Every 1st and 3rd Tuesday of the month, 7-9pm, at Offmarket 68 Dalston Lane E8 3AH, Hackney.

And still, 2nd and 4th Tuesday of the month, 7-9pm at 56a infoshop, Crampton st, SE17 3AE.

Spread the word! Extortionate rents, eviction, huge council waiting lists, and still all these empty buildings around us.

The more people squatting the stronger the resistance! Fight the squatting ban!

Out of the squats and into the streets

The Government wants to sneak through the criminalisation of squatting, it will be voted on in Parliament this Tuesday 1stNovember.

Over 95% of responses to the ‘consultation’ on squatting were against further criminalisation, despite this the government is still going ahead with their proposals – effectively bypassing democracy.

SQUASH have tried engaging with the democratic processes but despite overwhelming support to not criminalise squatting we have been ignored.

Our only rational response now is to call for people to TAKE ACTION. We have been forced into this position. See you on the streets!

————————————————————————————–

*MONDAY 31st OCTOBER : CALL OUT FOR A MASS SLEEP OUT*

CRITICAL MASS (BIKES) MEET AT WATERLOO BRIDGE 7PM
PEDESTRIANS MEET AT HIGH KEN TUBE STATION 6.30PM – EVENING STANDARD HQ -
NORTHCLIFFE HOUSE, 2 DERRY ROAD W8 5TT.
BRING SLEEPING BAGS.
if you would like to propose an event to hold during the sleep out
- teach outs, comedy shows, face-painting, music, cardboard house making, trick or treating, pumpkin soup kitchen
- get in touch, or just make it happen! remember, we’re going to be there all night, so bring things to keep everyone warm and busy!

————————————————————————————-

*TUSESDAY 1st NOVEMBER: EN MASS REGISTRATION OF HOMELESSNESS*

9am – Outside Westminster Housing Options Service, 101 Orchardson Street,
LONDON NW8.

THIS CALL OUT EXTENDS TO OTHER CITIES TO TAKE ACTION OUTSIDE THEIR REGIONAL HOMELESS PERSON UNITS WITH MASS SLEEP OUTS, SOUP KITCHENS, AND OUTDOOR ENTERTAINMENT.
FOLLOWED THE NEXT DAY BY AN EN MASS REGISTRATION OF HOMELESSNESS. FIND OUT WHERE YOUR LOCAL HOMELESS PERSONS UNIT IS, AND CHECK OUT THE HOW TO ON THE SQUASH WEBSITE.

see you on the streets

 http://www.squashcampaign.org

 Contact email: info@squashcampaign.org.

Resistance to Squatting criminalisation:

Squattastic and SQUASH have been very active lately about the potential criminalisation of squatting. Don’t be fooled, squatting is still legal, and likely to be so for quite a while! but squatters are getting organised! Yesterday was the last day of the consultation. Check the above website and another thing you can do is send photos of bedrooms, pretty improved squats. Before/after shots preferred, but anything to make people think squatters make loads of effort! For this website (thousands of hits already!) http://www.squatorrot.wordpress.com Email annaannavo (at) gmail.com with photos and descriptions please.

## NELSN SOCIAL / First Saturday of the month 7-10pm ##

Squatters from North East London getting together, socialising, supporting each other and sharing food.

We will meet at OffMarket

121 Lower Clapton rd, E5 0NP
offmarket@riseup.net / 07706279299

ACCESSIBILITY: We will post full information here shortly. The event will be taking place on the ground floor. The toilet is in a large room but along a narrow hallway so probably not wheelchair accessible. If you have any suggestions / comments / queries please call, email or talk to us.

We, the OffMarket collective, take disused buildings and turn them into open resources. OffMarket has just moved location – now at 121 Lower Clapton Road E5 0NP. People have been busy making the building useable and it’s now up and running, packed with events and regular activities! If you want to help out / get involved pop by when you can or give us a call on 077 0627 9299.

OFFMARKET

Offmarket is a collective that squats empty building (only shop fronts until now) in Hackney.

The aims of the collective are to promote and defend squatting and try and link with local and broader struggles.

