DAY 0 | LONDON | Friday 23 March 2007
London
We're off!
The HOPE not hate bus arrived in London yesterday. It was fantastic. I couldn't believe that something that had been on the drawing board for so long was actually there in front of me.
Over the next 14 days we will travel the country to celebrate modern diverse Britain. We will be going into City Centres, visiting local community initiatives and generally driving around. We'll be recording this tour via this website so please keep coming back to read our updates.
Yesterday we kicked off with a visit to the set of The Bill, where a few of the actors posed for photographs with the bus. The next stop was the National Lyttelton Theatre, on the South Bank, where the entire cast, led by Meera Syal, from the forthcoming play Rafta Rafta came out.
(Rafta, Rafta, is based on All In Good Time by Bill Naughton, opens at the National's Lyttelton Theatre on April 26, 2007. http://www.nationaltheatre.org.uk/?lid=23045)
It is clear that this bus is going to attract attention. We popped in to the National Theatre café to get a bowl of soup and before we knew it tourists and locals alike were trying to clamber onboard to have their photographs taken.
It's now 6am and shortly the tour proper will begin from Dagenham Civic Centre.
DAY 1 | DAGENHAM / THURROCK | Saturday 24 March 2007
Dagenham and Thurrock
On a freezing Saturday morning over 70 local people waved off the Daily Mirror sponsored HOPE not Hate bus from Dagenham Civic Centre. It was a great turnout given the weather, especially from the GMB who made up over half the crowd.
EastEnders star Petra Letang, former boxing legend Lloyd Honeyghan and local Dagenham and Redbridge football stars also made an appearance. Local MP Jon Cruddas and GMB regional secretary Ed Blissett were also on hand to sign the huge HOPE not hate flag.
Petra, who is from Romford, shared her first hand experiences of racism she had suffered and wished the tour all the best.
From there it was on to Thurrock where dozens of local kids had turned up after seeing the event advertised in the Daily Mirror. They were joined by the local MP, several councillors and local community activists.
I'll go into more detail about the bus at a later stage but navigating our way through Thurrock town centre, with its low bridges, reminded us of unforeseen difficulties in getting around.
After a photoshoot about 50 people then began leafleting some of the key wards in Thurrock. And there is certainly work to do there as Searchlight has learnt that the BNP intends to stand a full slate in the forthcoming elections.
DAY 2 | NORTHAMPTON / LEICESTER | Sunday 25 March 2007
Northampton and Leicester
A fatal crash closed both sides of the M25 so we had to go back into London before heading north to Northampton.
With a maximum speed of 38 miles an hour it took us quite some time to get to Northampton, but we arrived just in time to pop in to say hello to a the Banner Theatre production at the University. This meant we missed most of the England game but given all reports of the match that wasn't too bad a thing.
The following morning we were up early to attend the AGM of the local CWU branch. Over 40 people had remembered the clocks had changed and where their to greet the bus. I gave a short speech explaining the purpose of the tour and the regional secretary then asked people if they would go outside for a photo. Every single one of them did.
Leicester's famous Golden Mile was our next stop where we treated to a wonderful vegetarian buffet lunch.
DAY 3 | LINCOLN / NOTTINGHAM | Monday 26 March 2007
Lincoln and Nottingham
From Nottingham it's off to Lincoln in the glorious sun. The film crew guys and I sneak up onto the top deck for a crafty cigarette under the pretence of doing some filming. There is an enormous traffic jam all the way from Nottingham to Lincoln, and it turns out we're at the very head of it!!
At the Lincoln Cathedral, the famous "Flying Bishop" John Saxbee is waiting to greet us. It is a fantastic building and an unusual place to see a big red parked up, according to some bemused locals. As well as the Bishop there are the usual suspects from the GMB an Amicus. With them too is the extraordinary Jim Taylor, an 87 year old war veteran and former POW.
