Please note the date of this meeting has been moved from Tue 23 May to Wed 24 May: Tyneside Irish Centre. 7:00pm

The Topic
By the time of the first Covid lockdown, the UK’s existing infrastructure of food banks and other formalised support services were inadequate in responding to the demands driven by the pandemic. Mutual Aid responders stepped in to “fill the gaps” between need and formalised support.

Thousands of ordinary people across the UK (and worldwide) took action and formed Mutual Aid groups. But while the groups emerged spontaneously in response to need, Mutual Aid responders were drawing on traditions of mutuality, solidarity and self-care that have a long history.

In their presentation Silvie Fisch and Rosie Serdiville will look at the past and present of Mutual Aid in the North East. This will include findings of the ‘Mutual Aid Oral History Project’ at Newcastle University.

Collection
If you wish you will be able to donate to the Arthur’s Hill Solidarity Fund – for people who live in the inner west end of Newcastle, intended for those who are struggling financially, given on a no questions asked basis

Our Speakers
Silvie Fisch is the Director of Northern Cultural Projects, a community history and cultural organisation, and an Associate Researcher at the Oral History Unit and Collective at Newcastle University. She passionately believes in the power of culture to enhance the quality of life of vulnerable and disadvantaged people and communities.

Rosie Serdiville is a member of the NELHS Committee and Editor of North East History.