Have you ever wanted to make a real difference to the way children and young people think about their place in their local and global community, and their relationships to others? Do you want to give them an opportunity to think about peace, conflict, and get inspired by real people who live near them?
With the Common Ground Schools Project, you can!
What was the Greenham Common Women’s Peace Camp?
On Aug 26th 1981, 36 women started a 110 mile walk from Cardiff to RAF Greenham Common in Berkshire, in protest against the Americans holding Cruise missiles – nuclear weapons – on British common land. Over the next 19 years Greenham Common became home to the Greenham Common Women’s Peace camp and many thousands of women who believed they could create change and leave the world a better place. It became the biggest female protest since the fight for women to get the vote,
The causes that the Greenham Women were campaigning for, and their hopes for the future, are still incredibly relevant to us today:
– The Environment
– Peace and nuclear disarmament
– Equality
What’s on offer to educators?
As part of our ‘Carry Greenham Home’ project, funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund from September to December 15th 2023 we are offering primary, secondary, SEND, PRU and other wise educated groups the chance to join in with our FREE Common Ground Schools Project.
Suitable for: KS1, KS2, KS3, KS4, KS5
Subject: History, English, Citizenship
Topics: Protest, LGBTQ+ rights, Feminism
This is an opportunity for you and your young people to:
· Discover all about the Greenham Common Women’s Peace Camps from the women who were there.
· Uncover connections in your communities to Greenham Common -women came from all over the UK and the world to protest, and many of these women went on to set up other projects in their home towns afterwards.
· Explore how the Greenham Women used non violent direct action to make their message heard.
· Take inspiration from the camps to write your own songs, poems and newspaper articles or design your own banners and posters.
· Compare and contrast the Greenham Common Women’s Peace Camps with movements today – what has changed and what has stayed the same over the last 40 years?
· Consider what causes your learners are passionate about today and where they might take inspiration from the Greenham Women.
We’ll be supporting you every step of the way with:
– 1:1 surgery sessions
– CPD opportunities
– Online workshops
– Resources to support your in classroom learning
– Workshops (limited availability)
What do you need to do?
Your project could be big or small and could involve the whole school or a single class. Perhaps you could set up a Wall of Hope in a corner of your classroom or school and invite young people to add their hopes for the future? Maybe you could talk to your wider community about their memories and experiences of the Greenham Common Peace Camps? Perhaps you could write your own protest songs? We’d like to invite each group who participates to write their own Manifesto which outlines your young peoples hopes for the future and the actions they’d like to see.
We’ll be tracking all the groups we work with on our Impact Tree so you will be able to show your young people how their project connects to others across the country. We’ll also be inviting you to submit your Common Ground Project including images of your work, your interviews and your manifesto documents to us by the 15th December to included in our archive.
Sound good? Register to take part and find out more about upcoming FREE CPD sessions and resources first here.
Got questions before wanting to sign up? Do email us – we’d love to help!
