Help restore colourful Wembley High Road mural

Local campaigner Paul Lorber is urging local residents and business to chip in towards the £150 cost of repairing a vandalised mural in Wembley High Road.

The mural in Wembley was commissioned by Wembley Futures to improve the appearance of the High Road. The work was carried by Alessandra Grasso, an artist in residence with Friends of a Barham Library.

Unfortunately one section of one of the 5 murals has been vandalised for the second time and needs to be repaired. It would seem that someone has taken a dislike to one of the national flag.

Paul Lorber, Wembley Futures and Friends of Barham Library are keen to repair the mural and have started the £150 needed to carry out the repair.

Anyone willing to donate can send a cheque payable to Friends of Barham Library and send it to Paul Lorber c/o 17 Stapenhill Road Wembley HA0 3JF. Anyone interested in contributing can email Paul on barhamlibrary@hitmail.co.uk and he will send you a Gift Aid form and details of how to pay.

Paul said:

The Murals in Wembley High Road brightened up the local area and it would be good to get them back to their original perfect condition.

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Latest on the Grunwick 40 commemorative mural

Foer those wondering what had happened with the Grunwich 40th anniversary mural here is a message from Anna Ferrie, the mural artist and the Grunwick 40 team.

The exhibition is in its last weeks  at Willesden Library finishing at 5pm on Sunday March 26th.

We wanted to let you know about progress with the Grunwick 40 commemorative mural as many of you have been asking for an update. We had hoped to have the mural up by now but issues with site permissions and bureaucracy have meant that we can't yet move forward to install the panels. 

However, the mural composite designs are done and incorporate all of the artwork that was produced in the workshops. We are working hard to speed up the process to ensure the mural can be installed and unveiled within the next few months and we hope be able to bring you a firm date soon. In the meantime, you may be interested in The Art of Protest event later this month where we'll be discussing the different ways that art can be used to remember radical histories. We hope to see you either there or when we launch the mural!

Anna Ferrie and the Grunwick 40 team

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/the-art-of-protest-tickets-32435324930

Last chance to help fund Grunwick40 commemoration

A message from Grunwick40

We've raised over £9,000 so far to commemorate the Grunwick strikers – that brave group of workers who stood up for their rights 40 years ago and inspired a generation, changing the face of trade unions as they did it.

The work on the exhibition has started and the commemorative mural is taking shape with some stunning art being created at the community workshops.

We believe that the Grunwick mural will be the first ever piece of public art to mark the contribution of Asian women in Britain.

The mural is expensive to produce and install but we want to make it as high impact as possible. The Grunwick strikers fought for justice for all workers and now we want to do justice to them with a colourful tribute that is big, bold and celebratory.

We need your donations to help make this happen. 

This is the final week of our crowdfunding campaign and your last chance to get the fantastic rewards when you donate.

Please give whatever you can afford.

We have some exclusive rewards for people who donate including badges, posters, DVDs and rare artwork from the 1970s, so please consider making a personal donation or asking your union branch to make one. Whatever the amount, every £ helps to ensure that the legacy of Grunwick is not lost.

Please make your donation by 12.30pm on Monday 25th April. 

CLICK HERE TO DONATE

Thank you. Yours, Grunwick 40 steering group

PS. Don't forget to spread the word, you can help by forwarding on this email, sharing our facebook posts or retweeting us!

'Trade unions are not just for white men' - Grunwick film and panel at TUC on Friday

Friday April 15th at Trade Union Congress 23-28 Great Russell Street WC1B 3LS 7pm

The TUC Race Relations Committee in association with the SERTUC Film Club presents a screening of ‘The Great Grunwick Strike 1976-1978: A History’, followed by a panel discussion on the lessons that can be learnt from the dispute.

This documentary film takes a look at the Grunwick dispute which erupted at a photo processing plant in Willesden, London, in the summer of 1976 and lasted two years. A predominately East African and South Asian female workforce went on strike over appalling working conditions and the issue of trade union recognition.  The dispute is remembered as one of the most significant in the history of the British labour movement.

