♦ West Glasgow Against Poverty (WestGAP), the long-established, independent, community-based anti-poverty charity opened its doors on Saturday 26th June to launch WestGAP 100, a new community fundraising initiative. Hundreds of people came to their Community Advice and Resource Centre in Partick, Glasgow to find out about the group, its activities and how they can contribute financially to keep the service going. The idea is to find 100 groups or individuals willing to donate £20 per month, which would cover all the running costs.

WestGAP have been in the forefront of the struggle against poverty in the community for the last nine years, formed by a core group of committed people who refused to be “silent any longer about the poverty that exists in our community. We knew, then, as now, that large numbers of us struggle to survive, bring up our children in poverty, exist on our disability benefit or state pension, or live in damp bedsits without basic facilities”. They operate on a collective basis with an active commitment to equality and an intolerance of sexism, racism and homophobia, and of discrimination based on disability, age or class.
For more info about WestGAP:  http://www.westgap.co.uk/

♦ Leeds Anarchist Federation has issued a call-out for an anti-fascist action coalition to oppose racist/fascist groups in the region. According to the group the revolutionary left have failed to show a unified response that militantly challenges the politics of the English Defence League, who are once again planning to take the streets, this time in Bradford on 28th August. The bigoted nationalist ideology of the EDL as well as the oppressive and reactionary influence of Islamism in our communities both divide the working class, therefore the Anarchist Federation Leeds calls for all independent proletarian antifascists in the region to work together, and invites people from the Yorkshire area to get involved in mobilising against reactionary elements in the community.
First meeting will be on Saturday 3rd July, 1pm, Swarthmore Education Centre, 2-7 Woodhouse Square, Leeds, or get in contact: leeds@af-north.org

♦ The campaign group Save Goldsmith’s Nursery is stepping up its fight to prevent the closure of the essential nursery provision at the world famous college in South London. At the beginning of June parents and nursery staff at Goldsmith’s College were told of plans to close the college’s nursery within three months. Outraged staff and students demanded an immediate enquiry as the closure, set for September, will leave staff and students with no childcare provision and some staff with almost immediate dismissal. There has already been three demonstrations against the closure with parents, students and staff voicing their anger at the college’s lack of consultation and disregard for those who use the facility. The closure is seen as management’s attempt to claw back some of the college’s financial deficit, although plans were previously presented, and dismissed by the college, to make the nursery ‘cost neutral’. Autonomy and Solidarity, Goldsmith’s student anarchist group, are said to be involved in the campaign.
Website: http://savegoldsmithsnursery.org/