On Friday 17 January, Focus E15 mothers, their babies and supporters of the campaign held a tea party in the showflat in the East Thames Housing Association offices, with decorations, party poppers, balloons – the children had fun, the mothers were happy and the message was clear – secure social housing in London.
East Thames is the landlord of Focus E15 hostel, where the young mothers and babies who are on the homeless list of Newham Council, have been temporarily housed. The young mothers have been offered properties as far away as Hastings and Birmingham, in the private-rented sector, while East Thames has thousands of properties in East London and Essex, and Newham Council has boarded up properties in Stratford such as the Carpenters Estate.
After the party, we all made our way to Bridge House, Newham Council housing service building – we entered the foyer and explained to people there what the campaign was about, the management told us to leave because we were disrupting the people there who had meetings, however the people cheered and supported us as they too are battling for the basic human right of shelter. One woman in tears told us how she was was about to be sent to Birmingham where she knows no one.
Fight Racism! Fight Imperialism! has worked wih Focus E15 mothers since October 2013 and with the determination of the mothers never to give up, the campaign is growing, linking up with others in similar situations and drawing in people who want to do something about the wholesale ideological attack on working class people. The only option is resistance as we take up the fight for secure social housing, against the bedroom tax and the benefit cap. As social cleansing intensifies, Focus E15 mothers show that collective action on the streets is the way forward as we fight together to stop the uprooting of individuals and families.
Victory to the Focus E15 mothers!
Join us every Saturday for a street stall 12-2 on The Broadway E15 (outside Wilkinson’s) and alternate Saturdays for campaign meetings at Ithaca House, 27 Romford Road, London E15 4LJ.
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Focus-E15-Mothers/602860129757343
{vsig}e15_0cup{/vsig}
