Although Occupy Sheffield regret that the Cathedral has decided to take this very expensive legal route, the group is pleased that the Judge did not grant the possession order the Cathedral were seeking today. Instead it was decided that a full 2 day hearing should take place to give consideration to the wider implications of the protest. A proper proportionality review has been scheduled for the 21st February, giving both sides time to marshal their arguments.

Prior to today’s hearing, Occupy Sheffield offered to move the camp no later than 7 days before the Cathedral required the land for building works.  This offer was declined by the Cathedral.
 
Occupy Sheffield did not choose its location in order to enter into conflict with the staff and management of the Cathedral.  The Occupy movement worldwide is a people’s movement for social and economic justice and a prolonged dispute of this nature is an unwelcome distraction from our primary purpose.
 
The invitation to the Dean and Chapter to join the Occupiers in the marquee in order that there can be substantive face to face discussions about the future of the camp remains open.
 
Occupy Sheffield

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As with the case of the City of London Corporation v Occupy London, this case is being heard by a High Court Judge, namely Mr Justice Foskett. Unlike in Occupy London case, Sheffield Cathedral are seeking costs which already amount to over £8000 and have chosen to name 14 individuals (& “Persons Unknown”) in the court documents. Through fundraising efforts Occupy Sheffield has managed to raise enough funds to be represented by Barrister Michael Paget who also represented Occupy London in the St Pauls case.
This week the camp offered to leave the Cathedral forecourt seven days before the land was required for planned building works. This was the latest offer from Occupy which the Cathedral found unacceptable.

Occupy Sheffield feels strongly that all legal costs could have been avoided if a substantive discussion had been entered into at an earlier stage (and not 24 hours before a court case, a belated offer which we could only decline as the subject of our proposed eviction was not to be discussed!).

Occupy Sheffield believe that for the Cathedral to name individuals is unwarranted, and they should be removed. But this should not be a distraction from the fact that by naming ‘Persons Unknown’ the Cathedral are indicting working people, disabled people, Christians, homelesss people, unemployed people, young people and pensioners. ‘Persons Unknown’ are the 99 per cent.

If you are poor, take heed. If you are unemployed, take heed. If you are disabled and losing funding, or young without a job, or sick but made to work, take heed. If you are a worker who sees your wages stay the same, your conditions of employment ever weakened while the Chief Executive of your company walks away with more and more, take heed. Objecting to this situation may cost you dearly. Occupy Sheffield will soon find out if there is a price on the head of protest and protestors, and implore the court to determine that access to basic democratic freedoms is not contingent on access to funds.

We know already that the influence of finance on democracy is corrosive at the highest level. We await to see if access to funds will be determined a necessary entry point to democracy at the grass roots, and hope that the Judge will see that it is in the service of democracy to allow sustained and peaceful protest to take it’s course. We passionately believe that access to democracy is a basic right not contingent on wealth, and it is now clear that at the heart of our peaceful fight for economic and social justice is the struggle for democracy.

Occupy Sheffield

The New Year has been a great time for us to take stock of how far we have grown during more than two months of Occupation. We established ourselves on Church St to challenge the local symbols of a global economy that is serving the interests of the few rather than the many: high street banks, tax avoiding retailers and the nearby international operations of a major financial organisation. We feel the sheer amount of public engagement and media coverage we have received vindicates our decision to be here representing those in Sheffield who do not have a voice, who know that the power they have vested in politicians and corporations has been abused and turned against them. Unlike many other establishments in the city we extend a warm, hospitable welcome to all people who seek to challenge the way our world works, who wish to reject the misinformation and disinformation of media controlled by the wealthiest 1%, and the rhetoric of politicians. We are a truly open forum where everyone can engage in intelligent and informed debate free from the influence of self-interested local and international corporate establishments, where everyone can propose and contribute to solutions for the problems facing our age.

In the wider world of the early twenty first century, responsibilities are shirked and the burden of reparation is shifted to those who did not cause the crises we are facing. Occupy Sheffield have rejected this endemic thinking; instead we have established a community that works towards self-responsibility and reliance within a supportive environment of holistic and collective responsibility, enabling each other to reach our potential with dignity and respect. We believe that by living in such a co-operative and compassionate way we are setting an example of how our society can work and flourish when the needs of the many are met and surpassed.

We are defining a positive message of hope, an alternative to the shadow of fear most of the world is living under, a message that is reaching the city and the world. Over 2000 Sheffield people have signed a petition supporting us; a counter petition received 4 signatures. In December 2011, Sheffield City Council approved a motion supporting our right to continued peaceful protest. We continue to receive the support of many other groups and individuals including The Sheffield Green Party , Sheffield Quakers, members of the congregation from Sheffield Cathedral, Positive Money, all trade unions in Sheffield, UK Uncut Sheffield, Women’s Institute of Peace and Freedom, Billy Bragg, Sheffield Live, Now Then Magazine, Sheffield Indy Media, Alt-Sheff.org, Broomhill Labour Party, Heeley Ward Labour Party, Justice for All, Heeley City Farm, Paul Bloomfield MP, and people visiting and walking by the camp every day who agree with what we’re doing and offer support, many of whom work for major banks and corporations. Whilst we use existing, open and accountable avenues of bringing the concerns of the many to account, we believe those avenues are few and reveal the true limit of what is often mistaken for ‘democracy’ around our world. That’s why we are using more direct actions to reach those who need to have their voice heard. By doing so we seek not only to inform and educate people about the problems facing our world but also to reveal the many solutions that stand up for equal rights and justice, against exploitation, corruption and corporate greed.

