Local AA groups

Letter from Reading Anti-Apartheid Campaign to local trade union branches advertising a meeting calling for the release of South African political prisoners.

Leaflet publicising a conference for trade unionists and Labour Party members organised by Birmingham AA Group in 1987.

Leaflet advertising a rally and march calling for a ban on South African coal imports, organised jointly with the Hatfield branch of the National Union of Mineworkers. It was planned to march along the local wharfs where coal imports were unloaded. The march was followed by a social event at a local miners welfare centre. Anti-Apartheid supporters in the Yorkshire and Northumberland coal fields worked closely with the NUM during and after the 1984–85 British miners strike.

Doncaster AA Group planned a full calendar of activities, September–December 1987. It included collecting funds for striking miners in South Africa, demonstrations and a conference opposing the import of South African coal, and a picket of Tesco. The group hired a coach to take supporters to the AAM national demonstration in London on 24 October and organised stalls at Doncaster’s African-Caribbean Gala in August and Doncaster Women’s Centre at the TUC Women’s Day of Action in October.

Hackney AA Group joined with local community groups to organise a week of activities celebrating the 75th anniversary of the founding of the African National Congress. The week included a meeting at the Turkish Community Centre, a filmshow at the Rio Cinema, culminating in a day of music, dance and poetry at the local leisure centre on 4 July 1987. The week was sponsored by the Race Relations Unit of Hackney Borough Council.

Leaflet advertising an afternoon of videos, exhibition and stalls in support of South African women on International Women’s Day in 1987. The afternoon was followed by a gig with post-punk Artery Band. It was organised by Ealing AA Group with sponsorship from the London Borough of Ealing.

Haringey AA Group published a regular newsletter for members and supporters in the London Borough of Haringey, north London. This issue carried news from Southern Africa and information about local and national anti-apartheid events.

Nottingham AA Group supporters picketed a local Shell garage as part of the AAM’s ‘Boycott Shell’ campaign, launched on 1 March 1987. The boycott was part of an international campaign, co-ordinated with groups in the Netherlands and the USA. Shell was joint owner of one of South Africa’s biggest oil refineries. It was a lead company in South Africa’s coalmining and petrochemicals industries.