of these vaccines, there is no indication of the “mass depopulation” event claimed by Yeadon. To the contrary, even conservative estimates suggest “COVID-19 vaccinations averted 2.5 million deaths during 2020-2024 (sensitivity range estimates, 1.4-4.0 million) and saved 15 million life-years (sensitivity range estimates, 7-24 million life-years)”.

This isn’t the only bizarre and false conspiracy theory Yeadon pushed about the pandemic – “many of the claims he made were unfounded and lacked scientific or empirical evidence”. However, he used his position as a former Pfizer employee to persuade audiences he was an authoritative source. In reality, “Yeadon worked in a drug discovery research unit at Pfizer that worked on allergy and respiratory medical research. The division he ran had nothing to do with vaccines or infectious disease“. His record of baseless claims and failed predictions shouldn’t be a cause to give him further opportunities to propagandise and trick people.

Ben Rubin will speak in his capacity as writer and broadcaster for a website rated as “a strong right-wing biased conspiracy website that frequently promotes false or misleading information”, known as the UK Column. This is the MediaBiasFactCheck summary.

Read more about Sandi Adams here

Who are Community Solidarity Stroud District?

Community Solidarity Stroud District exists to build community led solidarity in the Stroud district to oppose the hatred of minorities and oppressed people arising from false and harmful information.

Save the Date – community counter-protest, Cheltenham, Saturday 13th December 2025

The local far right “Patriots” are once again intending to hold an intimidating protest outside a hotel housing people seeking asylum.

This time, they are targeting the Citrus Hotel in Cheltenham.

They say they’ll be there from 1pm on Saturday 13th December – but we’ll be there to outnumber them once again!

More information to follow ASAP, for now please save the date, share and let friends, fellow workers, and neighbours know!

Join the Gloucestershire Solidarity Network WhatsApp Channel for updates
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Save the Date – community counter-protest, Gloucester Sunday 2nd November 2025

The “Patriots of Gloucestershire” and far-right groups they have been working with like Patriotic Alterntive have announced today that they intend to protest outside the Ibis hotel in Gloucester again on November 2nd, from 1-4pm. Together with other organisations in the Gloucestershire Solidarity Network, we’ll be organising a community counter-protest again, please save the date!

Join the Gloucestershire Solidarity Network WhatsApp Channel for updates
SAVE THE DATE - Community counter-protest. Ibis Hotel, Gloucester GL4 3DG, Sunday 2nd Nov 1-4pm. Join communities from across Gloucestershire to stand with people seeking asylum at the Ibis Hotel in Gloucester. Together we rise against division and racism.
Join the Gloucestershire Solidarity Network WhatsApp Channel for updates

“Whosoever destroys one soul, it is as if he had destroyed the entire world”

Jeremy from The Stroud Red Band speaks at the Stroud Ceasefire Now Coalition vigil at Wallbridge, Friday 10th October 2025. The vigil meets every Friday from 6-6.20pm. You can watch or read the speech in full below. We have included some clips of Karen Coldrick singing with the Band.

As well as the Red Band, the coalition includes us at Community Solidarity Stroud District, Stroud Against Racism, Stroud District Together With Refugees, Palestine Solidarity Campaign – Stroud District, Na’amod Gloucestershire, Nailsworth Quakers, Stroud Quakers, Parents for Future – Stroud, and The RYSE. If your group would like to join the coalition, please approach one of the organisers at the end of a weekly vigil.

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Speech transcript

Friends, it falls to me to open the vigil tonight as we enter into our third year of standing here to bear witness to the slaughter in Gaza and call for a permanent just peace between Israelis and Palestinians. As ever, one of the Ceasefire Coalition partners will say a few words, and then we’ll have fifteen minutes of silence, and then I will read some notices about upcoming events.

Oddly, I now have to call on myself to speak, because today it’s the Red Band’s turn to say a few words to open the vigil. The Red Band is Stroud’s progressive street band, and we’ve been a member of the Ceasefire Coalition since March.