In practice, the squatted spaces are used for a freeshop where people can bring what they don’t need anymore and take what they like/need, a library/reading space, info and skillsharing about squatting, lots of free regular activities and workshops, space available for meetings/discussion groups, infonights and film nights, establishing links between the collective/space and struggles like the anti-cuts movement or gentrification.

An ex-Christian bookshop was occupied since January on 111 Lower Clapton road, but we were evicted on April fool’s day! so we moved few doors up to 121 Lower Clapton rd, E5 0NP, an even better and bigger space. This used to be an estate agency but has been empty for more than 5 years!

We welcome any contribution, this is a collective project that always needs more people ; whether it’s sorting the freeshop, occupying the building or building shelves, come get involved! If you are able to give a helping hand at all please pop by when you can or call us on 077 0627 9299. You can also come to our open meeting every monday at 7pm, to meet us and check out the space.

FreeShop / Library Opening Hours: Mondays 12 – 6pm, Tuesdays 12 – 8pm and Sundays 12 – 6pm.
For the rest of the activities, see below

The collective started organising into different action groups, if you are interested in joining any of them, here are when they meet:
Gardening               :   Mondays 2-4pm
Bike workshop        :   Tuesdays 3-6pm
Practical Squatters :   1st and 3rd Tuesday in the month 4-6pm
Freezone                 :   Wednesdays midday-2pm
Library                     :   Thursdays 2pm
Zine                         :   Thursday 28th April 7pm

There is a weekly newsletter that includes all our activities and special events, that you can subscribe to by going there: https://lists.aktivix.org/mailman/listinfo/offmarket

ACCESSIBILITY: We will shortly be putting up full information about the new building. Events will generally be taking place on the ground floor (except the bicycle workshop) and we are trying to make the freeshop accessible. The toilet is in a large room but down a narrow hallway so probably not wheelchair accessible. If you have any comments, advice or queries please contact us!

We have a wish list that includes
- a hoover
- a washing machine
- soap / cleaning products
- soya milk
- toilet roll
- food
- selotape / gaffa tape / blue tac / glue
- ink cartridges for printer
- towels
- seeds
- bike stuff

This is our contact details:
offmarket [at] riseup.net
121 Lower Clapton rd E5 0NP
077 0627 9299
http://london.indymedia.org/groups/offmarket

                                                  /////// FUTURE EVENTS ////////

## OCCUPATION HAS NO FUTURE / Thursday 28th April, 7pm ##
A new documentary from Upheaval Productions that studies Israeli militarism, examines the occupation of the West Bank and explores the work of Israelis and Palestinians organising against militarism and occupation. Featuring Interviews with: IDF soldiers, Israeli conscientious objectors and Palestinian grassroots organisers.
https://london.indymedia.org/events/8739

## OFFMARKET CAFE!! / Friday 6th May 6-11pm ##
Our first cafe, hopefully it will be a fortnightly event. We’ll have yummy vegan food on donation and we will watch an episode of “Survivors”, an awesome BBC TV series from the 70s, about life in the UK after a major virus plague killed most of the humans on earth!! It’s a program about people trying to (re)build collectives and communities from scratch, and we only look at it as an interesting starting point for a discussion on these issues.

## EGYPTIAN DANCE / Saturday 7th May 7-10pm ##
Egyptian dance (often refered to as Belly dance) uses a combination of hip, torso, spine and arm movements to express the intricate and exhilerating beat of Egyptian music. We will start with a warm-up which will include some hands-on partner work and overall stretches. What to wear: loose clothing and a simple scarf to wrap around your hips. Open to all genders. A fun class in a supportive atmosphere!re!