During the war, Jim (pictured below) had been a wireless operator on bombers until he was shot down over Nazi Germany. He tells us and the Mirror his extraordinary life story and reaffirms the absolute brutality of Nazism. He insists on bending over to sign the banner. "I didn't like Nazis, and I don't like the BNP" he says.
Neither does the Bishop of Lincoln, either. "They are un-Christian and pretending to be so, as they do, is an insult." The BBC turn up and do interviews with everyone, but I'm sure the Bishop won't mind me saying this, the real star of the day was Jim Taylor.
Ros Wynne-Jones from the Mirror then goes missing for a couple of hours in a desperate attempt to find somewhere where she can get a wireless connection and charge her lap top. This includes a pub where we order lunch that does not arrive and where she's not allowed to plug her charger in. Eventually she returns looking less stressed out, having found a café that serves lots of coffee while you write.
The trip to Sheffield was interesting, it included being directed to the car-park of Worksop rugby club by sat-nav and some of the tightest road bends imaginable for an old Leyland bus.
Ros goes to bed early, so the rest of us go into town for a pyjama party.
The Mirror people are pub quiz junkies. Sunday night in our hotel in Nottingham and we're crowded around one of those machines that promises large rewards of cash for the answering of a few simple questions…
By the time I get back from a curry and a couple of pints of the amber nectar in town, they've already lost in the hotel quiz night, claiming they "were robbed." You'd think they'd know their James Bond theme tunes in their line of work.
With Nick taking a day off from the bus it was me who had the pleasure of diesel fumes and the incredible noise made the bus as it crawled across Nottingham to meet up with the students from the South Nottingham College "Balls to Poverty" program.
22 young men under the watchful eye of Joe Sargisson, their coach and mentor are practising their coaching skills in preparation of a trip to South Africa, where they will coach young children and give away 7000 footballs, partly sponsored by the union Amicus.
Enter hundreds of noisy school children from the local primary school, who head straight for the bus, shouting and screaming excitedly. It's not long before order is restored and John, the Mirror's photographer is doing tricks with a football, assuring me he could have been a professional. The college boys put the school kids through their paces before at the very end mayhem breaks out and hundreds of school children want to get on to the top of the bus too look over (or most likely, into) the surrounding back gardens.
with thanks to Show Racism the Red Card
DAY 4 | SHEFFIELD | Tuesday 27 March 2007
Sheffield
Monday kicked off in Heeley, Sheffield, at the new Worseley Road mosque. We were shown around the building, which should be completed in the summer. It is a really amazing place, with facilities for both Muslims and the wider local community.
The importance of interfaith events was repeatedly stressed by the Mosque chairman.
There is also a heavy emphasis in the new building plans on education, with classrooms and a computer suite being planned. This is an attempt to address some of the problems with underachieving young boys and there is already a link to three local schools.
We drove into the centre of Sheffield and parked the bus on Fargate. The sun was a welcome arrival after the freezing temperatures of the weekend. The local GMB branch were complete heroes, bringing trays of food to the bus.
The St Thomas Boys and Girls Boxing Club was our final stop, home of Brendan Ingle. I had first met Brendan in 1991, when I went to interview Herol "Bomber" Graham yet he remembered me instantly.
Brendan is a legend in Sheffield. He has trained a series of champion boxers, from Bomber Graham to Prince Naseem Hamed, Johnny Nelson to his current World Champion Junior Witter.
But Brendan is a lot more than a great trainer. He quite literally rescues problem boys and girls and turns around their lives. He introduced us to a number of young and aspiring boxers, many of whom had been excluded from school or came from violent families. Brendan brought them into his family, introduced discipline and self respect and encouraged education. His approach is slightly unorthodox and as he is the first to admit not always liked by the establishment but it undoubtedly works.
There is no place for racism in this gym. Just in the short period we were there we encounted white, black, Asian and even Arab boxers. All trained alongside each other.
"Don't leave it so long before you are back again," said Brendan as we departed. And so the bus trundled off, taking the long way round to Manchester.
