A RAISED FIST & A HELPING HAND – SINCE 2015

Child poverty, food banks, benefit sanctions, cuts to disabled support, carers in crisis, soup kitchens, rough sleeping, homelessness, mental health crisis, pawn shops, payday lenders, gig economy.  Why do these things exist in one of the richest economies on earth?

We Shall Overcome is a movement of musicians, artists, activists and community organisers who are angry about the human costs of austerity policies but who want to do something practical to help those affected.

HOW IT WORKS
We organise events – online or in the real world. Each event is used to directly help the community in which it is based. Some events ask for donations of provisions for their local food bank, others charge a moderate fee and take cash donations in a bucket. To become a part of We Shall Overcome all you need is the desire to see an end to Austerity, and the guts to do something about it – if you have, then join us.

WHAT WE HAVE ACHIEVED SO FAR

The first We Shall Overcome took place over a weekend in October 2015, when 250 gigs in 123 towns raised an estimated £125,000 of cash, food, clothes and bedding for those hardest hit by austerity. Every year since we have battled on.  The Covid-19 Pandemic pushed us online with live streamed events during lockdown. Our Isolation Festival on Easter Sunday 2020 raised £28,000 to keep our front line support networks running when gigs couldn’t fund them.

In total, We Shall Overcome has run more than 1100 gigs and events. We don;t tally exact amounts but we think we’ve raised close to £600,000 worth of food, cash & clothing. As the fallout from Covid lands on those already struggling with Universal Credit, zero hours contracts, poverty wages, housing shortages and benefit sanctions, we will be fighting back for as long as it takes.

If you want to join us, PLEASE get in touch. You CAN make a difference.