## NELSN SOCIAL / Saturday 7th May 7-10pm ##
Squatters from North East London getting together, socialising, supporting each other and sharing food.
## THE FLIP SIDE: WHEN SEX IS NOT OK / Saturday 7th May, 3-5pm ##
This group is for people who?ve had not-okay sexual experiences. That means people who?ve felt unsafe, unable to say no, threatened, misled, or pressured into something, and also anyone who?s been sexually abused or assaulted at any point in their life, regardless of who it was or how much they remember.  It also includes people who?ve experienced distressing emotions or states of mind during sex ? which might mean feeling dirty, guilty or ashamed; having flashbacks; or disassociating. The group will meet once a week for six weeks, and we ask participants for [near] full attendance at all the sessions, in order to foster trust and build a safer space.  The purpose of the group is to use our personal experiences to brainstorm strategies for navigating these situations and emotions, in order to devise safer and more sustainable ways to manage them. If you are interested in participating, please email us back at: whensexisnotokay@gmail.com

## QUEER FILM NIGHT / Friday 13th May 7pm ##
More details later

                                            /////// REGULAR ACTIVITIES /////////
All our activities are free

++ MONDAY, 10-12noon ++
Self Defense Skillshare:
Have some tips for self defence or want to learn? Come along to this weekly skill share! Open to all ages, genders and abilities

++ MONDAY, 2-4pm ++
Gardening and Herbalism Skillshare:
Each week we will be focusing on a different plant!
25th April:
- collecting compost
- looking at relevant zines / books to plan a monthly discussion group
- planting things in hanging baskets
PLANT FOCUS: Nettles
Future plant focus sessions; 2nd May: Sage / 9th May: Dandelion / 16th May: Skullcap / 23rd May: Elderflower / 30th May: Willow Bark

++ MONDAY, 7pm ++
Open Meeting : see the space, propose an event, get involved.

++ TUESDAY, 3-6pm ++
Bike fixing workshop

++ FIRST AND THIRD TUESDAY of the month, 7-8pm ++
Practical Squatting Evening:
Meet other people to squat with, get practical advice on squatting, and much more!

++ WEDNESDAY, 8-10.30pm ++
Clowning workshop

++ THURSDAY, 10:30-13:30 ++
Alternative therapies:
Indian Head Massage, Reflexology, Reiki, Auricular Acupuncture, Nutritional Advice, Relaxation/Visualization Techniques. If you are coming for the first time please try to be there by 10.30am, after that you can make an appointment.  If you have any questions you can call Francesca on 07763529772.

++ THURSDAY, 2pm-5.30pm ++
Free Writing and Spoken English Assistance:
Free proofreading drop-in session and assistance with spelling, grammar, and punctuation; for any document, including essays, articles and applications up to post-graduate level. Time will be evenly distributed between those who require assistance. NB. Please come with prepared material to edit. You are also welcome to attend if you wish to learn or improve on your spoken English. Please get in touch if you could help with the above.

++ FIRST THURSDAY of the month, 7-9pm ++
Hackney and East London Creative Writing Circle:
We are a group of people who meet regularly to share our creative writing – all forms, all flavours, all levels – for comment, critique, motivation and inspiration. The group is open to anyone who wants to write, from beginners to advanced writers. Contact: iris: nerosiri@yahoo.co.uk

++ EVERY OTHER FRIDAY, 6-11pm ++
Offmarket Cafe:
First will be Friday 6th May. Fortnightly cafe, yummy vegan food on donation and we will watch an episode of “Survivors”, an awesome BBC TV series from the 70s, about life in the UK after a major virus plague killed most of the humans on earth!

++ FIRST SATURDAY of the month, 7-10pm ++
NELSN social:
Squatters from North East London getting together, socialising, supporting each other and sharing food!

++ SUNDAY, 6-7pm ++
French conversation sessions.
//We would like to expand this to include other languages, especially english for beginners, so please get in touch if you could help//

++ SUNDAY, 7.30-9pm ++
Life drawing sessions.

Links:

OffMarket indymedia group page

Contact email: offmarket@riseup.net

Beginning of October 2010, a police station was squatted in London in retaliation against police oppression.

