I went to a meeting at the Brighthelm Centre which lifted my spirits and left me in no doubt that people are still committed to active peace and social justice rather than pacifically accepting war and oppression.

The meeting was in preparation for the European Social Forum (ESF) to be held in

Florence, Italy, on November 7-10. The ESF will be a gathering of thousands of individuals and myriad local and national campaign groups from across Europe. There will be workshops and seminars on a wide range of topics, such as how the European Union can truly become democratic, alternatives to military action, problems facing refugees and the emergence of the extreme Right.

There was a wide variety of people at the Brighthelm meeting, from veteran activists who had been gassed and terrified at Genoa to people like me who were not entirely sure what the meaning was behind the jargon term "neo-liberalism".

The ESF is a fantastic chance for local groups and individuals in Brighton and Hove (and throughout the country) to get together, travel to Italy and meet thousands of like-minded fellow Europeans and start to really organise ourselves and our opposition.

-Katherine Shephard, East Drive, Brighton