Post by Mitch on May 17, 2006 9:02:57 GMT
Hey up,
Has anyone else received this fundraising letter request below?? Thought I'd put it up anyway, and I've forwarded to union contacts locally too.
It is interesting that the event is to be held at the Mechanics, Princess St, Mancs - that's an enormous venue! (a suggested one for the WSPU centenary event which did not materialise ;D). It's a venue that pushes the event outwards - which is a little progress. ;D
Did you get this Brian? Any thoughts/comments? When's the next Organising Group Meeting?
Cheers Mitch
70th Anniversary of the Spanish Civil War.
Manchester Celebration Fund
On Saturday 14 October 2006 the International Brigade Memorial Trust, the body created to maintain the memory and honour the legacy in Britain of the Spanish Civil War, will be holding its Annual General Meeting in Manchester. Since 2006 marks the Seventieth Anniversary of the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War, the Trust has made plans for a series of events in Manchester and elsewhere which will celebrate the role of the British people in their support of the Spanish Republic against the armies of General Franco and his German and Italian allies.
These will include a commemorative meeting at the plaque in Manchester Town Hall which honours Manchester men who fought in Spain, followed by a civic reception in the Town Hall, and a social event in the evening at the Manchester Mechanics Institute in Princess Street.
Manchester and its region played a major part in this ‘first war against Fascism’. Sixty-six people from the Manchester area joined the British Battalion of the International Brigade, of whom eighteen died on the battlefields of Spain. Eight fully-equipped ambulances, medical supplies, clothing and foodstuffs collected by Spanish Aid organisations in Manchester were shipped to Spain. Hostels in and around Manchester housed 250 of the children from the Basque country who, after the savage German bombing of Guernica, were given a temporary haven in Britain. Ordinary people contributed thousands of pounds, and much voluntary effort, to their support.
All this may be seen as evidence of the anti-Fascist and anti-racist traditions of which Manchester remains proud and which continue to inform its responses to refugees, to minority communities and to the victims of racial prejudice. To celebrate these events and these traditions on the scale that they deserve, the International Brigade Trust is currently planning a programme of commemorative, cultural and social events, the range of which, and the publicity for which, will depend on the funds available.
Since the Trust has very limited resources of its own, this letter invites sponsorship from institutions and individuals in the Manchester region who share the view that Manchester’s response to the events in Spain seventy years ago forms part of a past to be honoured and a heritage to be sustained in the interests of the future.
As members of the working party set up by the Trust, we welcome contributions to the cost of the Manchester events. Cheques should be made out of the International Brigade Memorial Trust and sent direct to Marlene Sidaway, Secretary of the Trust, at 37 Reginald Road, London E7 9HS.
With thanks for any support you are able to offer.
Further information may be obtained from:
Hilary Jones or Bill Williams at Ivy Bank, 26 Park Avenue, Levenshulme, Manchester M19 2EE Tel; 0161 224 1747 or from
Dolores Long at 3 Rufford Road, Whalley Range, Manchester M16 8AE. Tel: 0161 226 2013
On behalf of the Manchester Organising Group, International Brigade Memorial Trust.
Has anyone else received this fundraising letter request below?? Thought I'd put it up anyway, and I've forwarded to union contacts locally too.
It is interesting that the event is to be held at the Mechanics, Princess St, Mancs - that's an enormous venue! (a suggested one for the WSPU centenary event which did not materialise ;D). It's a venue that pushes the event outwards - which is a little progress. ;D
Did you get this Brian? Any thoughts/comments? When's the next Organising Group Meeting?
Cheers Mitch
70th Anniversary of the Spanish Civil War.
Manchester Celebration Fund
On Saturday 14 October 2006 the International Brigade Memorial Trust, the body created to maintain the memory and honour the legacy in Britain of the Spanish Civil War, will be holding its Annual General Meeting in Manchester. Since 2006 marks the Seventieth Anniversary of the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War, the Trust has made plans for a series of events in Manchester and elsewhere which will celebrate the role of the British people in their support of the Spanish Republic against the armies of General Franco and his German and Italian allies.
These will include a commemorative meeting at the plaque in Manchester Town Hall which honours Manchester men who fought in Spain, followed by a civic reception in the Town Hall, and a social event in the evening at the Manchester Mechanics Institute in Princess Street.
Manchester and its region played a major part in this ‘first war against Fascism’. Sixty-six people from the Manchester area joined the British Battalion of the International Brigade, of whom eighteen died on the battlefields of Spain. Eight fully-equipped ambulances, medical supplies, clothing and foodstuffs collected by Spanish Aid organisations in Manchester were shipped to Spain. Hostels in and around Manchester housed 250 of the children from the Basque country who, after the savage German bombing of Guernica, were given a temporary haven in Britain. Ordinary people contributed thousands of pounds, and much voluntary effort, to their support.
All this may be seen as evidence of the anti-Fascist and anti-racist traditions of which Manchester remains proud and which continue to inform its responses to refugees, to minority communities and to the victims of racial prejudice. To celebrate these events and these traditions on the scale that they deserve, the International Brigade Trust is currently planning a programme of commemorative, cultural and social events, the range of which, and the publicity for which, will depend on the funds available.
Since the Trust has very limited resources of its own, this letter invites sponsorship from institutions and individuals in the Manchester region who share the view that Manchester’s response to the events in Spain seventy years ago forms part of a past to be honoured and a heritage to be sustained in the interests of the future.
As members of the working party set up by the Trust, we welcome contributions to the cost of the Manchester events. Cheques should be made out of the International Brigade Memorial Trust and sent direct to Marlene Sidaway, Secretary of the Trust, at 37 Reginald Road, London E7 9HS.
With thanks for any support you are able to offer.
Further information may be obtained from:
Hilary Jones or Bill Williams at Ivy Bank, 26 Park Avenue, Levenshulme, Manchester M19 2EE Tel; 0161 224 1747 or from
Dolores Long at 3 Rufford Road, Whalley Range, Manchester M16 8AE. Tel: 0161 226 2013
On behalf of the Manchester Organising Group, International Brigade Memorial Trust.