DAY 5 | OLDHAM / MANCHESTER | Wednesday 28 March 2007
Oldham and Manchester
Sometimes the best-laid plans go askew and we are certainly finding that on this trip. We began with a general itinerary and while we are broadly sticking to it there is a lot of chopping and changing.
On day five we were in Oldham and Manchester. In the morning we visited Oldham Athletic Football Club to meet a class of boys from a local school who are part of a long term project involving the soccer club to encourage greater understanding of different cultures and greater participation in sport. The Catholic school has recently seen an increase in young Muslims and while this initially created some tensions much of this has been overcome by projects such as these.
The main focus of the day was to be a stop in Albert Square, the main public area in central Manchester. Unfortunately the work schedules of our celebrities changed all that. After Oldham we went across to Salford to meet boxing star Amir Khan. We arrived slightly early and were taken to watch the intensity of his training. There was no showbiz glitter here. Amir Khan and the other 10 boxers, men and women, were going through their paces in a small room at the back of a community centre.
We were told that Amir could only spare a couple of minutes for a photograph because he fights again on Saturday 7 April. However, once outside, he gave us an interview and happily signed our huge flag. Just as we were finishing another boxer drove into the car park. A close friend of Amir, Jamie Moore is the British middleweight champion. He was just as outspoken on the issue of racism. "There is no racism in this gym," he said instantly.
It was then back into the city centre, but not to Albert Square. Our venue was Coronation Street where a number of stars came out to sign up to the campaign.
Unfortunately, all this meant that we missed our central Manchester stop, which was frustrating because 40 members of Unison had come out to greet us. We had hoped to get over there after the stop at the Street but a problem with our fan belt meant we were stuck in our hotel car park for a couple of hours until it was fixed.
Tony, our great driver, breathed a huge sigh of relief. "I didn't want to worry you but I knew the bus wouldn't make it to Glasgow if we hadn't had the repairs."
Now he tells us!
DAY 6 | LIVERPOOL | Thursday 29 March 2007
Liverpool
After a day of beautiful sunshine we left a rainy Manchester and headed for Liverpool. The local TUC had organised some bands and speeches in Derby Square and hundreds of people stopped to listen during the lunchtime rush. A relative of the murdered school boy Anthony Walker was one of the speakers.
After a brief stop in Derby Square we made our way to the Hollyoaks studio. Several of the cast came out to sign our flag and offer their support. The BNP has made little progress across Merseyside over recent years. They have begun to stand candidates in several of the local authorities but very few have reached double figures. A recent by-election in a white working class ward in Liverpool saw a pathetic vote of 8%. However, the local unions and anti-racists are not complacent and much of the focus of the forthcoming election campaign will be directed at Norris Green, where the BNP have distributed several leaflets over the past few months.
After Hollyoaks we made the journey down to the West Midlands. Our intention had been to go via Wales but events beyond our control prevented us from following that plan. Instead we meandered down the back roads into Sandwell, where we would be based for the next three days.
Meanwhile Halle Berry added her support to the campaign, giving an interview to the Daily Mirror. This was fitting as her mother had been born in Liverpool.
"I experienced racism when I was a child," she said. "It was difficult being one of the only black children in an all-white school of 1,500.
"I believe in diversity. It is only ignorance that allows us to stay at odds with each other."
DAY 7 | DUDLEY / BIRMINGHAM | Friday 30 March 2007
Dudley and Birmingham
To the shouts of 'Come on big Ade' and 'you can do it', dozens of shoppers cheered on local celebrity Ade Rollinson as he pulled our Hope not Hate Mirror bus through Dudley Market Square. The four times British contestant in the World's Strongest Man decided to add his weight to our campaign.
On a wet Friday morning he slipped into a harness and pulled the bus through the shopping street. It was almost over before he had even started as he put on an extra-large Hope not Hate T-shirt over his 68-inch chest and appeared to do himself an injury in the process. Meanwhile, Tony, our driver, was watching nervously. Obviously Tony was keen for Ade to be successful but he was more concerned about him pulling the front of the bus off.
