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!

See the North East London Squatters Network website

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.

We, the OffMarket collective, take disused buildings and turn them into open resources. We have just moved in to 68 Dalston Lanes E8 3AH.  It is a larger space than we’ve had before, with a shop front consisting of a large back room, smaller rooms to the front and a good sized yard out back. We have lots of ideas about what to do with this space and look forward to hearing yours!

Free School: To launch the new space we will be holding a two week Free School packed with workshops and skill-shares. If you would like to propose a workshop or otherwise get involved with the running of the space you can come to our meetings every Monday at 7pm, email us on offmarket@riseup.net or just show up and get stuck in.

Workshops confirmed; Life Drawing, Sewing Curtains, Sign Writing/Flyer Making, Lock Changing, Shelf Making, Basic Electricity and Plumbing, Using and maintaining Power Tools, Insulation for Winter, Ecological Cleaning, Wireless Internet Security, 12V Music Making, Home Brew

And those whose times are already scheduled…
Tuesday 25th: Building Accessible Barricades 12-3
Wednesday 26th: Furniture Building and Carpentry 12-4 / Basic Tools
Skillshare for Women/Trans/Queer Folk 5-7pm
Saturday 29th: Vegan Cooking 12-5 / Café from 7pm
Tuesday 1st : Practical Squatting Evening 7-9pm
Thursday 3rd : Legal Workshop on Squatting from ASS 7-9pm
Saturday 5th : Self Defence 10-6

Open meetings are on monday at 7pm if you want to meet us, check the space out, or have any proposal to use the space!

Accessiblity: As of yet the space is not very accessible, we will be working on this as a priority and will have detailed info available in the next few days.

To download it as a PDF click here

If you would like an event listed or to get it emailed to you weekly contact info_usurpa[at]riseup.net  – remove [at] with @ sign

For the latest issue see below or download the pdf here

At 6am this morning ( 26/08/11) Well Furnished was broken into by about 20 High Court Bailiffs with dogs. They also had support from Police Officers.  We were completely unprepared for this. We were told by the court that we had eviction dates for 7th and 24th September.

The baliffs were not too bad and let us recover some of our stuff. However at one point they forced two of the Well Furnished crew through the gate and physically assaulted both of them. The police were unconcerned about the physical harm inflicted on us by the bailiffs.This was despite the fact we put up no resistance and were polite and civil, as we believe we have been throughout our time at Well Furnished since the end of April.

We think it is a very sad state of affairs that the property agents Lamberts and St John Hackney Joint Charities Trust have decided to spend charity money on a very costly eviction process.

The Trust claim they don’t have enough money to renovate their properties, are making their existing tenants responsible for repairs and increasing the rents by up to 300%.

Well Furnished is not the only empty property on Well St and Terrace Rd, half of the Trust’s properties are empty. This is a blight on the street, damaging for existing tenants businesses and a gross injustice for the people of Hackney who are supposed to be benefiting from the income made by renting out properties.

You can find out more about this on the Save Well Street Market Website,

We have always wanted to use the empty properties, Well Furnished and This and That for the benefit for the community as a whole. From the outset we have reached out to our neighbours and many of them have welcomed us, recognising that we have worked tirelessly to make the empty space beautiful and a asset for the community.

We have always tried to contact Lamberts, The Church Trust, The Vicar and Geoff Taylor (local councilor and chairman of the Trust), however they have never answered any of emails or phone calls.

If you liked what we were doing at Well Furnished and feel that Lamberts could have handled this differently, please let them know.

Please email

christopher.hollins@lambertsurv.co.uk

and/ or

geoffrey.taylor@hackney.gov.uk

After a bit more than 3 full on months of activity, the Offmarket squatted social centre on 121 Lower Clapton road was evicted by Bailiffs, police and owners on Thursday 7th July 2011.

The second Offmarket space was opened last April. We had a visit from the owners only 12 hours after moving in. Our first contact was pretty horrible, as all the other times we had to deal with them, ranging from “you scum of the earth” to “you should all be gassed to death”… lovely innit?

Still, in the few months we got out of the space we managed to do some amazing things. Tons of workshops and regular activities, resources that allowed dozens of people to start their own squats, a hugely successful freeshop that ended up being run mostly by locals…

The court case started early and after few postponings, the owners finally got their possession order and they decided to enforce it last thursday. Some of the bailiffs heavies managed to get inside the space early on in the morning but got kicked out. Some more arrived and they finally managed to break it after some efforts. Few people came to support, which was nice given the short notice. WellFurnished crew was very supportive and helpful as well, thanks for the solidarity!

