Someone who was involved in anarchist stuff in Sheffield pointed this link out to me. I know it is nearly three years old. But the ill-informed rubbish about Sheffield will go down as history.
Firstly Jeez as his friends called him is living in SE Asia .... yes ..... but servants????? ....... he is teaching English to over 500 kids every week, in an impoverished area ..... he has rice for lunch .... has no flushing toilet and no hot showers.
As to the Anarchist Groups in Sheffield, over the years they had 4 anarchist centres (3 squatted, 1 rented), Numerous magazines including the Sheffield Anarchist.
The had a printing press, publishing 10's of thousand pamphlets under the names Pirate Press, Bash'em Books and B Books. They printed thousands and thousands of leaflets for themselves, as well as printing for other campaigns around the country. They printed and put up more posters than any other local group.
They set up and ran the Anarchist Distribution Service ADS which sent out monthly mailings of leaflets, posters and information from all around the country for years.
They were involved in setting up food co-ops, running a green social space where people like Danbut Nobacon from Chumbawamba used to perform. They put on a play '" The Accidental Death of a Anarchist".
They ran a "Workers Education Assosiation" Course on "Anarchism"
They hosted a few Anarchist Bookfairs in Sheffield, and organised 53 seater coaches to take people to the national Anarchist Bookfairs.
They were involved in the North East Anarchist Federation NEAF, later The Northern Anarchist Network NAN and later the Class Struggle Anarchist Network. Taking a very active role in all these organisations. They hosted many conferences for these organisations and others.
People in the Anarchist Groups were involved in everything from Squatting (the Sqautters group was very closely linked to the Anarchist), Animal Rights, Anti-Nuclear stuff (setting up a Peace Centre in Sheffield), Anti Racist and Anti-Fascist Groups (having a few punch-ups with the fascists who tried to sell papers locally).
The Sheffield Anarchists were very involved in the Anti-Poll Tax Campaign (especially at a community level, but also a City and National level), as well as the local Anti-student Games Campaign.
The Sheffield Anarchist Black Cross Group was very active and did a lot of work locally and with the national ABC.
They had a fantastic library that people could borrow books from (packed away in boxes in Sheffield now).
Various members of the Sheffield Groups were involed in the National Anarchist groups, Sheffield had a Class War group, as well as an Anarchist Federation Group, and the Direct Action Movement DAM.
The main thing with the group, which at some points had over 40 regular attendees at meetings, was that there was so much going on, one was able to choose what you wanted to do. Some focused on ABC and squatting, others ABC Printing and ADS, some were into 'theory' but also took an active role in the running of the Anarchist Centre ....... whatever the individual wanted to focus on. When there was work to do like organising conferences, postering or another campaign of some kind we all came together and worked together.
Phew ...........
So they did more than any other local group. But why stress the positive. Better to just slag them off and say "errrrrrrrr unsavoury characters" "derrr too many middle class people" "derrrrrrrrr he has servants".