Anyway, it all went off successfully. The bus rolled down the street and our campaign moved on to Birmingham's fantastic Victoria Square where we were met by Unison and their own Hope not Hate banner, some local radio DJs and Beverley Knight's brother, who is a youth worker in the city. Birmingham might have a reputation as Britain's most diverse city but there are pockets of predominantly white working class communities on its fringes where the BNP is gaining in strength. Shard End is now the most vulnerable ward, having taken over from Kingstanding due to splits in the BNP and the resulting formation of the New Nationalist Party. At least 4,000 leaflets were distributed and dozens of local people signed our Hope not Hate flag.
Shortly after 5pm we packed up and worked our way through the rush hour traffic to the NEC where we met the Sugarbabes before their gig that evening. We declined the option of tickets for the show, preferring to spend our evening at the Sportsman pub in West Bromwich. It was a pub with a difference, and certainly a new experience for some of the team. It is a Sikh-owned pub with a predominately Sikh clientele. Anyway, over large plates of curries and pints of lager we watched Leeds' glorious and well-deserved victory over Preston North End.
DAY 8 | STOKE | Saturday 31 March 2007
Stoke
This weekend was always going to be one of the most important periods of the campaign. Across the country activists were distributing anti-BNP literature. From Bradford to Luton, Burnley to Lincoln, hundreds of people were out.
Arguably the two biggest challenges we face in the forthcoming elections are Sandwell and Stoke-on-Trent, where the BNP averaged 33% and 30% respectively of the votes in the seats they contested in 2006. It was because of days of action in these two areas that the Hope not Hate bus has taken a less than direct route from London to Scotland. Having travelled up to Sheffield and across to Manchester and Liverpool we then headed back south to the West Midlands.
It almost got worse. The Dancing on Ice stars were supposed to join the bus in Birmingham but for reasons beyond our control this was not possible. An alternative date was given for the Saturday. So, as we left Birmingham on the Friday night we thought the plan was to go to Stoke-on-Trent and then head back south to Birmingham and Sandwell before continuing the journey north. This plan was certainly testing the patience of our normally relaxed and accommodating driver. Fortunately another cancellation from the Dancing on Ice stars meant we reverted to our original plan which was to spend a day in Stoke-on-Trent.
A changeover of Mirror photographer and Ros having a day off meant that it was a slightly depleted team that headed off that morning. Our first stop was to Stoke City's Britannia Stadium where we met former Stoke player Terry Conway and Irish author Don Mullin. The pair had been drawn together by the legendary Gordon Banks. Terry was part of the 1972 FA Cup winning team alongside Banks, while Don has just written a biography of the man he describes as his hero.
Back onto the A50 we headed into Coalville, a former mining area which has fallen on hard times in recent years. We were later to learn that the area once had the nickname the 'United Nations' due to the workers who moved into the area to work down the pits from across Britain and Eastern Europe. Anyway, today we were attending a Hope not Hate anti-racist fun day organised by the local Kids Zone project. Over 200 children and young people attended at some stage during the day. They were treated to a host of great activities, from a DJ school to a rodeo, face painting to a steel band.
A couple of miles away more serious activity was taking place. Almost 100 people came out for the Stoke-on-Trent day of action organised by local anti-BNP group NorSCARF and Searchlight. Over 10,000 copies of the Searchlight newspaper were distributed during the day, with most of the work concentrating on the BNP heartland in Stoke South. The day was rounded off by a performance by a steel band and Billy Bragg, who had generously given his weekend to the campaign.
Stoke-on-Trent has been a major BNP target for several years and campaigning against them has taken its toll on many activists during that period. However, the success of today has given new and seasoned campaigners a renewed burst of energy which they are determined to make the most of over the next few weeks.
The Watson household in West Bromwich East provided the evening's entertainment, which given the excesses of much of the tour was a welcome respite.
DAY 9 | WEST BROMWICH | Sunday 01 April 2007
West Bromwich
This was the big one. A staggering 221 people delivered over 45,000 newspapers in the BNP's strongest area outside Barking & Dagenham. It was a truly inspiring day and an excellent start to the election campaign.
