*Why don't you?*

"Why don't I what?"

Well - prepare for the G8, fight for Burngreave, go to Venezuela, celebrate Peace in the Park, defend benefits, write for a radical newsletter, get into the art of creative politics...

Sheffield Social Forum's first foray into 2005 is to be a 'Big Open Meeting' where all these ideas and others will be up for grabs.

We would *love* to see you. It'll be a kind of mini-social forum to kick off the year, with food, drink and the best mix of people you could hope for! We hope!

Here's a list of some of the things that will be going on - but please bring all your ideas and new-yearly enthusiasm!

*The G8 comes to Sheffield in June, as well as Scotland in July - Make Poverty History Sheffield [ http://www.makepovertyhistory.org/home.html] are using the chance to push for an end to global destitution, and Peace in the Park organisers are getting involved too.

*Peace in the Park itself will be taking place on Saturday June 11th. [ http://www.peaceinthepark.org.uk] SSF will be hosting a 'Speakeasy' tent there (like Glastonbury's leftfield tent) and working with others to build for this

*We're working with South Yorkshire Development Education Centre, planning to go into schools to run awareness-raising workshops around global issues - with the ultimate goal of hosting a 'youth parliament' (or something less stuffy) at Peace in the Park

*The Burngreave Masterplan, entailing as it does large-scale demolition, has triggered a local fight-back. SSF is getting stuck in, looking for ways to hold planning minister Keith Hill to his words... which were, rather shockingly, 'Let the People Decide!'

*Building on previous work done around the impending disability welfare cuts, we'll be working to raise awareness of what's going on, on the hardships faced by people on disability benefits - and how much worse it could get if Blair gets his way. How can we support a group who are so often ignored and sidelined? can you help too?

*Get yer creative juices flowing! Creative Action Network - those responsible for Sharrow's awe-inspiring lantern carnival, will be there on the 17th, as well as various other folk looking to put their creative talents to good use. If you want to come and join in, there'll be opportunities to talk about and plan any number of creative possibilities, including...

*A new Sheffield radical newsletter! Radical means 'getting to the root of things' - learning how to see what those roots are. A plan is afoot to launch a monthly newsletter, in conjunction with Sheffield Indymedia, with this aim in mind. It won't just be dull leftie politics, though - supported by a fortnightly writing and creativity workshop, and due to launch its first issue at the end of March, we hope this will be an exciting read, as well as bringing together in one place all the month's best political and politico-cultural goings on in Sheffield and beyond.

*... and of course, Sheffield Social Forum itself! We need more bodies to keep the good ship SSF afloat in 2005. There's lots to do, as you can see. It's going to be fun, but it'll be hard work!

*Oh and - *please* bring your ideas: you *can* make a difference.

Hope to see you on the 17th.

Dan
on Behalf of the Sheffield Social Forum