Bromley Borough White Poppy Ceremony

Bromley Borough Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament held its annual White Poppy Ceremony on Remembrance Sunday , as part of the South East London CND Peace Coalition . This ceremony commemorates all victims of war not just those who fought in wars.

The White Poppy was devised in 1933 by the Co-operative Womens’ Guild to remember all those who had died as a result of the First World War. Since 1934 responsibility has been taken by the Peace Pledge Union.

Richard Hart, Chair of Bromley Borough Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament said ‘ We feel that in these dangerous times the voice for peace needs to be made. I just wear a white poppy although some attendees wear a red one as well . We also commemorated Jim Radford a local peace campaigner who died on Friday. He had been a cabin boy on D Day when he was just 14 and until recently had been a leading light for Veterans for Peace and a performer on the local Folk Music Scene. His message lives on !’

Introducing the new London CND Coordinator

Hello, my name is Julie and I am delighted to join the London CND team as LRCND Coordinator!

I recently finished my assignment as co-Arts and Culture Coordinator at the The World Transformed, a month-long festival of politics, arts and culture throughout which I organised an inter-generational working group of volunteers in multiple locations and oversaw the organisation of fully-digital talks and creative events.

That’s me!

My campaigning background is in climate activism, student activism and West Papuan liberation, for which I designed diplomatic documents for 3 years, organised an international conference in Oxford and coordinated a march to the United Nations in Geneva. I have also supported 17 campaigns, charities, and think-tanks in producing websites, brand identities and social media graphics. As Environment and Ethics Officer at Warwick Students Union, I gained an excellent command of social media campaigning aimed at students and I am hoping to boost the number of young people involved in the campaign. 

I’m on the left, making a banner with other students at the University of Warwick

History must change track, and I cannot wait to lend my experience and creativity to this ever-pressing campaign. If you’d like to be friends on Facebook, here is my professional account: https://www.facebook.com/julie.saumagne. Don’t hesitate to send me a request and drop me a message, I’m really looking forward to meeting and learning from you all! 

In peace, 

Julie

WATCH: South East London CND Peace One Day event

In September 2001 United Nations GA resolution 55/282 was unanimously adopted by the General Assembly, establishing the UN International Day of Peace as an annual day of global ceasefire and non - violence, fixed in the calendar as September 21st. Peace One Day has successfully driven the initiative to establish this day in many countries throughout the world. It is marked in many different ways, for example - with real ceasefires in conflict zones, arts festivals,and educational projects in schools. The South East London CND Peace Coalition marked it on Sept 22nd this year due to organisational demands, with music, poetry, a speaker about the Gaza settlements, and film extracts about the history of the organisation and a Woodcraft Folk peace project.

00:00:00 Introduction - Gini Bevan (SE London CND groups), Richard Hart and Ann Garrett (Bromley Peace Council)
00:08:43 Music - Nick Jeffrey and The Lewisham Folk Mob
00:38:30 Film - Tracy Cleveland (Woodcraft Folk)
00:47:15 Music - North Kent and Petts Wood musician via La Dolce Vita Folk Club – Paul Steele
00:56:12 Film - Peace One Day, introduced by Hannah Kemp Welch (London Region CND)
01:02:56 Talk - The Gaza Settlements, Michael Coulston (Stop the War) + with Ang Swee Chai 01:19:28 Music - La Dolce Vita Folk Club - Curtis Savage
01:28:20 Poetry - Richard Hart. Roisin Robertson, Leon Silver, Ben Silver, Patricia Lower, Ann Garrett and Ruth Fabricant (local SE London peace poets and singers)
01:28:03 Music – a song from each of the musicians 02:05:32 Final announcements and thanks