The Sandwell anti-BNP day of action might have been scheduled for Sunday 1 April but the work for this event had begun much earlier in the week. Over the last few days teams of activists had been bagging up the 50,000 newspapers into street walks, preparing food and information sheets. When we arrived at the African-Caribbean Resource Centre in West Bromwich we were greeted by the fruits of this work. Ten tables had been laid out, each containing newspapers for a specific ward. Everyone was signed in and a minibus ferried people across the borough.
It was a model of organisation.
The Mirror's Hope not Hate bus arrived at the centre at 10.15, a quarter of an hour before the day was advertised to start. However, by now, 61 people had already arrived and were off out leafleting. The All Nations Steel band, from the Albion estate in West Bromwich, set up in the hall and created a great atmosphere as more people poured in.
The bus moved off to the Great Bridge market where the steel band and Billy Bragg performed to shoppers while other people distributed newspapers. Several shoppers remarked that they had already received the newspaper through the door that morning. It was good to know that people were at least registering our material.
We knew the BNP would not be happy with our newspaper. While all our other editions carried a positive front page the people in Sandwell decided to have a more aggressive approach. 'Gangland Sandwell - what is the BNP councillor hiding' was the frontpage headline. The story went on to explain how the leader of the BNP council group, Jamie Lloyd, had his pub closed after a series of violent incidents, including a shooting and a machete attack, yet he refused to cooperate with the police, even withholding vital CCTV footage. What was more strange was that Lloyd had been the target of these attacks.
As the band played in the market the BNP began to arrive. First two women, then a 4x4 full of blokes. They sneered and stared, paraded their dogs and glared, but there was simply nothing they could do.
Back at the centre food was being served. Unfortunately the vegetarian chilli had been forgotten, which caused a bit of consternation amongst the vegetarians who were offered a plate of salad. However, Gurinder, a long-time friend of Searchlight, came to the rescue, ringing around the local Sikh temples and restaurants and soon pan loads of vegetable curry appeared.
Over 100 people went out for a second leafleting session and soon we were able to dismantle the tables. It was a great feeling seeing the huge piles of stuffed plastic bags disappear. To round off the day the Steel Band performed again and then Billy Bragg, who had been out leafleting twice, did a turn. The audience was fired up and dozens of people offered their help for the forthcoming campaign.
It is days like these that make all the hard work worthwhile.
DAY 10 | MANCHESTER / BURNLEY | Monday 02 April 2007
Manchester and Burnley
"Can we finally go north now," Tony said with a heavy hint of sarcasm. "We are not going to have to go back to Birmingham are we?"
Our zigzagging was over and as the bus trundled out of Sandwell we were finally heading back up north. We were halfway through our journey and suddenly Glasgow beckoned.
The first stop on day ten was the City of Manchester stadium, home of Manchester City. This caused a bit of tension among the Mirror team with Ros supporting City and our new photographer, Chris, a firm Red. There was a function on at the ground and so only a couple of the first team players were able to come out.
Then it was on to Burnley, where the BNP had made their first political breakthrough in 2002 when they won three council seats. The following year two of their 2002 councillors failed to re-contest their seats but the party won another seven making them, for a short period, the second largest political group on the council with eight councillors. Two of the 2003 intake resigned soon afterwards and one failed to re-contest his seat last year, but the remaining four are up this year so there is at last an opportunity to reduce the BNP group significantly. However, there is certainly no room for complacency as last year's results clearly showed. The BNP won a further two seats and came a very close second in four more.
Our destination was the Stoops estate, one of the most rundown areas of the town. It is destined to be regenerated but in the meantime many of the stone houses are boarded up.
We visited the Stoops and Hargher Clough Community Centre where community worker Chris Keene is involved in a project aimed at bringing local youngsters into contact with young Asians in another part of the town. "We use football, music and food," said Chris, "the three things that unite all kids".
