With Banners Held High: 2015 event a great success, another planned for 2016!

WITH BANNERS HELD HIGH, held at Unity+Works Wakefield on 7 March 2015 to commemorate the end of the miners’ strike 30 years ago, was an outstanding success. Both the day and evening events had capacity audiences who appreciated the range and variety of the day’s activity.

We now have a clear picture of the finances for the event. The evening event with New Model Army, and back up from The Hurriers, Roughneck Riot and Louise Distras, was meant to be a fundraising event and it certainly was! We raised over £8000 from ticket sales.

Overall from ticket sales, sales of merchandise, donations and programme sales we raised over £12,000.

Granville Williams, chair of the WBHH planning committee, said, “A great deal of planning went into the event, and all of the performers and speakers generously donated their time and skills to support it. I want to thank them all, as well as the planning group and everyone who worked so hard to make the day a success.”

At a meeting on 6 May to review the event we agreed to donate £2000 to Justice for Mineworkers. Rick Sumner and his wife Christine have worked tirelessly to help victimised miners since the organisation was set up in 1985, but they have announced that they won’t be able to continue with the work after this year.

We also agreed to donate £8,000 to the Orgreave Truth and Justice Campaign to support its vital work for a public inquiry into the policing of Orgreave, and £500 towards the cost of putting subtitles on the With Banners Held High film.

The big news is that we agreed to hold another WITH BANNERS HELD HIGH event on Saturday 5 March 2016 at the same venue, Unity+Works, Wakefield, and the balance of the funds raised from this year’s event will be used to start organising the 2016 event. “We plan to make it another outstanding and memorable day,” Granville Williams said.

It will have two themes: Music and the Miners’ Strike and the inspiring story on International Solidarity in support of the miners in 1984-85. As with this year, we will organise a day-long event with exhibitions, music, drama, films, poetry and debates with a benefit concert in the evening. You can contact wbhh@talktalk.net if you would like to receive further information about the event.