What follows is a communique’ from the occupied to the occupiers:

‘This is for everyone who has suffered injustice at the hands of the police.
This is for everyone who has been robbed by a banker,
This is for every soldier who was sent to war on lies.
This is for every refugee who is hounded for having there homes destroyed.
This is for the people who sleep on the streets on the outside of empty buildings.
THIS IS FOR YOU
RISE UP NOW!#* IT’S NOW OR NEVER…’

470 LEYTONSTONE HIGH ROAD, E11 3HN

///////////

On the 19th of October, the squatted police station went to court . Their call out was:

*COME SHOW THE GOVERNMENT AND THE POLICE THAT WE ARE NOT THEIR SUBJECTS!
COME HELP US RESIST THE EVICTION! FROM THE 19th OCTOBER ONWARDS!#
CALLING ALL STATIONS TO LEYTONSTONE POLICE STATION*

/////////

On the 26th of October, Eviction resistance day. Quote from the occupiers:

‘*The squatted police station is successfully resisting the eviction. The police now say they will be evicting at 10:30 AM, Tuesday the 26th of October…  Banners have been hung from the building stating ‘NO CUTS, NO BAIL! PUT THE BANKERS IN THE JAIL’ bringing support from the local community.
We are ready and we are willing! WE HAVE THE RIGHT NOT TO REMAIN SILENT!!!*’
What you will need: A sleeping bag, a tin opener, a torch and a camera (preferable)
Not arrestable? Not a problem, come show your support by standing on the street, click, click;)
COME JOIN US ON TUESDAY THE 26th OF OCTOBER,
SHOW THE POLICE AND THE GOVERNMENT WHERE THEY STAND!!* @:

//////////

And to celebrate the resistance, PARTY AT THE POLICE STATION on the 30th of October.

*PARTY AT THE POLICE STATION, you have the right not to remain silent#

So, I imagine that most people might have already heard about this in one way or another, but just in case anyone has missed it I thought I’d add it in here:

Some lovely Tory (Bob Neill to be exact, the shadow minister for Local Government and Planning) has decided that the current planning system is being taken advantage of by travellers and those pesky human rights lawyers when they’re trying to find people places to live.He’s planning to make a few changes. As Sam says on Indymedia, it is primarily an attack on travellers, but it doesn’t bode well for us.

Amongst the bumf  there is the somewhat worrying intention to “create a new criminal offence of intentional trespass”. Yep, that’s right boys and girls. That means no more waiting for the owner to notice you’re there, just have to wait for the nearest boy in blue to fancy a fight and then you’re out. Squatting will be criminalised. Uh-oh.

Now! Stop! Before everyone fucks off to Barcelona, lets remember a couple things.

Firstly, the Tories aren’t in power. Yet. We’ll see what happens with that I suppose, but if you want to really make sure that its not going to happen, then stop the election. Or just make sure that the Tories don’t get in. You’ll have to make Cameron look like a smarmy, smug, self-satisfied tosser…oh…erm…okay. A challenge? Maybe try making Brown look like he’s got a personality then.

Secondly, this seems to be an idea still, although one thats been around for a while. Something to get the votes of landowners, and landlords, and other rich people. Its gonna take them a while to get it all together anyway. Specially since they are talking about repealing the Human Rights Act so that they can stop human rights lawyers using it to side-step the planning system.  That’s gonna raise a few heckles. It is a very honest indication of their priorities though.

Thirdly…well…I kind of wish there was a thirdly. Otherwise its up to us. Its been tried before with the Criminal Justice Act back in the old days (1993/4) and it didn’t ever go through, although things did change then. Thats when resisting an IPO became a criminal offense. So who knows. The situation was very different back then too. About a third of squatters round that time were families, so general opinion of squatters was probably different back then. I’m not sure the feeling towards us young ‘uns, middle class students and foreigners is quite the same. I also know that now there is nothing like the squatting community that existed back then.

So I have a to do list:

• Persuade all the voters I know that they will be directly responsible for my homelessness should they vote Tory. I will be calling in favours.
• Get to know my neighbours. Squatted and rented. Near and far. I really think that now is when we need to be making friends and building relationships with people that we’re going to have to work with if this becomes a reality.
• Show off. People need to know just how many people are going to be affected.
• Find out what the traveling community thinks. They are the guys really under attack and its shockingly pointed at them. Disgustingly so. Finding out what they think and want, and showing our support to them is gonna be super important. You can see the Institute of Race Relations analysis of the proposal here.
• Make sure everyone knows that anti-squat companies are a bunch of bastards. In Holland these companies such as Camelot, Ad Hoc etc have been given a lot of Parliamentary support as a solution to both empty homes and homelessness. They basically being written into the law. I don’t want  the Tories to copy that without any opposition, cause it sounds quite reasonable at first glance.

