This year, hundreds of us marched from Cardiff to Greenham Common, recreating the 1981 march that started the Greenham Common Women’s Peace Camp. That remains the largest and longest female led protest in British history since women’s suffrage. And we did this because a scant 40 years later, a generation has never heard about it.
We are indebted to Greenham Women. Their legacy lives on today in Extinction Rebellion and the countless other groups using Non Violent Direct Action to fight oppressive systems and structures. That we can walk in the beauty that is Greenham Common is thanks to those women. That the missiles left is thanks to them.
Women have told us that, in 1981, ‘Greenham was on the wind. Wherever you went, women were talking about it.’
We want to get people talking about Greenham again. That’s why we created our merchandise. It’s not to make money for us (though if we do make any profit, that will support more work about Greenham). It is to provide physical objects out in the world, that you – YOU – can use as conversation starters.
Everything is as ethical as we could make it. The bags and tea towels bearing our logo, and an iconic original artwork of the infamous boltcutters used to cut through the fence, are printed in the UK onto unbleached cotton. The lollies are vegan. The gorgeous 40th Anniversary and Logo badges are printed in the UK on sustainable bamboo. The three designs of postcards here, here and here are printed in the UK by a workers co-op, using sustainable materials and dyes. Our packaging uses paper tape and sustainable materials. And every item will come with a little slip explaining the Greenham story so that when you give your gift to your friends, your sister, your daughter, you can tell her the story.
40 years ago 36 people started what would become the Greenham Common Women’s Peace Camp. Thousands of women took part. Let’s get Greenham on the wind again. We never stop thanking Greenham Women – help us get their story out there.