The project started during last summer's World Cup and has continued ever since. Through football training and other events Asian lads from Daneshouse and Stoneyholme visit the Stoops and then the hospitality is reciprocated.
"At first there was a lot of suspicion and tension," admits Chris, "but slowly they began to play together. Now they mix freely."
There is still some work to do, as we were to witness, but it is a great project. Now they are using the cricket World Cup to introduce a sport that is not widely played among the young whites. The police and council are now both involved and the scheme is widely accepted by most of the kids.
While we were covering this Tony took the opportunity to pay a visit to the Burnley & Pendle bus depot to get the belt sorted out once and for all. The repair seems to have been successful and we were able to meander across beautiful countryside to Halifax.
DAY 11 | KEIGHLEY / KIRKLEES / BRADFORD | Tuesday 03 April 2007
Keighley, Kirklees and Bradford
We are entering the final stretch of the tour and it is really picking up momentum. The Daily Mirror is devoting more space to our activities, and local newspapers and radio stations are carrying their own reports.
There is a real buzz amongst the team. Maybe it is because the end is in sight but I would like to think that we are still on a high from Sandwell on Sunday. It is hard to describe just how brilliant the day was. A massive turnout of 221 people delivered over 45,000 newspapers in nine wards in the borough. We know from feedback from within the BNP that they are really gutted, none more so than BNP councillor Jamie Lloyd whose refusal to cooperate with police over a series of violent incidents dominated the front page of the local edition of our newspaper.
But mere figures can't express the brilliance of the day. There was a real buzz about the place and that certainly helped people do that extra bit of work to prevent the BNP from winning seats in May. There is already talk of another day of action in Sandwell before polling day.
Today we were in West Yorkshire and although the weather turned it was another great day. We began in Keighley where we met up with local folk from the Bracken Bank estate. This was once a firm base for the BNP but no more. Angela Sinfield, a woman who continues to inspire me, came along with several other mothers from the estate. It was people like her who led the fightback against the BNP and are now determined to work to improve the local area. The principal of the college was also there, telling us how her students were involved in a project to improve local community facilities.
Next stop was Bradford city centre. Bradford has had its problems over the years but there is a lot of great stuff going on locally that is rarely reported. One project involves former local BNP organiser Andy Sykes going into local schools to warn kids about the dangers of extremism. Tong School's head is the first to say that Andy's work has had a profound impact on the young people there.
In the afternoon we headed into Heckmondwike, in Kirklees. The BNP has a firm base here but Labour is running a really hard-hitting local campaign and becoming increasingly confident. A Brazilian band played outside the Morrisons car park while we distributed t-shirts, newspapers and badges.
In all three locations the local media covered our activities.
While most of the team headed over to our hotel in Leeds, Greg (one of the camera crew) and I returned to Bradford for the formal launch of Hope not Hate Yorkshire. Over 300 packed into a banqueting suite to hear Jon Cruddas MP, Marsha Singh MP, and host Imran Hussain welcome the campaign. The Hope not Hate workers, Paul Meszaros and Lorraine Fitzsimons, gave a brief summary of the campaign. Angela Sinfield was again on hand to stress the importance of tackling the tough issues. With the speeches over it was time for another curry - our sixth on the tour so far!
Greg and I eventually arrived at the hotel at 10pm. It had been another long day. Given that the others had been here since 5pm you would have thought they would at least have cleaned up the bus. But no, we found them in the bar … again.
DAY 12 | LEEDS | Wednesday 04 April 2007
Leeds
We really have begun to feel that we are entering the final stretch of the tour but that still does not mean things are going smoothly. A change in arrangements with Emmerdale meant that we had to abandon a planned stop in Leeds city centre. This was unfortunate as Yorkshire GMB had mobilised activists to join us but the demands of the celebrities were deemed more of a priority for the Mirror. Balancing the celebrity stops with the community events has not always been easy on this trip and there have been a number of occasions when the more localised event has had to be changed at short notice or even cancelled because of the requirements of the big names. Fortunately most people have been very understanding, after all it is the involvement of the celebrities that is going to get the Mirror to run bigger stories which will reach far greater numbers of people than a local community event. However, it is not always easy to change or cancel an event at short notice.
