Newport Rises to Action – Statement from new squatted Social Centre

Inspired by the recent Week of Action against the NATO Summit in Newport, a group of local activists took control of an abandoned office block on Lower Dock Street, secured the building and now announce their intention to launch a new social centre and creative space for the Newport community.

The Newport Action Centre will host a weekly free vegan café, info-talks, various workshops, skill-shares, an art space and regular events to raise money for local causes, as well as being a home for some of us to run the space from. 

We chose to do all this in a building that has a long history of providing a focal point for local communities and will use consensus and solidarity to prolong that role.

The building – which is directly opposite the passport office – had stood empty for around six months, gathering dust like so many other buildings in Newport while the cost of living continues to rise and forces more and more people towards poverty.

We chose to reclaim it for community use at a time when 9,500 police had besieged Newport, turning parts of South Wales into open-air prisons and openly flaunting their publicly-funded killing-machines on our streets. We went under the nose of the local police – whose headquarters stands just some meters away – entering the building without causing any damage or disruption and with the intention of liberating a space in increasingly oppressive, suffocating  surroundings.

We intend to create an alternative  to these surroundings – a space where people can gather to discuss ideas without fear of being tracked and monitored, be creative without being constrained by social norms, learn outside of a narrowing education system, which fosters competition, and live without being restricted by unnecessary barriers and borders. 

We have already had our first event, where we discussed the impact of the Scottish referendum result, and we plan to open on Sunday September 28th for our first weekly café day.

We hope you can join us, we invite people to help make this space live up to its potential and be a resource for the community to share in the struggle for justice.

Newport Action Centre crew.

newportactioncentre@riseup.net