The gathering took place at an animal sanctuary in Kent, where AR 2004 was also held. This years gathering was even bigger and better, as it stretched over 4 complete days from Friday 15th to Monday 18th July. On each day there was a full program of workshops/talks to choose from starting at 9am right through to 7pm. This years workshops were far more varied than last year and included hunt sabotage, legal workshop, self-defence, promoting veganism, computer security, video training, animal handling, how to do undercover work, surveillance and counter-surveillance, international networking, tripods and lock-ons, dealing with trauma and stress, first aid and lots, lots more! There were plenty of opportunities to listen to foreign activists talk about the way animal rights activism is spreading round the world. From every country present, someone spoke of their campaigns, successes and tactics used in the battle for animal liberation.
Each morning started bright and early for some with exercise workshops, including Yoga, Tai Chi, running and a general health and fitness workshop. And every evening, various animal rights/liberation films were shown in the main marquee, on a huge screen. Although the event was primarily aimed at providing activists with the knowledge and capabilities to fight animal abuse, the social aspect of the event was also well worth travelling for! People would gather en masse round the campfire every evening and much alcohol was consumed!!
All meals were provided by Anarchist Teapot of Brighton for the very reasonable price of £5 per day. Thankyou to them for cooking and serving up delicious, healthy, vegan food that we all enjoyed.
As well as the approx 300 activists who camped on site, dozens more drove to the site on whichever day they were available, pushing the total number of people involved to well over 400.
The event was totally inspirational for all who attended, not only due to the wealth of ideas & advice available but also because it was so apparent that the movement has become a global unstoppable force over recent years and is clearly growing across the world all the time!!
WMAA