News and stories

The 8th March is International Women's Day, a time to remember the sacrifices and bravery of women who have fought tirelessly for a better world, whilst also recognising that the fight for liberation is far from over. From the Ford Dagenham strikes in 1968 to the women of the 2011 Egyptian Revolution, women have increasingly made steps towards equality and been part of the struggle for a world free from oppression.

Woodcraft Folk have a long history of working with young people from the Western Sahara. We therefore strongly condemn Morocco’s unfair and unjust sentence of 24 Saharawi civilians who were tried before a military court on Sunday February 17, 2013.

Woodcraft Folk member Acer Nethercott died two weeks ago after fighing brain cancer for three years (unknown to all but his close family), at 35 years old. A Harlow Woodcraft volunteer remembers him:

Here are a few words about a person who I called our brightest child, since he came out top in Harlow with his large clutch of starred A's at G.C.S.E. at 16. He had grown up after joining Woodlanders Elfins and going through Woodlanders Pioneers and Harlow Venturers. After school, he went on to University College Oxford and finished with a P.H.D. in language. In his early 20's, he came back to work with our groups as a leader as part of his gold award for the Duke of Edinburgh scheme and was at the first Sherwood Forest International camp during that period. 

Southampton Woodcraft Folk attended an interesting conference in the Civic Centre in Southampton at the start of February, called "Southampton: A City of Co-operation". The conference was organised by Southampton City Council and SACDA (the local cooperative umbrella group) to bring local cooperators together with the Council and begin to discuss how Southampton City can move to a more cooperative model: making use of and suporting local cooperative groups.