So, if anyone wants to play at any of the aforementioned games, then please do. I think that (as much as I hate to be a cliche) now we really might have to pull our fingers out and get started if we want to protect our way of life and stop more of our liberty going down the shitter.

A group has recently begun occupying a building in Hackney. Part of the building contains a hall / stage area and offers the potential for some amazing events. We are in communication with the owner and although they plan to demolish this part of the building soon they have given us confirmation that we can definitely use it up until Monday 23rd November!

So, this is a callout to all those who want to be involved in creating a temporary autonomous space to come and create, inspire, conspire and get organised! This week we will be cleaning up ready to start events from next week. We want to make the most of the space while we have it with workshops, discussions and general shinanigans. So if you always wanted to organise a day of circus training but never quite had enough space here’s your chance!

DIY Festival

**Wednesday 4th and Thursday 5th November**: Workdays: Come and help fix up the place

**Saturday 7th**: creARTion day: give the walls a lick of paint and bring out your creative side with a day of art

**Thursday 12th**: Art Opening: explore the building and the new exhibition

**Friday 13th**: The Haunted Herstory: An evening of story-telling & performance relating to the building’s past.

**Saturday 14th**: PantoPractice: developing a pantomime to perform on the stage at next Fridays event. Anti-Militarist / NATO gathering: an evening of discussion

**Friday 20th**: Who Can Do What?: bringing you an open stage for all of your performance needs: fancy having a sing-song, playing the fiddle or reading a poem? Make the most of the stage or come along for the Pantomime!

**Saturday 21st**: Gardening: clearing has already begun so let’s start growing things

Other ideas
- prison society info night: food, films and discussion relating to prison(er), death in custody & detention centre campaigns
- Permaculture Discussion Group
- An Evening of Poetry / Spoken Word
- already mentioned but seriously considered, Circus Training
- roller disco / roller ping-pong

Come get involved to help ensure that all of this and more happens in the space.

For exact location please email boardsofhackney@safe-mail.net. Also drop us a line if you have any ideas for stuff to do, want to help out or just keep updated on the goings on.

Yesterday at about 5 o’clock in the evening the FreeShop guys got an ‘advanced notice of possession of land’ with 12 hours notice. This meant that the big, bad-ass high court bailiffs were meant to be turning up at 8 o’clock in the morning. Again, too early!

So a bunch of people went down there last night, and after making an awesome banner…

…everyone barricaded themselves indoors with some nifty hardcore barricading.

A few bailiffs were spied around, but it was kind of hard to tell what they were doing. I’m not too sure if they knew really. They had a walk around with some drills, accompanied by a child at one point (!), then they managed to find some ladders from somewhere. Kind of surprisingly though they didn’t actually try to do anything with them.

After a sleepless night, we finally got word that they’d gone, and took apart the painstakingly constructed barricades to go and celebrate in the open air.

The FreeShop is still open. Go down and help keep it open!

Still it didn’t stop about 40 of us dragging ourselves out of bed and going down to show our support and generally get in the way. Much to our disgust (after all, we managed to get there in time to set up tea, coffee and skipped sushi) the baliffs and their cohorts were late and turned up around 10ish all blury-eyed and confused.

After a while standing around on the phone and looking at their clipboards, they came over to us all to say that the eviction wouldn’t be happening that day and that they’d be back in 2 weeks. One of them also mentioned to someone that they’d tried to call the police to come and help them as they weren’t prepared to deal with us all on their own, but the police had said they were too busy harrassing black people and that they’d have to make an appointment for the future.

It was a slight anticlimax, but hey! it worked and there aren’t enough excuses to stand around in the cold street in the morning eating blueberries anyway…