Hackney TUC has received the following letter from the Hackney Solidarity Network ...

Dear HTUC

Hackney Solidarity Network was set up in early 2008 to help local campaigning groups network and so to increase their effectiveness, on the basis that the more we work together the stronger we are. Over the last two years HSN has developed to the extent that we are at a stage where the current organisers believe we should formalise how we work.

The raison d’etre of HSN is that we felt that 1) Hackney is run by an extremely small group of individuals in the Labour Party, many of them the elected Councillors, who get their way regardless of the size of opposition and that, 2) while there are many more community and political activists in Hackney, we rarely work together and so rarely succeed in our aims so that, 3) if we did work together we could succeed in our various aims and so make Hackney a better place.

HSN attempts then to bring groups and campaigners together on an equal basis with no agenda. We have no manifesto, no constitution nor ‘aims and principles’. Our agenda is simply ‘united we stand divided we fall.’

For more info see http://www.hackneysolidarity.info/ and http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/group.php?gid=107847266820&ref=mf

But for this strategy to work we feel we need groups to commit more fully to the project. Over the last two years we have had people from many different groups attend meetings; from Gamesmonitor, Hackney Refugee Migrant Support Group, Hackney Unites Against the BNP, Hackney TUC, National Coalition of Independent Advice Groups, Hackney Independent, Reel News, TELCO, ASS, Housing Enquiry Group, Hackney Palestine Solidarity, London Coalition Against Poverty, Hackney Unison, Hackney Environment Forum and reps of many various local tenants and residents groups. But the organisers believe if groups committed more to the project it would make it more effective.

What do you think? Would you group be interested and do you have any further questions you need to ask before you make that decision?

HSN also recently, in autumn 2009, launched Heckler Heckler (HH), as a paper for Hackney campaigns and campaign groups. See a PDF of the Heckler at http://www.hackneysolidarity.info/

The Heckler is designed to be a tool for local groups to communicate what they are about and what they are doing. The first issue of Hackney Heckler was produced in October 2009 and the 3000 copies went within 3 weeks, via mass street hand outs, individuals distributing where they live, on mass street distribution and from cafe and community centres. We got an overwhelmingly good response both from people on Woodberry Down Estate (the front cover led on the story of the redevelopment there) and from all our outlets.

The Heckler is free and HSN has no membership and so no set income nor money to pay for the Heckler bar donations. So we are proposing setting up a 'stakeholder' model to help produce and pay for it. This model would see groups committing to supplying, for each issue, copy re their activities and plans and then helping distribute it either within the ranks of the group or on mass distributions. At say £500 for 5000 copies, 10 groups could pay for it for the paltry sum of £50 each! We are aiming at 10,000 within the year which increase the cost but only to £800. Hopefully by that point we could increase the number of stakeholders and so keep costs pre group low.

For this small sum, each group would be able to get info out reaching at least 5000+ people and so is cheaper than producing fliers.

This model both produces and funds the newspaper; funding it without time consuming fundraising or taking money from sources that restrict editorial freedom or dictate direction, and it minimising production work for the group who produce the paper, by providing a regular stream of copy from each individual group.

We hope you want to be part of this exciting project, both HSN and or Hackney Heckler, as a number of key Hackney groups have already indicated they will be, and will get back to us soon with offers of help and bundles of cash!

Some groups may wish simply to take reasonably priced ads. Please enquire for more details.

Whatever the level of commitment and if you need any more information please get back to us as soon as possible.

Btw the next Hackney Heckler will be out end of January/beginning February 2010 so if you have articles and events please get them to us asap

Cheers HSN