A new Folkestone group hits the streets!

PRESS RELEASE

19th July 2017

There were plenty of honks and thumbs ups from passing vehicles, including police and ambulance workers, when protesters took to the Folkestone Civic Centre to make their voices heard tonight. Angry about the 15% pay rise that KCC Councillors awarded themselves, whilst Public sector workers are offered a hard fought for 1%, a group of 20 residents participated in the demonstration. It was organised by Facebook group, We Love Folkestone Politics, which is encouraging people to make the move from the internet and on to the streets, getting people out of their lounges and bedrooms to raise awareness of political issues. Founded by Danielle Anson and Sheree Bell, the group originally started as a way of encouraging voter registration in the local and national elections and quickly grew as a platform for people of all political persuasions in Folkestone to share news and discuss the things that matter to them.

The group met last Sunday to plan the action and found that there was a strong consensus to work together, with no party affiliations, to improve engagement and awareness of local political issues in the Folkestone area. The idea is to combine forces to tackle local concerns and We Love Folkestone Politics organisers are already looking at arranging discussion evenings, film screenings, staging events at local venues and making more of a presence at council meetings. Alex Jackman, We Love Folkestone Politics member, said about the protest tonight: "Many of us can't get up to London to join the anti-austerity marches so we wanted to do something locally. There are lots of issues that unite us and the recent 15% pay-rise for KCC councillors is one that we are angry about. It is just not fair that public workers are refused a decent pay rise and yet councillors award themselves a massive one. We made our voices heard, in peaceful protest tonight, and we had a lot of support from passers-by".

We Love Folkestone Politics will also be having a presence at Folkestone's first LGBTQ Pride event on August 19th, where they will be marching in solidarity with the LGBTQ community and running
an information stall at The Quarterhouse. We Love Folkestone Politics is committed to raising awareness of the issues affecting all members of the community especially those who face difficulties. They welcome new members, particularly people who can help on a practical level. For more information please visit: https://www.facebook.com/groups/WeLovePoliticsFolkestone.

ENDS

For further comment contact: Sheree Bell 01303 251 115/ Danielle Anson 07919 596 226