West England Bylines, along with the other regional Bylines online newspapers, is a first-class source if you are looking for well researched articles on the myriad injustices, manipulations, hypocrisies, lies and power abuses of UK governments. Sadly, it appears that bad news is a more popular to read than good news. ‘Small boy helps old lady across the road’ is not the most eye-catching headline and it is unlikely that mainstream media is going to cease their thirst for bad news any time soon.
Despite all this, there is much good that is happening but it’s not always in plain sight. There are hundreds if not thousands of small groups in the UK doing good work trying to make the nation and/or the world, a better place. These organisations could attract a lot of interest and perhaps participation if only the wider world knew about them. As the saying goes ‘if you can’t see it, you can’t be it’.
About the Oxford Green Fair
This brings us to the 43rd Oxford Green Fair, an event held in Oxford Town Hall on Sunday 1 December 2024. Organised by the Oxford Green Party, the fair played host to just a few of the many groups around who, among other things, were nailing their colours to the mast, firmly pointing out various looming dangers to humanity and the environment.
Caring enough
These are groups of people who care enough to want to do something to make the world a better place. It was also full of visitors who care enough to visit the fair on a wet December Sunday morning. There were also stalls with Christmas cards and many beautiful handmade little Christmas gifts plus a pop-up cafe offering coffee, tea, soft drinks, homemade cakes and light snacks.
For nearly half a century, Oxford has played host to Green Fairs which is impressive in terms of perseverance and says much about the public support it gets each year. I went to the 2023 Fair and found the buzz, the atmosphere, the enthusiasm and downright cheeriness a real tonic. Caroline Lucas, the Green Party leader at the time, gave a presentation at that event, also announcing her retirement as an MP. She will be missed.
This year the fair welcomed a group from West Papua who performed a celebration of their Independence Day.
So here is your personal guided tour which will give you a flavour of the occasion and perhaps encourage you to visit the 2025 fair.
The environment
The fair was full of similarly themed stalls, 70 in all, each addressing a broad range of environmental, political, justice and community issues. For further information on any of the groups mentioned here follow the hyperlinks below.
There were local groups like the Bucks, Berks, & Oxon Wildlife Trust with a special section for hedgehogs.
Also present was the Shotover Preservation Society. Shotover Park is on the east side of Oxford, is open all day, and has free entry.
Not quite so well-known is the Trap Grounds project which lies just north of Oxford city centre on Frenchay Road. Formerly a piece of waste land, it was reclaimed by volunteers who fought with Oxford Council over their plans to build 45 houses on it. After a lot of legal wrangling, the House of Lords said it should remain a natural local resource for people to enjoy. I never thought I’d ever say ‘God bless the House of Lords’.
There were other environmental campaign groups at the fair such Extinction Rebellion, who drew attention to the devastating environmental damage to the land, sea and air of our planet. Damage like greenhouse gases from fossil fuels and strip clearing forests reduces the capacity of the planet to produce oxygen and poisons the sea with sewage waste and plastics. And they say it’s a stupid bird that messes in its own nest!
Oxford Pedestrians Association,
Oxford Pedestrians Association: This pretty well speaks for itself. Pedestrians vs Traffic is at the bottom of this particular point of view. It involves questions of pollution, business survival, traffic filters, public transport and public safety. It’s an ongoing unresolved puzzle.
Human rights
Amnesty International held a stall to remind us of the human race’s relentless search for scapegoats and our sometimes mindless need to imprison people for no better reason than that they disagree with ignorant powers-that-be.
Some examples: Alexei Navalny, from Russia, Just Stop Oil members here in the UK who received punishing prison sentences for protesting against industries that are still destroying our planet.
And of course, the CND (Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament) were also there, trying as hard as ever to stop the human race from blowing itself to bits.
Democracy
It’s time to shed some light on some of the local pressure groups working to make much needed improvements to the current state of our democracy. This is not Party Politics. It is politics with a small ‘p’, raising public awareness about the need for a democracy that genuinely works for the nation as a whole, instead of being in the thrall the economic heavy weights. Our “First Past the Post” (FPTP) system with its tired old excuses about strong and stable government is loudly defended by those who have the power and loudly criticised by the who don’t.
The “strong and stable government “ argument that advocates the FPTP system is wearing a bit thin, with decades of governments that have witnessed an dramatic increase in the numbers of billionaires and millionaires and a equally dramatic and shameful increase in the number of families who have to use food banks. Democracy, by implication, values and respects the views of the people. Any attempt at dictatorship shows nothing but contempt and scorn for the people it represents. Certainly the criticism that government doesn’t listen is a frequent cry by the disenfranchised and vulnerable.
Something needs to change. Governments are slow to act. So it’s up to us – each and every one of us, with one voice – insisting that we need to be more fairly represented.
So, ‘fighting the good fight’ we have:
Make Votes Matter which would like to see better, more accurate representation of votes cast. In particular they are campaigning for some kind of Proportional Representation. An alternative system such as, for example, the single transferrable vote could go a long way towards ensuring that most people are better represented at Westminster.
Just round the corner, the Compass Oxfordshire stall was busy taking a poll of issues that most concern the public. In 2024, they campaigned successfully for tactical voting, helping Oxfordshire’s progressive MPs to edge the Tories out of power.
In 2025 Compass Oxfordshire is turning its attention to the UK’s democratic deficit: loss of trust in our politicians, increases in press and social media disinformation, and the infiltration of far-right propaganda into schools and other grass roots organisations. The Green Fair provided an ideal opportunity for the group to gauge people’s views on these vital issues before their public meeting in the spring.
And lots more…
Perhaps the quirkiest organisation at the Fair was the Woodcraft Folk who are part of an international organisation devoted to ensuring that youngsters maintain a close relationship with the natural world and learn the importance of community cooperation. They seem to be the only organisation to recognise that children learn from everything they experience, so those experiences need to be overwhelmingly beneficial and varied.
There were also stalls for Greenpeace, plus the Green Party, Braziers Park, a communal living retreat in South Oxfordshire, the CPRE (the Campaign to Protect Rural England), and Friends of the Earth. And, of course, the NHS, with volunteers beavering away reminding us of the vulnerability of one of our most treasured institutions which is being eaten away by privatisation.
All the stalls had numerous leaflets to distribute and were keen to talk to passers-by
There were other organisations and craft stalls that I missed through sheer pressure of time, and I apologise for leaving them out. All in all, with the craft and Christmas stalls, the Green Fair did everything John Reith, the founding father of the BBC, wanted the BBC to do – Quite simply to:- “inform, educate and entertain”
You can’t ask for more than that.
See you next year at the Green Fair 2025.
Photos by the author, except for 1st picture and Compass group
We want to hear your views. Please send any comments to editor@westenglandbylines.co.uk
