Campaigners have been picketing and leafletting at the Barnados store in Oxford fairly regularly, in protest at their collusion with the migration-control system, specifically detention of children.
For more background about what Barnado's are doing and why we oppose it, see:
https://network23.org/barnardosout
Since May, folks from Oxford No Borders have been doing semi-regular sessions outside the local Barnado's shop, picketing and leafletting customers and passers-by. It's a nice busy spot in the heart of East Oxford.
A report of our first protest is here:
http://oxford.indymedia.org.uk/2012/05/496309.html
...and a video of it is here:
http://oxford.indymedia.org.uk/2012/05/496413.html
We've been back again and again since then, about once every 2-3 weeks, usually for 1-2 hours, giving out hundreds of leaflets each time.
Every time we meet loads of people who were completely unaware of Barnado's hypocrisy, which confirms that this kind of work is worthwhile in undermining their image. Recently we've also occasionally started encountering a person here and there who's already heard about it, which is encouraging too.
Most interesting are the individual conversations, including people who were considering volunteering for Barnado's and changed their minds as a result, people who know others who work for Barnado's and said they would tell them about it, and the many and varied warm-hearted and strange folk of Cowley Rd!
Most recently, in support of the national day of action against Barnado's, we did a couple of sessions, one in the morning and another towards the end of the day.
Some of the volunteers still haven't heard about Cedars (or so they claim) so we also often make a point of popping in to have a brief polite chat with them too. The manager, however, can always be relied upon to show us a grumpy face, as can the local PCSO!
https://network23.org/barnardosout Since May, folks from Oxford No Borders have been doing semi-regular sessions outside the local Barnado's shop, picketing and leafletting customers and passers-by. It's a nice busy spot in the heart of East Oxford.
A report of our first protest is here:
http://oxford.indymedia.org.uk/2012/05/496309.html ...and a video of it is here:
http://oxford.indymedia.org.uk/2012/05/496413.html We've been back again and again since then, about once every 2-3 weeks, usually for 1-2 hours, giving out hundreds of leaflets each time.
Every time we meet loads of people who were completely unaware of Barnado's hypocrisy, which confirms that this kind of work is worthwhile in undermining their image. Recently we've also occasionally started encountering a person here and there who's already heard about it, which is encouraging too.
Most interesting are the individual conversations, including people who were considering volunteering for Barnado's and changed their minds as a result, people who know others who work for Barnado's and said they would tell them about it, and the many and varied warm-hearted and strange folk of Cowley Rd!
Most recently, in support of the national day of action against Barnado's, we did a couple of sessions, one in the morning and another towards the end of the day.
Some of the volunteers still haven't heard about Cedars (or so they claim) so we also often make a point of popping in to have a brief polite chat with them too. The manager, however, can always be relied upon to show us a grumpy face, as can the local PCSO!