We had been under the impression that we were visiting the Emmerdale cast at their rural location in Otley, north of Leeds. We had even thought that we were going to be able to drive the bus onto the set, which made us believe that a pint at the Wolfpack was on offer. Alas, it was not to be. Our bus did meet some of the cast of Emmerdale but the rural location was swapped for their studios at Yorkshire Television. While it was another dull car park for the Mirror photographer to contend with, Greg could not care less. To our great embarrassment he happily revealed to Linda Lusardi that she was his first pin-up girl. If that wasn't bad enough he even boasted of still having the poster he had bought at W H Smith many years ago.
After Linda and two other stars posed for pictures and gave a short interview it was time to hit the road. While the bus trundled up to Newcastle in glorious sunshine, Andy and I jumped into the photographer's car and sped off ahead in search of a PC World and some editing software. Some mad person (Ros to be exact) had suggested that we make a short film for the tour's finale in Glasgow. It seemed a good idea over a glass or two of wine the previous evening but with the end only 48 hours away and only an old PC to work from, the practicalities were proving more difficult. Greg and Andy had come along to record our fantastic journey but there had been little specific discussion about the final product. Ros would later comment that they and the initial Mirror photographer had treated the first week like a stag tour while she and I stressed about the ever-changing itinerary. The final few days proved very different, with the pair hardly sleeping as they strived to turn around a film that was fit to be broadcast on a big screen in Glasgow city centre.
There was no pressure at all, honest. Gordon Brown had been confirmed, as had Jermaine Jackson, which meant that the Mirror's editor would also be present and expectations were growing.
We left Greg and Andy holed up in a hotel room while Ros and I decided to break out of the hotel routine and head for a local restaurant. To be fair we have been staying in posh hotels but after almost two weeks they become life-sapping. While Tony and Chris propped up the bar, we enjoyed the delights of Newcastle.
DAY 13 | TYNE AND WEAR | Thursday 05 April 2007
Tyne and Wear
I am beginning to feel demob happy. The end is truly in sight and while I have enjoyed every minute of the trip the stress involved in organising it, and more particularly the pressures of the best laid plans failing, seemed a distant memory as the bus crawled through busy shoppers to the Monument in Newcastle city centre. We were basking in sunshine and with a glorious location and a well organised local operation we could actually begin to enjoy ourselves.
On the ground the day was being run by TWAFA (Tyne and Wear Anti-Fascist Association) and Unison. They had local leaflets and flyers for forthcoming events in addition to the merchandise we had sent on ahead. Unison had also organised for a Samba band and an African drummer to perform from the top of the bus so a big thank you to them. The reception was absolutely brilliant. None of us were sure whether it was because of the location, the great weather or just that the people of Newcastle are so friendly, but literally thousands stopped to take leaflets, sign the flag and collect balloons and T-shirts. It was a really uplifting day for us all, second only to Sandwell.
The highlight of the day was when a Daily Mirror reader, in her eighties, strolled up to the bus. "I've been following the tour in the paper," she proudly announced, and supported it 100%. Her daughter had married a black man and this had caused huge problems within the family but this woman had backed her decision all the way. "He is such a lovely person," she added. "We have to learn to get on."
After three hours we packed up for the final leg of the journey. Andy had gone on ahead with Chris to continue the editing and while Ros hit the phone for one final push to get things organised for Glasgow, Greg and I could enjoy the journey to Carlisle from the open top of the bus. It was a truly wonderful journey through fantastic scenery, probably aided by the fact that there was little more for me to do. The final few days had been a lot less stressful and so were probably more enjoyable though of course much of this was down to the improved weather.