The Offmarket collective will very probably take a well deserved break but will be back soon for a new space! check this space

Contact email: offmarket@riseup.net

# CALLOUTS #
- Someone is looking to start up a percussion skillshare sometime soon.. this would be djembe / hand drums – if you’re interested in coming along then get in contact.
- French conversation is on hold until we find more French speakers willing to speak with people and help them learn. If you are up for this and free on Sunday evenings please email us.
- We need more people who are willing and able to help others speak English, if you are then come along any Sunday between 6 and 8pm
- More hands are needed to organise the fortnightly cafes.. if you can help cook, clean, wash-up or serve food to people come along fortnightly on Fridays at 2pm from Friday 20th May

# WISH LIST #
We could really do with
- a hoover ( we actually really need one!!)
- gloss paint to paint our lovely shop front
Also, regular stuff that we need:
- soap / cleaning products
- soya milk
- toilet roll
- food
- selotape / gaffa tape / blue tac / glue
- ink cartridges for printer
- towels
- seeds
- bike stuff

Our opening days are: Sunday 12-6pm, Monday 12-6pm, Tuesday 12-8pm. During opening hours you can browse our freeshop with clothes, toys, books etc, but also check out our growing info library, learn more about squatting or just have a cup of tea.

If you are able to give a helping hand at all please pop by when you can or call us on 077 0627 9299. This is a collective project that always needs  more people ; whether it’s sorting the freeshop, building shelves or watering the plants, come get involved!

Open meetings are on Mondays at 7pm.

Action groups meet at the following times:
Gardening               :   going on a break.. back Tuesday 31st May @ 10am
Bike workshop       :   Tuesdays 3-6pm
Practical Squatters :   1st and 3rd Tuesday of the month 4-6pm
Library             :   Thursdays 2pm
Zine                :   Tuesday 17th May @ 2pm
Cafe                :   Fortnight from Friday 20th May @ 2pm

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

## QUEER FILM NIGHT / Friday 13th May 7pm ##
Door open from 7pm, films from 8pm. Entirely free of charge. This is first in what we hope will be a series of monthly queer film nights at OffMarket.  Tonight we will be screening a collection of short movies, in the future we hope to show both short and feature length films on a variety of subjects, all queer and all fabulous in different ways. After the films there will be an opportunity to talk together about what we have watched, as well as what we might like to watch in future, for those who want to. Those who prefer to lounge on our sofas, socialise, check out our freeshop, flirt shamelessly, or otherwise hang out in the space are also welcome to do that! OffMarket is an alcohol and smoke free space, drinks and snacks will be available (feel free to bring some to share if you fancy).  See you there!

## CAFE, FILM & SPOKEN WORD  / Friday 20th May 6pm ##
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!
This week we will also be having some Spoken Word performances, performers to be announced soon. Come along from 2pm to help cook & prepare, 6pm for food, 7pm for Survivors screening and 8pm for spoken word.

## THEATRE WORKSHOPS / Wednesday 1st June 6-8pm ##
For five weeks there will be theatre workshops taking place on Wednesday evenings, with a different focus each week. We would like to have people commit to come for all of the sessions. Email us if you would can only come to some or have any questions. More info see there

## CREATIVE WRITING CIRCLE / Thursday 2nd June 7-9pm ##
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.

## NELSN SOCIAL / Saturday 4th June 7pm ##
Squatters from North East London getting together, socialising, supporting each other and sharing food!

## SEWING WORKSHOP / Saturday 18th June 2-5pm ##
Get help sewing & fixing your clothes

/////// 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, 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 contact us.

++ 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.

++ 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!

++ SUNDAY, 6-8pm ++
English Conversation session: if you are interested in learning to speak English or willing to help others learn please come along to this weekly session!

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

–
OffMarket
offmarket@riseup.net
077 0627 9299 http://london.indymedia.org/groups/offmarket

## KARAOKE SOUP @ LARC / Sunday 29th May ##

This is not happening at OffMarket but will be raising money for the space.

Karaoke soup is an evening combining your two favourite things in to one evening of joy, bringing you karaoke and soup to raise funds for different projects each month.
London Action Resource Centre (LARC)
62 Fieldgate st, E1 1ES
http://www.londonarc.org/
ACCESSIBILITY: there is a smal step at the front. The event will happen on the ground floor, and there is a wheelchair accessible toilet.

To download it as a PDF click here

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.