Diary 31st August To 8th September 2019

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The transition from one month to another as well as between Summer and Autumn. It started for me with a welfare payment immediately decimated by direct debit bills for rent, electricity, council taxes, etc. My first welfare hearing of September went quickly with little more than the setting of my next appointment date, 17th September. A meeting of the film festival committee went well until near the end when the volunteers were notified of forthcoming events we can choose to attend. Mixed in with them was one 'mandatory' (compulsory participation event in that we are all expected to attend tolerance and ant-prejudice training. A set date was given for this, September 17th. I pointed out that I am already attending an important meeting that day, with the welfare people who decide whether I get welfare or not. Failure to attend that or turning up late for it would stop my welfare. The man chairing the meeting just told me to turn up for the committee meeting instead and explain that to the welfare people. He refused to let me speak further on the matter. Other people tried joining the discussion, reducing proceedings to a babble. A few days later a timetable of volunteering opportunities for the next few months was posted to all the volunteers, and again the attendance for everyone for the 17th is listed as 'mandatory' with no alternative arrangements offered for those not free on that day. We are volunteers, not staff but the managers are getting more unpleasantly authoritarian to us by the day.. It is quite disgusting. By the Friday things felt better when I did some routine community centre job searching and prepared for my trip to Wigan for Saturday. I went to Wigan for the 9th annual Diggers Festival, a mix of left-wing radical political rally and music & poetry. I went early to get some photos round the town, helped by the first lovely weather in weeks. At the festival, I drank lots of beer, signed several petitions, and won some books in the tombola, along with a bottle of shower-gel. There was much criticism of Trump as well as the British government austerity measures and of course, Prime Minister Boris Johnson's hateful push to force a hard Brexit policy on the country. Some friends from Manchester and Bolton came along, with others attending a bigger rally in Manchester too. There were many music highlights and the show was headlined by folk-rock giant's The Men They Couldn't Hang. A big thanks to the Digger event organizers, participants and all my friend who came along. Youtube - The Men They Couldn't Hang - Arthur Chappell