The building's main meeting space was transformed by London RTS'ers into a very shiny and sparkly version of your average anti-capitalist jumble sale, except that this time everything was free, a fact which caused great excitement as well as occasional bewilderment amongst the local kids who streamed in all through the day. (A few went home and came back to LARC carrying pictures and other stuff we hoped their parents wouldn't miss!) A quick cross-section of the Market's contents included: a highly-prized copy of the first ever SchNEWS annual, 2 typewriters, 2 homemade cakes, a box of CD computer games, and a very desirable hooded top. Not to mention a couple of thousand copies of the Hate Mail spoof newspaper.

The idea by the way is to open a small window onto a money-free world, where people bring what they don't need and maybe with any luck find something they do want as they browse around, drink the free tea and absorb a few drops of hope for the future. All in all it was a nice chance to leave the door open to allcomers, particularly local people who might have been tempted to believe police-spread rumours about weapons being manufactured in the Centre. The LARC open day on May 18th will feature more similar stuff, oh, and there's a second shop on Tuesday 30th April from 4-8pm. Bring your unwanted stuff down at the start if you can!

Here's to Free Markets springing up all over London and beyond.