Last time it was our turn to speak we played music for the vigil – the antifascist anthem “Bella Ciao”, which is also used by the Palestinian resistance, “He ain’t heavy, he’s my brother”, and The Internationale.

We’re not playing for you tonight. The band is on a pause, because one of founder members – Karen Coldrick – died two weeks ago. We are devastated, and we have chosen not to play at all during the month of October. Karen was a lovely, kind, beautiful, talented, enthusiastic member of our band, and her death has affected us all deeply.

There is a saying in the Jerusalem Talmud that goes: “”Whosoever destroys one soul, it is as though he had destroyed the entire world. And whosoever saves a life, it is as though he had saved the entire world.” A similar phrase is in the Koran – “whoever saves a life, it will be as if they saved all of humanity.”

Karen’s death, one death, connects us to the many thousands of people who have died since the latest round of the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians began in October 2023. The tens of thousands who have died in Israel’s assault on Palestinian civilians in Gaza. The twelve hundred Israelis who died as a result of Hamas’s attack on 7th October. Every one of them was someone’s friend, someone’s mother or brother or father or child.

Earlier this year Karen sang at the annual Holocaust Memorial Day commemoration in Stroud, which the band co-organises with Community Solidarity Stroud District – another Coalition partner. In Yiddish she sang the Jewish partisans’ song, Zog Nit Keynmol, an anthem for hope and against despair. It begins with the words “Never Say This is Your Last Road”. It reaches across the years, from one genocide to another.

Tonight there is a faint glimmer of hope. Israel and Hamas are in direct talks about a permanent ceasefire. There are plans for an exchange of prisoners and hostages. Of course we’ve been here before. We have no guarantee that this will be a permanent ceasefire. In March this year Israel unilaterally abandoned the last ceasefire. We have no guarantee that this will lead to a just peace – the opposite seems more likely. But even this ceasefire is a necessary condition for something better, and we will go on fighting and work for that something, so that there is justice and equality for everyone who lives between the river and the sea.

As so as this glimmer of hope flickers, let’s remember our friend Karen alongside all the victims of the war and the genocide.

Who are Community Solidarity Stroud District?

Community Solidarity Stroud District exists to build community led solidarity in the Stroud district to oppose the hatred of minorities and oppressed people arising from false and harmful information.

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Humanity Not Hate – Community Counter-Protest – Sunday Oct 5th – Gloucester

Meet at Westgate Car Park between 12 noon and 12.30pm

Support those seeking asylum by joining people from across Gloucestershire for a celebration of community – and to oppose attempts to stoke division and racism.

Organised by over a dozen organisations and many individual residents of Gloucestershire, forming a new alliance under the provisional name “Gloucestershire Solidarity Network”.

See below for more details, and please join the WhatsApp Channel for updates!

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This event has been collectively organised by disparate groups and individuals to show our united opposition to racism and right-wing ideology. We will not be divided.

An effective protest means we must be organised and work as a team.

There will be static teams of stewards coordinated by another mobile team.

We ask people to heed our advice and remember that individual actions can impact on others.

Our concern is practicable, personal and collective security.

The protest will be bold, vocal and vibrant, but not provocative or verbally abusive in a way that puts us in a bad light.

Try to stay calm and not be provoked. The police are eager to avoid confrontation.

Due to upgrades at the Gloucester train station, there will be no trains on October 5th.

There are nearby toilets at the Cavern Pub, Comfy Pew, Clementine Cafe, and Westgate Street Car Park has some too.