In January 2012 Sheffield’s Citadel of Hope will be welcoming people from around the UK to the national Occupy conference; we believe this will be a pivotal moment in the fight for a fairer world, a world where currently those in whom we entrust our power are using the social disaster, the economic crisis they’ve created to shock and awe us into accepting actions that go against our better nature and conscience. If they bring anything to us it will be misery and fear for our futures. They can only treat us like this whilst we let them; how much more we endure is up to us. We will not tolerate them ignoring us in favour of greed, arrogance and corruption. We can stand up to them as a city, as a nation and as a world, and show them that we are the real power for change.

Happy New Year! We have big plans for 2012 and so do you. We hope that those plans can co-exist peacefully. There have been and continue to be headwinds, both natural and man-made, but we believe that the issues we are attempting to highlight are still a very real problem in our society. We continue to be actively engaged in the cause and feel it would send the wrong message if we were to pack up and go at this point.

The situation remains the same; we will continue protesting as long as the financial structures which caused this economic crisis remain. We cannot relent while the corporations continue to exert undue influence on politicians and while a tiny minority of the global population wields a frankly hideous proportion of wealth. It is not a love of camping which causes us to occupy your forecourt in the depth of winter. We are here because the scale and depth of this crisis demands that we make a stand!

It has always been important to us to be good and responsive neighbours – and although on some matters we have agreed to disagree, we are proud that in the last 2 months, there have been no on-camp incidents with any serious negative consequences. However, once the current storms have passed, it is our intention to rearrange the camp and create a more open and welcoming environment for the general public. This will involve reducing the number of smaller tents and rearranging the larger marquee to create a more public area.

As you will be aware, we are hosting the 3rd National Occupy Conference on 21st/22nd January, and it is our intention to use the Citadel of Hope as the main conference space. There may be a small increase in the number of tents on this weekend as we will be accommodating some of the conference delegates at the camp. Please be in no doubt that safety of all our visitors, and yours, has been and remains paramount.

The original Occupy Sheffield encampment outside Sheffield Cathedral will remain in situ. ‘The Citadel of Hope’ will not be an open residential occupation, but will be crewed at all times. People wishing to join the residential encampment at Sheffield Cathedral should continue to do so. Until such time as the building has been made safe, Occupy Sheffield will make all decisions relating to the building through the General Assembly meeting held daily at 6.30pm on the Cathedral forecourt. All are welcome.

The Citadel of Hope will operate the same ‘Safer Spaces’ policy [2] that is in place at the main encampment – among other things, the Citadel will be alcohol and drug free, and those who transgress this policy will be asked to leave.

In addition to facilitating community groups suffering at the hands of government cuts, The Citadel of Hope will provide a further platform the Occupy movement in Britain to campaign for economic justice, and will be host to the National Occupy Conference on the 21st and 22nd of January 2012.

Occupy Sheffield would like to make clear that it is protesting against the casino capitalism that has laid the real economy low; it is protesting that those who created this crisis have so far got away without legal sanction and continue to do so; it is protesting that this same tiny minority (‘the 1%’) are continuing to enrich themselves while the rest of the population (‘the 99%’) are made to suffer their failures [3]. Occupy Sheffield would like to make clear, that it is not protesting against any Church or Church group.

We believe that there is an alternative to the tired mantras of Thatcherism, and that the evidence for the need to change is playing out in front of our eyes.

The Citadel of Hope is a place where you can come and be informed, be inspired and be involved in a global movement [4] which is advocating for a more just society, run for the benefit of all.

Occupy Sheffield is a transparent, non-hierarchical, volunteer organisation which is made possible by people giving their time and energy in support of a cause in which they believe. Most people have jobs, and most people are not able to be involved all the time.

If you believe that it is time to articulate an alternative to this destructive turbo-charged capitalism then The Citadel of Hope needs you.

Occupy Sheffield / The Citadel of Hope

[1] A section 6 notice governs the legal status and civil proceedings that an unoccupied building is subject to. These are civil matters. No act of criminality has occurred in possessing this building.

[2] Safer spaces policy https://occupywiki.org.uk/wiki/Sheffield/Safer_Spaces_Policy

[3] http://www.publicfinance.co.uk/news/2011/12/child-poverty-to-increase-following-autumn-statement-warns-ifs/ and http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/10604117

[4] http://www.occupybritain.co.uk/ | http://www.occupytogether.org/ | http://www.occupylsx.org/ | http://www.occupywallstreet.org/

• www.occupysheffield.org
• www.facebook.com/OccupySheffield
• www.twitter.com/OccupySheffield
• www.twitter.com/Citadel_Of_Hope
• www.facebook.com/pages/Citadel-of-Hope/265723403482084