Bradford for Europe joined other Yorkshire groups for a rally in Westminster on Tuesday 3rd September. We travelled by coach to London to support SODEM (Stand of Defiance European Movement) outside the Houses of Parliament. This initiative was backed by grass roots groups in the North, the Midlands, Wales, the South West and London. This rally was timed to perfection, on the day that Parliament seized control of the Commons agenda. The Yorkshire team was featured on Channel 4 News and LBC. Here is a report from ITV News.An anti-Brexit band has turned up at the protests in Westminster... pic.twitter.com/p1moCaBuwH— LBC (@LBC) September 3, 2019
Bradford for Europe ran a three hour street stall in Hustlergate on Saturday 24th August. There was a big protest in Leeds at the same time, and we had only three volunteers on the stall. The weather was also unfavourable. It was windy with heavy rain showers. It was windy with heavy rain showers. We soldiered on in all but the heaviest rain. Engagement was very poor in the rain, and we had to give up and take shelter for about half an hour when the rain became torrential. We nonetheless managed to distribute over 400 leaflets, and collected as many signatures as we did in two hours of fine weather on the previous Tuesday. That was a creditable result in the circumstances.
Bradford for Europe supported a "Stop the Coup" protest against the prorogation of Parliament on Cookridge Street in Leeds on Saturday 31st August. Alex Sobel, MP for Leeds North West, organised the protest. He was joined by Leeds Central MP Hilary Benn, Leeds East MP Richard Burgon and Leeds North East MP Fabian Hamilton, Mary Creagh MP for Wakefield, Naz Shah MP for Bradford West, trade union members and Leeds Labour Councillor for Headingley and Hyde Park, Jonathan Pryor. Here is an article from the Yorkshire Evening Post.
Bradford for Europe supported a "Stop the Coup" protest against the prorogation of Parliament in Leeds City Square in the evening of Thursday 29th August. Here is an article from the Yorkshire Evening Post.
Bradford for Europe ran a two hour lunchtime street event in Hustlergate on Tuesday 27th August. It was another glorious day. We did not set up a table or a banner, but we used two Bradford for Europe breastplates to identify ourselves. We distributed nearly 400 leaflets, and collected signatures for our petition on our old iPad. We had only three volunteers this time, but nonetheless achieved a record performance for a weekday lunchtime event. On a per hour basis, our performance at distributing leaflets and collecting signatures nearly matched that of a team more than three times as large on the previous Saturday.
Bradford for Europe ran a three hour street stall in Hustlergate on Saturday 24th August. The weather was glorious and we had an excellent team this time. We had ten volunteers, but were down to seven by the end. This was record turnout, and we had all our most experienced players. We distributed nearly 600 leaflets, and collected nearly twice as many signatures for our petition as on the previous week. This was a very good performance.
Bradford for Europe ran a three hour street stall in Hustlergate on Saturday 17th August. The weather was good, but we were missing two key players from our team. We still had six volunteers, but not all at the same time. Nonetheless, we distributed fewer leaflets and collected fewer signatures than we have done recently on a Saturday.
Bradford for Europe ran a street event in Hustlergate on Tuesday 13th August. The weather was good, and we had a team of four well practised volunteers. We did not set up a table or a banner, but two of us wore the new Bradford for Europe breastplates. The breastplates were successful at increasing our visibility and identifying our group. There was a lot of engagement this time, and we had a very successful two hours.
Bradford for Europe ran a three hour street stall in Hustlergate on Saturday 10th August. The rain was not too bad at first, but soon became torrential, and we had to take the stall down early. We had three people at the beginning, and five by the end, but conditions had become impossible by then. Despite the conditions, we managed to distribute about 250 leaflets, and collected a fair number of signatures for our petition. This was our first trial run with two old iPads. The newly acquired iPad Mini 1 was dropped from height onto concrete paving. It landed with a mighty bang, but survived the impact.
Bradford for Europe ran a two hour lunchtime street event in Hustlergate on Wednesday 7th August. We had some drizzle and a heavy rain shower. We did not set up a table or a banner this time. We just distributed leaflets, and collected signatures for our petition on an old iPad. We had four people this time, and did even better than on the previous Wednesday. It was an excellent performance despite the less than ideal weather.
Bradford for Europe ran a three hour street stall in Hustlergate on Saturday 3rd August. It was a fine summer's day, and the footfall was good. A team of seven distributed over 600 leaflets, and collected a large number of signatures. The iPad was less successful than on Wednesday. We offered paper forms as an option this time, but too many people took up that option.
Bradford for Europe ran a two hour lunchtime street event in Hustlergate on Wednesday 31st July. Heavy rain was forecast, but did not materialise. Nonetheless, the footfall was not as high as it is on a good Saturday. We did not use the table this time, but we did set up a banner. A team of two distributed about 300 leaflets, and collected a good crop of signatures for our petition, using an old iPad, which proved to be very effective.
Bradford for Europe ran a three hour street stall in Hustlergate on Saturday 27th July. It was raining, and the footfall was much less than usual. People were also unwilling to stop. Heavy rain soon turned to torrential rain, and we had to take down the stall. Nonetheless, we distributed a big wad of leaflets and collected some more signatures for our petition.
Bradford for Europe supported the No to Boris, Yes to Europe march in London on Saturday 20th July. Some of us travelled by coach from Leeds and Haigh, and others made their own way down. The march began in Park Lane, north of the Hilton Hotel and proceeded to Parliament Square, where a stage and large screen had been set up. There was an impressive array of speakers. The march was organised by several grassroots groups including Best for Britain, Scientists for EU, the NHS for a People's Vote, InFacts, Women for a People's Vote, Britain for Europe, Grassroots for Europe, Remainer Now and Bremain in Spain. We sent a clear message to the new prime minister, country and world that the people want Brexit to be stopped. The march took place days before the new prime minister - Boris Johnson - was sworn in.
Bradford for Europe ran another three hour street stall in Hustlergate on Tuesday 16th July. We ran the stall for two hours, rather than our usual three on a Saturday. It was a fine summer's day, but the footfall was not as good as it was on Saturday. We had a team of only two this time, but a passer by joined us, and added a proficiency in Arabic to our usual language skills. We did very well in the circumstances. We distributed over 300 leaflets, and collected a good crop of signatures for our petition.
Bradford for Europe ran a three hour street stall in Hustlergate on Saturday 13th July. The weather was good again. The forecast suggested that it might rain, but that did not happen. The Bradford Literature Festival had finished, but the Bradford Festival was in progress. We had a better turnout this time, with seven people on the stall. Our team has become very effective. We distributed 600 leaflets, and collected another record number of signatures for our petition. We had two clip boards petition this time, but the stall still became very crowded. There was an extraordinary amount of positive engagement. People were still asking to sign our petition when we were trying to take down the stall.
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