We spent the night in Carlisle. It was not the most salubrious of surroundings, not helped by the attitude of the receptionist. He greeted me with the pleasantry: "Oh, you are with that thing are you?" nodding with disdain towards the battle bus. We didn't care. Tomorrow was our last day. While Ros, Chris, Tony and I went out in search of a decent place to eat Greg and Tony were busy editing in their room. It was still touch and go whether a film could be finished in time. Ros and I popped in to their room on our return and I privately thought there was no chance. Greg could hardly stay awake, in fact we ordered him to sleep, while Andy was encountering more computer problems. At 2am we left them alone, in hope more than anything.
DAY 14 | GLASGOW | Friday 06 April 2007
Glasgow - the finale
By some amazing miracle Andy and Greg pulled off the film. It is eight minutes long and truly fantastic. The Proclaimers had given us a video message which we were able to slip into the front and end of the film and it all worked beautifully. I couldn't sleep so I sat with them from 5am as it finally came together. While it only touched the surface of our trip it was enough to make us feel really proud of what we had all achieved.
Tiredness consumed us all but somehow the adrenalin kicked in. It was our final day and we were going to enjoy it.
The grand finale took place in Buchanan Street, a pedestrianised area right in the centre of Glasgow. A local company provided a big screen and a steel band began entertaining passers-by. It wasn't long before the whisper went round that Jermaine Jackson was about to appear and a crowd began to gather. We buzzed about trying to look as though we knew what we were doing but most credit had to go to Maggie, a Glasgow-based Mirror journalist, who had done an unbelievable job in pulling all this together.
It almost went completely wrong as our PA system caught fire moments before Jermaine's appearance. Fortunately, the bloke running the big screen was able to run the power from his van and saved the day.
The area was buzzing with security for Gordon Brown but in truth it was Jermaine Jackson who caused the stampede. I hadn't watched Big Brother but it was clear he was a huge celebrity. He was actually a really nice bloke and took time, as we waited for Gordon, to chat to us and share his thoughts. Eventually the Chancellor arrived and both men gave short speeches in support of the campaign to hundreds of people who had gathered around the bus. It was a fitting end to a really great fortnight. A few of us stayed on in Glasgow for what was meant to be an end of tour party, but with our numbers depleted and days without proper sleep kicking in, it all ended in a bit of a whimper.
We had travelled 1,700 miles in the bus and visited 30 towns and cities across the length and breadth of Britain. The trip had had its highs and lows but it had been an unbelievable journey. The Daily Mirror had covered it most days and millions of people had read about the Hope not Hate campaign to some degree. There is no doubt that all of us involved in the tour will look back on it with fondness. The low points will be forgotten or laughed off while the highs will be remembered forever. My personal high point was our day in Sandwell, where 221 people delivered 45,000 Searchlight newspapers. But more importantly, we met such great people across the country. I was less enamoured with the celebs than some of the others. For me, the real heroes were the local people working tirelessly to improve life for the communities they live in - Chris Keen in Burnley, Angela Sinfield in Keighley. These are my real heroes.
The Hope not Hate tour was always meant to be a celebration of modern Britain and the great work being done by too few people up and down the country. We set out with a positive message and I would like to think we have done our bit to achieve that. In Stoke-on-Trent, with the support of Unison West Midlands, local activists used our tour to hold a fun day in Coalville, an economically deprived area of the city. Several hundred young people and children came to the event during the day. "We have never had anything like it before," said Ernie from the local residents group. "Normally local kids fight each other around here," one teenager told us. "But today everyone is together enjoying themselves." It is comments like these that have made our trip worthwhile.
As news reaches us of record numbers of BNP candidates in the local elections, the message of hope is more important than ever. The Mirror campaign is only the first stage of a much bigger struggle. But it has given us a platform and an enthusiasm from which to build a much bigger grassroots campaign against the politics of hate.
Driver:
Tony
Journalist:
Ros Wynne-Jones
Campainger:
Nick Lowles
Film maker:
Gregg MacDonald
Photographer:
John Ferguson
Leyland Routemaster bus With a maximum speed of 38 miles an hour.
Searchlight has also produced a 12-page magazine on our HOPE not hate tour.
(Downlaod as PDF 2.12mb)