Please read on for further guidance

We are holding a non-confrontational gathering to oppose a march by the “Patriots of Gloucestershire” branch of the “Great British National Protest”, advertised to take place from 1 pm. Please bring beautiful placards, flags, positive vibes and food to share with others! We will have music, singing and speeches. We are rallying to celebrate our humanity and to promote empathy - we do not want to provoke, mock, insult or otherwise dehumanise anyone. We will need to look out for each other - there are older and disabled people on our side. Please listen to stewards who will be working to keep us all safe. Come to the event with others if possible. Let friends know where you are and when you’re home. We expect the event may last until around 4 pm. Please bring water and snacks - do not bring alcoholic drinks or drugs. Bring any necessary medications, including inhalers, and a copy of emergency phone numbers/medical information. Don’t bring anything that you wouldn’t want to get searched by the police or arrested with – including anything that could be interpreted as a weapon. People at the protest and our gathering will be taking photos and videos. You may consider protecting your identity. If you bring a phone, please ensure it’s fully charged, and leave any valuables at home. THANK YOU FOR COMING AND SHOWING THAT WE LOVE AND WELCOME ASYLUM SEEKERS AND REFUGEES!
  1. Everyone should aim to arrive at Westgate Street Car Park for 12.00, and we will leave together at 12.30.
  2. If you cannot be at the assembly point by 12.30 make sure your clothing and what you carry does not make you easily identified as a protester.
  3. The stewards will manage the event and will inform you when the event ends. All stewards will be easily identifiable – if you know a steward make sure you have their mobile number. Numbers will be provided on the day.
  4. If you see anyone who you think is acting suspiciously (on our side or the other) tell a steward.
  5. Solicitors numbers and what to do in the event of arrest will be provided on the day & electronically.
  6. The police will ensure free access to the pavement area opposite Shire Hall where the cafes and shops are located.
  7. The stewards will communicate the time the event will end, speak to a steward if you have to leave earlier. Once the event is over, do not linger.
  8. Make sure your phone is fully charged.
  9. Do not bring banners with poles, or bring anything that might be used as a weapon.
  10. Do not engage with anyone who you think is an anti-migrant protester before you arrive at the point of the counter protest, including shouting slogans. You have no idea what is around the corner.
  11. After the event, if you want to go to a cafe, bar or pub, do not do so in the vicinity of the protest action. If you do, you are literally being left behind and possibly going to the same place as anti-migrant protesters.

For more protest and security guidance see:

Practical protest tips – Liberty
Effective mass mobilisation for Anti-Fascists – antifascist network
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SOLIDARITY NOT SCAPEGOATING We know there are many problems in our country right now, yet the answer is not blaming people seeking asylum, disabled people or trans people, and using them as scapegoats. The answer is standing together and finding real solutions in solidarity.
RESPECT NOT RACISM People have a right to seek asylum. The Home Office places them in hotels while it assesses their claims. Many will be granted refugee status. Asylum seekers are people and they deserve respect. It is wrong and racist to suggest that all people seeking asylum are a threat to women and girls.
PUBLIC SERVICES NOT PREJUDICE Years of cuts and underfunding have left public services in crisis. Funding for women’s refuges has been cut a quarter since 2010. Survivors of sexual abuse need support, whatever their background, full stop. When we demand more funding, we must not set people in need against each other. Billionaires must pay. Weaponising abuse to spread prejudice and incite violence undermines the safety of women and children.
END ABUSE EVERYWHERE Violence against women is terrifyingly common. One in four women will experience domestic violence in their lifetime. “Over 90% of children who experience contact sexual abuse were abused by someone they knew” (NSPCC). To end sexual violence and protect all victims, we must tackle its root causes- the culture of patriarchy that makes abuse so widespread - rather than only showing outrage when perpetrators are from a certain race or background.
DIVERSITY IS BEAUTIFUL Our society in the UK, and here in Gloucestershire, is enriched by the many stories of people who have made this place their home. We can celebrate and be curious about what makes us different, while uniting around all that we share. We love and welcome refugees and migrants.
WE WANT SECURE HOUSING FOR ALL Housing is a human right, yet waiting lists for council housing are impossible, rents are sky high, and buying a home is out of reach for most people. No wonder homelessness is rising. Meanwhile, there are over 700,000 empty homes in England. People seeking asylum deserve dignity and safety. The real problem is a system that treats housing as an investment instead of a basic need.
CELEBRATE COMMUNITY The news here and around the world can feel grim and overwhelming. We have seen violence and unrest across the country. We choose not to answer division with more division. We hold on to compassion and remember that everyone, even those protesting outside hotels, is human. Let’s look out for each other, celebrate our community, and come together to demand better for everyone.
Join the WhatsApp channel for updates
Please join our WhatsApp updates Channel to receive updates about counter-protests and future organising:
Join the WhatsApp channel for updates
Read the Gloucestershire Solidarity Network debrief from a previous counter-protest on August 30th 2025
Read our own article written ahead of the August 30th protest, looking at the background of one of the organisers and the claims to be ‘protecting women and girls’

Who are Community Solidarity Stroud District?

Community Solidarity Stroud District exists to build community led solidarity in the Stroud district to oppose the hatred of minorities and oppressed people arising from false and harmful information.

Contact us
Follow us on Facebook
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Save the Date – Sunday Oct 5th – Gloucester Counter-Protest

We’ve become aware that the same group that organised the protest outside the IBIS hotel are planning to march through the centre of Gloucester on OCTOBER 5TH from 1:30pm.

Together with over a dozen organisations and individual residents of Gloucestershire forming a new alliance under the provisional name “Gloucestershire Solidarity Network”, we will be organising a counter-protest to stand with people seeking asylum and against hate and division (we will most likely be meeting before 1:30pm to get ahead of them).

Watch this space for more details, and please join the WhatsApp Channel for updates!

We in Community Solidarity Stroud District have been working with individuals and organisations across Gloucestershire to respond to protests against people seeking asylum, spreading hate and division. Read on for a statement debriefing from the August 30th counter-protest, from an alliance that is forming across the county – and join the WhatsApp Channel for updates!

GLOUCESTERSHIRE SOLIDARITY NETWORK We stood proudly with people seeking asylum - but we know those pushing hate and division will be back soon... To receive updates about counter-protests and future organising, please join our WhatsApp updates Channel: tinyurl.com/GLprotestUpdates This statement comes from individual Gloucestershire residents and over a dozen organisations who are forming an alliance across Gloucestershire. This includes but is not limited to: Gloucestershire Socialist Party, Community Solidarity Stroud District, Na’amod Gloucestershire, Communist Party Gloucestershire, Stroud District Together With Refugees, Stroud Against Racism, Stroud and District Trades’ Council, Palestine Solidarity Campaign - Stroud District, Forest of Dean Stand Up To Racism, Socialist Health Association - South West
Join the WhatsApp channel for updates
Firstly, a huge thanks to everyone who joined us on August 30th and stood with the people seeking asylum who have been placed by the Home Office at a hotel in Gloucester. We heard that the hotel would be targeted by people directing prejudice at people seeking asylum with only 12 days notice, and were really pleased with the numbers of people we were able to encourage to join us. For over an hour we felt we outnumbered those opposed to people seeking asylum - but their numbers increased at one point, and we cannot be complacent. We know we’ll need even more people to join us next time.
We held strong over the course of 5 hours, with those at the end choosing to leave as a group for collective safety. There were great parts of the protest - the range of placards people had made, the lovely moment when people made heart hands and people in the hotel made them back, the singing, chanting “Say it loud, say it clear - refugees are welcome here!” loudly and clearly, and the sense of solidarity and camaraderie - the way people helped each other out and made a positive atmosphere despite the rain and the aggression directed at us. It meant a lot to see one of the people living in the hotel hold out a sign that said “thank you.”
Organisers and stewards have discussed some of the lessons learned. We know that not everything went smoothly, and recognise there were scary moments at times and the event often felt uncomfortable - especially when our counter-protest was between different groups of people objecting to asylum seekers, and groups of aggressive men were walking past or approaching our counter protest and attempting to provoke us. We want to make it less scary in future - we are getting organised and will be able to share more guidance and ideas to improve events we hold in future.
Most importantly, we know that the organisers of the protest on the 30th August are planning to target the hotel and another hotel in Cheltenham in future, or hold a protest in the centre of Gloucester. We will be mobilising people for a counter protest that will celebrate our unity over division, and really want people’s help. If you would like to receive updates about the counter-protest and future organising - including dates of events, please join our WhatsApp Channel: tinyurl.com/GLprotestUpdates We hope to also organise a public meeting to discuss strategy and tactics at some point - though this may not be possible before the next counter-protest.
Join the WhatsApp channel for updates
Join the WhatsApp channel for updates

Who are Community Solidarity Stroud District?

Community Solidarity Stroud District exists to build community led solidarity in the Stroud district to oppose the hatred of minorities and oppressed people arising from false and harmful information.

Contact us
Follow us on Facebook
Our Instagram page
Sign up to receive emails from Community Solidarity Stroud District

Standing with people seeking asylum!

We in Community Solidarity Stroud District have been working with individuals and organisations across Gloucestershire to respond to protests against people seeking asylum, spreading hate and division. Read on for a statement debriefing from the August 30th counter-protest, from an alliance that is forming across the county – and join the WhatsApp Channel for updates!

GLOUCESTERSHIRE SOLIDARITY NETWORK We stood proudly with people seeking asylum - but we know those pushing hate and division will be back soon... To receive updates about counter-protests and future organising, please join our WhatsApp updates Channel: tinyurl.com/GLprotestUpdates This statement comes from individual Gloucestershire residents and over a dozen organisations who are forming an alliance across Gloucestershire. This includes but is not limited to: Gloucestershire Socialist Party, Community Solidarity Stroud District, Na’amod Gloucestershire, Communist Party Gloucestershire, Stroud District Together With Refugees, Stroud Against Racism, Stroud and District Trades’ Council, Palestine Solidarity Campaign - Stroud District, Forest of Dean Stand Up To Racism, Socialist Health Association - South West
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Firstly, a huge thanks to everyone who joined us on August 30th and stood with the people seeking asylum who have been placed by the Home Office at a hotel in Gloucester. We heard that the hotel would be targeted by people directing prejudice at people seeking asylum with only 12 days notice, and were really pleased with the numbers of people we were able to encourage to join us. For over an hour we felt we outnumbered those opposed to people seeking asylum - but their numbers increased at one point, and we cannot be complacent. We know we’ll need even more people to join us next time.
We held strong over the course of 5 hours, with those at the end choosing to leave as a group for collective safety. There were great parts of the protest - the range of placards people had made, the lovely moment when people made heart hands and people in the hotel made them back, the singing, chanting “Say it loud, say it clear - refugees are welcome here!” loudly and clearly, and the sense of solidarity and camaraderie - the way people helped each other out and made a positive atmosphere despite the rain and the aggression directed at us. It meant a lot to see one of the people living in the hotel hold out a sign that said “thank you.”
Organisers and stewards have discussed some of the lessons learned. We know that not everything went smoothly, and recognise there were scary moments at times and the event often felt uncomfortable - especially when our counter-protest was between different groups of people objecting to asylum seekers, and groups of aggressive men were walking past or approaching our counter protest and attempting to provoke us. We want to make it less scary in future - we are getting organised and will be able to share more guidance and ideas to improve events we hold in future.
Most importantly, we know that the organisers of the protest on the 30th August are planning to target the hotel and another hotel in Cheltenham in future, or hold a protest in the centre of Gloucester. We will be mobilising people for a counter protest that will celebrate our unity over division, and really want people’s help. If you would like to receive updates about the counter-protest and future organising - including dates of events, please join our WhatsApp Channel: tinyurl.com/GLprotestUpdates We hope to also organise a public meeting to discuss strategy and tactics at some point - though this may not be possible before the next counter-protest.
Join the WhatsApp channel for updates
Join the WhatsApp channel for updates

Who are Community Solidarity Stroud District?

Community Solidarity Stroud District exists to build community led solidarity in the Stroud district to oppose the hatred of minorities and oppressed people arising from false and harmful information.

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