TRIDENT PLOUGHSHARES INTERNATIONAL DISARMAMENT CAMP
Coulport, Scotland 29th July to 12th August 2006




Leaflets
A leaflet advertising the 2006 Coulport Camp is now available. The leaflet is A5 double sided and can be downloaded as two A5 pages or as one A4 page. Both are in PDF format.




Here is some information about the camp that you might find helpful as well as a few guidelines which will make everyone’s stay more fun and hassle-free.

Welcome to Coulport Camp
The Peaton Glen Wood campsite is about half a mile from the Coulport base, by the shores of Loch Long. There is a grassy field at the roadside and beyond that beautiful mixed woodland.

These fifteen days are a big focus point of the campaign when we carry out direct disarmament work at the Faslane and Coulport bases. It’s also a time for strengthening our ability to work well together, for bringing new people into the campaign, for renewing our vision and commitment, and for good fun.

You do not have to be a Trident Ploughshares pledger to attend the camp. So long as you are willing to abide by our non-violent guidelines you will be very welcome.

Registration.
Please register at the information table when you get there. This is for your safety and it also helps us to get in touch with people after the camp if we need to. You also sign up for a short non-violence workshop if you haven’t done one previously and people who spend a night or more at the camp are asked to sign a simple nonviolence pledge which also commits you not to use alcohol or drugs while you are at the camps. Please note you can come for part or all of the time.

Workshops.
As well as the non-violence workshops mentioned above we will have a number of workshops on topics related to the campaign. Feel free to bring materials to run a workshop on campaigns you are involved in.

Disarmament Tools
We will have at the camp a small supply of disarmament tools but if you are able to bring your own bolt-cutters, hammers, locks, chains, etc. so much the better! Please bring along your (portable) musical instruments, dressing up gear, chalk, juggling stuff etc, - for disarming with fun and colour.

Camping
You will need your own tent and sleeping stuff. Please pitch your tents on the higher ground. The lower field (next to the phone box) is reserved for those who cannot physically get on to the top bit, and people doing press and legal support. Please don’t camp on the other field (towards Coulport), and keep any noise near to the house there to a minimum. We will have a few spare tents on the camp but we try to keep these free for people who turn up without knowing what’s needed. Please bring a torch with you to get you around the site (and maybe elsewhere!) after dark. Boots or sturdy shoes are also advisable - explorations of the bases and their surroundings involves tramping across rough and soggy ground. Insect repellent will also come in handy.

The camp has compost toilets. You can get small quantities of hot water for washing from the kitchen. In nearby Helensburgh there is a swimming pool and launderette.

Dogs
Please leave your dogs at home. If there are very special circumstances which make that it very difficult to do so please be in touch before the camp to discuss it. Where an exception is made there will be a strict code for the management of dogs.

Children
This is an action camp and there are no special arrangements for looking after small children. . Please look after them constantly or arrange for someone else to. Children of all ages could get lost in the woods or get injured on the road or in the gully, Please warn them about the dangers.

Young people
Trident Ploughshares has a policy that anyone who is under 16 has someone at the camp who acts as a responsible adult for them. If you are under 16 we ask that your parents make this arrangement with someone, preferably someone you know who is also coming to the camp, and that you bring a letter from your parents authorising that person to be responsible. Also if you are considering doing anything arrestable you need a letter authorising this person to collect you from custody although the police might still insist on your parents coming.

Food
There will be a communal kitchen, where main meals will be cooked (vegan). At other times feel free to make hot drinks and snacks here. Also volunteer to help with chopping veg, washing up, fetching water, collecting firewood etc. Please put donations for food in the collecting bucket in the kitchen area. We suggest £3 per day.

Costs.
We don’t ask a fee for camping but we do ask people to make donations, as they are able, to cover the costs of the camp as a whole (this is for phones, power, transport etc.) As a guide we are suggesting £25 a week. Don’t worry if you can’t contribute - the main thing is to be there - but it might be an idea to try to raise some sponsorship in your local area to cover your camp costs.

Camp organisation, meetings etc
We expect all campers either to be in an established affinity group, to link up to one for the camp or to form an ad-hoc camp affinity group with others. Decision-making for the camp will be at evening meetings attended by two representatives from each affinity group. It is up to each affinity group to sort out how they meet to prime their rep and get feedback. There will be a short information-sharing meeting just after the evening meal each day.

Task Groups
We ask each camper to be part of a Task Group so that the disarmament and support work gets done effectively and everyone plays a part. We will have task groups for cooking, camp maintenance, facilitating meetings, legal support, police liaison, media, registration and information, transport etc. You could be thinking now about which one you might be part of - and if you have ideas about that get in touch with us (see below for contacts).

Communications
We will have a communications caravan which handles media and legal support work and can do other basic office stuff. From there we can help you to write up and send fax and e-mail stories to your local area or country (bring the contact details with you!).

Camp Timetable
Thurs 27 and Fri 28 July Set up camp
Saturday 29 July Camp starts
Sunday 30 July Camp action planning and training
Tuesday 1 August Planning for trip to Edinburgh Festival (see below)
Wednesday 2 August Camp Open Day - local people invited
Friday 4 August Planning Meeting for TP F365 blockade days
Saturday 5 August TP Reps Meeting
Sunday 6 August Camp Blockade planning.
Candle floating ceremony for Hiroshima in evening
Monday 7 August Camp Blockade of Coulport (see below)
Wednesday 9 August Nagasaki day actions
Thursday 10 August TP at the Edinburgh Festival
Saturday 12 August Camp ends



Blockade 7 August.
Although blockades could happen any day during the camp TP decided to have one day which we would actively advertise for people who just wanted to come out and take part in a blockade. Even though 7th August is a Bank Holiday we decided to go ahead as Trident is operational every day.


Edinburgh Festival 10 August.
The WMD Awareness Programme has booked a room in a pub in Edinburgh for the duration of the Festival Fringe. Between 4.00 - 7.30pm every day from 6-28th August at the Three Tuns pub on Hanover Street, just off Princes Street, they are putting on a mixture of comedy, film, discussion and live music. The room has a capacity of 150. Trident Ploughshares will have half an hour to use in whatever way we choose to get our message over and can take exhibition materials etc. They will provide the space free of charge and will be promoting the events through the Fringe Guide listing and an advert as well as flyers. They will be providing the artists to play each day. We need to provide a few people to help hand out flyers during the day. We have booked Thursday 10th August and will be able to use time earlier in the camp to plan something that gets the TP story over in an entertaining way!

During the camp there will also be plenty of affinity group based actions and water sports. Come along and join one of the ad hoc affinity groups which will form to accommodate all tastes, ages and abilities!

LET US KNOW IF YOU ARE COMING!
For more information before the camp call 0845 45 88 361 (from outside UK ++44 1259 753815) e-mail:  info@tridentploughshares.org website: www.tridentploughshares.org Phone number at the camp: 0845 45 88 361