A Weekend of Connection, Community and Collective Effervescence – Dana & Dom

As newcomers to the movement, we weren’t too sure what to expect from this weekend. We had both got involved with GNDR for the first time earlier this year, in the lead up to the Scottish Parliament elections. We attended a canvassing training session back in March where we did some door knocking for (now MSP) Holly Bruce from the Scottish Greens.

During that session, we were told about the legendary GNDR summer gathering and felt immediately compelled to sign up. So there we were, four months later, embarking on a four hour train ride down to Stafford. Like most cross-country journeys, we faced significant delays and even a leaky air conditioner; but none of that could stop us from getting to where we were supposed to be!

Upon arrival we found ourselves in awe of the beautiful, historic building towering over us. We joked about how it felt like the setting of a murder mystery. Fortunately, nobody died - instead, many new friendships, ideas, and plans were born. 

There’s so much we could talk about - from the delicious vegan food (totally worth the cry sesh in the kitchen after chopping enough onions to feed almost 100 people) to the way the stars lit up the sky in the beautiful Staffordshire countryside (which lead to us having to get rescued after getting locked out stargazing in the middle of the night). But we’re each going to focus on a few moments that left the biggest impact on us.

Dana — The first thing that stood out to me was the opening speech - welcoming people from all backgrounds and walks of life, those feeling hopeless and those feeling hopeful, those who see themselves as activists and those who do not. As someone who is still trying to find their place in the movement, it made me feel like I could show up exactly as I was. It created an air of warmth and acceptance that perfectly set the tone for the days ahead.

The highlight of the weekend was the announcement of GNDR’s new campaign: urging the government to create more climate jobs for young people. Given the youth unemployment crisis, cost of living crisis, and of course the ever present climate crisis, I think this is the perfect cause to fight for next. As a recent university graduate who faced the dreaded drudgery of the post-grad job search for 9 months, just to end up working in customer service to make ends meet, this cause resonates on a personal level.

We split into groups and started brainstorming ideas for our next action at the Labour party conference in September. I left the session feeling so inspired and excited for what’s to come!

Of course, I can’t talk about the weekend without mentioning our Q&A session with the incredible Hannah Spencer! This is the moment I had been looking forward to the most. Like a lot of us, I was elated with the results of the Gorton and Denton by-election earlier this year - it felt like such a pivotal moment for hope triumphing over hate. Seeing a young, working class woman, who genuinely cares about her constituents, get elected is so refreshing and inspiring.

They say “don’t meet your heroes” but they must not be choosing their heroes carefully enough because Hannah absolutely lived up to her name! One thing she spoke about was the importance of making time for fun amongst all the hard work; in a way, I think that’s exactly what this weekend was all about.

The energy of having so many kind, caring and creative people in the same place for the same purpose was electric. It made me feel like I was a part of something bigger than myself. The term “collective effervescence" comes to mind - a phrase coined by French sociologist Émile Durkheim to describe the feeling of unity and joy when people come together for a common action.

This collective energy culminated with our final exercise of the weekend - a gratitude circle. First, we were invited to share anything we had been grateful for over the weekend. After this, we all flipped our chairs round to face the outside of the circle. We were then called up in small groups to walk around the middle of the circle. A prompt would get read out, and you would anonymously tap the shoulder of anybody you thought it applied to.

These prompts included “somebody who made you feel welcome”, “somebody who’s quiet but strong”, “somebody you want to be friends with”, etc. I found myself so deeply moved by this, and looking at all the teary eyes around me by the end, I think a lot of people did too.

Dom — Standing at the railway station waiting for the train to Stafford (that kept getting delayed) I was nervous. I wasn't sure what to expect from this weekend nor if this type of experience was for me. The last time that I'd gone to a camp style thing was when I was 11 so I wasn't sure what to expect.

After the long journey we were greeted by the lovely Mel at Stafford station, a familiar face who we'd met during a canvassing induction session for Holly Bruce. Seeing her enthusiasm filled me with excitement and I was ready for what this experience would bring.

I will be honest I was not expecting to arrive at a massive mansion that looked like Claudia Winkleman was going to pop out of a corner and start asking us who we think the traitor is - but we did! However no traitors around us this weekend we were all faithful here.

I felt instantly welcomed by all the staff and felt a strong sense of community receiving the warm welcome speech and socialising with other lovely people during the ice breaker. Afterwards when exploring the mansion and playing board games with a group of lovely people I knew that I knew this place was right for me.

One of my personal highlights of the camp was definitely the talent show. It was such a fun opportunity for everyone to get together and share their collection of different talents and skills. There were lots of different talents, from beautiful piano playing, poetry about neurodivergence to hilarious comedy. It was truly a lovely way of coming together and showing off our individual skills. 

The weekend was filled with workshops and activities teaching us all about what GNDR stands for and how every one of us can get involved. One of the workshops I attended was an Actions workshop where we were taught about the examples of how GNDR gets involved in making a change such as banner drops and protests, which made me feel really part of something. 

And before we knew it it was our final night but not without a Disco! Filled with upbeat nostalgic music, it was a brilliant way for us to unwind and dance the night away. A few of us Scots thought this would be a great opportunity to teach the folk from down south how to dance a ceilidh - because of course it's not a proper disco without a ceilidh! Led by the brilliant Anna we all ceilidh’d together until the end of the night.

As I packed up to leave I reflected on just how important community and purpose is. Today it’s easy to feel stuck in the isolating scroll of the “personalised algorithm” which can feel like we only have ourselves to rely on, but that's not true we need to rely on one another because we are stronger in numbers and I hope everyone that feels lost or hopeless knows that.

Overall, this weekend brought us such a tangible sense of hope, joy and belonging. