6th March 2003 - Newsletter
Welcome to our second newsletter which includes notes of our Steering Group Meeting which was held on the 3rd March 2003
There were about twelve of
us present, and we kicked off by distributing
some Posters and Leaflets which Alan and Unison had printed off.
We then discussed the need
to create a Bank Account in order to get the
some of the money that the Taunton Unison Branch is willing to donate
towards the Coalition. Di Glover kindly agreed to take on the task of
setting up an account before the weekend. Alan Debenham, myself and one
other, whose name I failed to write down (Apologies - can someone please
let me know who) agreed to be signatories to the account.
The March on Saturday was discussed,
and it was noted that most other
groups in the Somerset area had been contacted. We have even had emails
from Plymouth and Bristol notifying people about the March.
Alan reported that the Police
were happy with the route and would stop
traffic etc, but would not be responsible for stewarding or marshalling
the March. This is our responsibility, and so we will need Stewards to
volunteer for the March - Unison also agreed to bring along Stewards
Armbands for us to distribute. Unison, Alan and the Socialist Party will
bring along placards, including some blank ones for people to create
their own or attach posters to. Unison will also bring some buckets for
collecting donations, this will be done passively so as not to be
illegal, we will carry the buckets along, clearly marked 'donations' and
people can contribute if they wish. Jan Cave raised reservations about
collecting money without a license, but Alan pointed out that this is
not illegal as long as donations are not actively solicited. Alan and
Steve German agreed to liaise to sort out a suitable PA system for the
rally outside County Hall and Alan reported that a Jazz Band will be
there to lead the March.
We agreed to meet - as many
people as possible please - to leaflet in
the High Street at 9.30am for the March, and then to proceed to the
Station, leafletting 'en-route' for 10.30am.
A schedule of speakers was
agreed as follows for the Rally, it was
agreed that all contributions should be less that 5 minutes and should
be kept short, punchy and to-the-point, and that opportunity be given
to
as many people as possible who wished to speak on the day to make a
contribution.
Speaker from Coalition &
Councillor - Alan Debenham
Speaker from the Methodist Church
Speaker from the Quakers
Mary Matthews
Speaker from Taunton Council
Speaker from County Council
One or two speakers from Unison - Nigel Behan & Steve German?
Speaker from CWU - probably Dave Chapple
Speaker from the Socialist Party - Dave Moody
Speaker from the Taunton Coalition - Steve Bush
Student / School Student speaker(s) Possibly James Kerr or others
Speaker from the FBU - Steve Underhill?
It was agreed that a board
be created to be put in the High Street after
the protest with personal messages against the War, which people will
be
encouraged to write during the Rally.
We also agreed to return to
the High Street after the Rally finishes to
do some further leafletting for a Day of Action on the day war breaks
out. Leaflets to be created by Alan Debenham and Dave Moody and printed
by Friday. These will also be distributed as we march to bystanders and
onlookers and to all those on the Demo.
Steve Bush