The following panel debate will be chaired by Kamaljeet Jandu and participants will include Chris Thomson (Filmmaker), Dr Sundari Anitha (Striking Women) and Sujata Aurora (Grunwick 40).

ORDER YOUR FREE TICKET HERE

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The Grunwick 40 campaign is raising funds to install a huge mural close to the factory site in Willesden as a permanent public reminder of the unity that the Grunwick strike represented.

Support their appeal by donating or asking your union branch to donate via www.crowdfunder.co.uk/grunwick40, or via www.paypal.me/grunwick40, or send a cheque payable to Brent Trades Council c/o 375 High Road, London NW10 2JR.

Message from Grunwick 40

We need your donations to commemorate the heroes of the Grunwick Strike

40 years ago a group of Asian women asked for the right to join a union and were sacked by their employer. Their bosses thought that Asian women were passive and obedient and wouldn't fight back.
But that group of workers gained the support of thousands and went on to wage one of the longest and most important disputes in post-war British history.

They changed the idea that trade unions were only for white men. They shattered stereotypes. And at a time of enormous racial prejudice they brought people together in unity and solidarity.
40 years on we want to celebrate them.

We have ambitious plans to install a big mural close to the original factory site in Willesden, as well as stage an historical exhibition and a conference. But we need money to make it happen.
Please give whatever you can afford.

We have some exclusive rewards for people who donate including badges, posters, DVDs and rare artwork from the 1970s so please consider making a personal donation or asking your union branch to make one. Every £ helps to ensure that the legacy of the brave Grunwick strikers is not lost.

Visit www.crowdfunder.co.uk/grunwick40 to donate.

Book now for Grunwick commemoration mural workshops

Click on image to enlarge

CLICK HERE TO BOOK

This is your chance to partipate in designing a mural which will be installed on a prominent wall in Willesden in Autumn 2016. 

In 1976, six workers walked out of Grunwick Film Processing Laboratory in Willesden and ignited an historic two-year dispute which united thousands to demand better rights for poorly treated workers. 23rd August 2016 will mark the 40th anniversary of the Grunwick Strike, and offers a moment to remember, to commemorate, to celebrate and to learn.

Now the high street that saw 20,000 people come down in a single day to support the strike is looking pretty drab. As you arrive at Dollis Hill tube station and walk past the former Grunwick site to the main road, you’ll see plenty of plain, bare walls and unloved spaces.

We will be installing a mural close to the original site of the Grunwick factory to brighten up our high street with a permanent reminder of the power of our community; and to inspire future generations to come together to challenge injustice.

The workshops will be run by an experienced mural artist who will lead us in looking at a range of archive materials, including photographs and film. Using a variety of materials and printing techniques we will then create our own images of Grunwick which will eventually will be digitally combined to produce a design for the final mural.

Everyone aged 13 and above is welcome. You don't need any artistic ability as full guidance will be given, but if you have any photographs, press cuttings or memories of the dispute then please bring them along to share.

The workshops will run from 10.30am-3.30pm including a lunch break.

We are also running shorter workshops over three weeks on different dates at the Dudden Hill Centre, click here for details.

If you would like to contribute to the Crowdfunder which is riasing money for this project click HERE 

At time of writing £1,600 of the target £12,000 has been raised

Meet tomorrow to help plan Grunwick commemoration 40 years on

Painting by Dan Jones

Plans are forging ahead to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the Grunwick strike, one of the most significant events for trade unionists and anti-racists in the last century.

Plans include a mural, a major exhibition in conjunction with Brent Heritage,  a conference and other events initiated by Brent Trades Council and the Willesden Town Team. LINK

There is a meeting tomorrow (Thursday) at 7pm at Brent Trades Hall to further the plans. Everyone welcome - you don't have to be someone who remembers the strike to take part!

Brent Trades Hall (London Apollo Club) 375 High Rd, Willesden, NW10 2JR Dollis Hill tube / Near Willesden Bus Garage