CURRENT MISSION

Taking action against nuclear weapons to create a nuclear free world

ABOUT ME

Faslane Peace Camp is a permanent peace camp sited alongside Faslane Naval base in Argyll and Bute, Scotland. We are protesting against Trident, the British Nuclear weapons system which consists of 4 nuclear powered submarines, each armed to the teeth with enough explosive plutonium to end the world (all true). This is the sole reason for our existence and as such, those living here have put our personal lives, for the most part, on hold to live here and campaign.

We are always happy to welcome people who are interested in the issues and want to help out a bit with camp life like chopping wood, painting caravans, repairing structures... we especially like to host people who are interested in making mischief with us.

We recently took an active part in a mass blockade of the base which shut all the gates for several hours, and we're thinking about what to do next. You can see what we've been up to on our blog: http://faslanepeacecamp.wordpress.com/.

We should say at this point that mainly we are a boring lot, most days we chop lots of wood, drink tea and discuss the ever thickening plot of anti-nuclear politics in Scotland. Most of us are involved in other campaigns/issues and there's a lot of coming and going and running around Scotland attempting to mobilise the masses.

Sometimes we are having "down time" but most of the time we are very busy and we expect a certain amount of participation from visitors. The camp is an autonomous space and as such people are expected to autonomously get on with productive stuff, either towards campaigning or camp life.

Everyone at the camp pays £1.50/day or £10/week towards food and other essentials.

We have a safe spaces policy and residency/alcohol agreements in place to protect the camp from being overruled by folk not interested in the above and remind people that whilst it's a fun and interesting place to be, it's also our home.

PHILOSOPHY

While it may be just a little collection of colourful caravans and shacks by the side of a road we call this place home! We believe in the importance of having a visible presence at the lair of the radioactive beast but also in taking action through protests, blockades, trespasses and "malicious mischief" when our numbers allow it. Our continuing mission is to monkey wrench the ongoing travesty of global nuclear proliferation and maintain the peace camp as a safe space to support activists from all walks in an environmentally and financially sane fashion. Of course, our personal philosophies are entirely individual, we think talk and act for ourselves, not "the camp" and we all have our own reasons for being here and doing what we do. Most of us are involved with campaigns outwith nuclear weapons and the camp provides a forum in which we can support one another and live cheaply allowing us to dedicate a great deal of time to campaigning and being naughty. On top of all of this the camp should be thought of as a space (there is no talking head or chicken behind a curtain), we're the small group of people currently taking responsibility for this space, loosely connected through a shared dislike for the way things are and the general reluctance to rise up and change it.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

The camp has had lots of official and non-official couchsurfers over the years (thousands!). It is alleged that we have another profile but the password has been lost. All our experiences have been really lovely and/or interesting! Some of our residents like to officially and unofficially couchsurf all by themselves.

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

Yes!

Interests

activism, social change, DIY culture, peace, solidarity networks, sustainable living, autonomy, freeconomy, environmentalism, cycling, juggling, dodging the system while tackling it head on, random chat, reading, skipping, hitchhiking and travelling...

• culture
• fashion
• diy
• dining
• baking
• running
• drinking
• politics
• reading
• traveling
• juggling
• blogging
• painting
• cycling
• kayaking
• camping
• rock climbing
• law
• hitchhiking

Music, Movies, and Books

We have a lot of books about the place. There's a whole section on nuclear weapons and many books on alternative living and direct actions as well as the obligatory selection of novels. We tend not to stock books that perpetuate silly ideas about femininity and consumerism although we might have some for the purposes of education: know your enemy!

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

We frequently take part in amazing feats of anti-nuclear direct action in the name of sanity, humanity, international law! What amazes us the most though is that we get arrested for this public service and dragged through the court system! We also find it quite amazing that there are four nuclear reactors and 200 warheads (each with the radioactive explosive capacity of eight times that of the bomb dropped on Hiroshima) 30 miles from Glasgow(!) and there is only a handful of us attempting to do something about it!

Teach, Learn, Share

We have a myriad of random skills between us. Depending on who's around there are all kinds of things you could end up doing: kayaking, spotting submarines, painting, climbing, baking bread, building... Just living here requires many skills we're happy to share: finding and chopping wood, lighting fires, solar power...

Each of us could talk for seven days on the moral implications of Trident, a further eight on the literal safety issues, one or two on the more arduous topic of international illegality and another seven on why autonomous direct action is essential. All of this can be whittled down to a riveting 2 hour workshop for willing participants. (We will travel far and wide, within reason, to do workshops with groups or individuals so get in touch!)

We love to learn new things and share skills and experiences. Mainly we are interested in breaking down the notion of skill hierarchy and the "pay for skills" culture... we like to do things ourselves. Most of the knowledge and skills we have acquired through trying things out or teaching ourselves. We are more than happy to freely bestow skills/knowledge and, more so, to have them scrutinised and improved by anyone who can do things more efficiently!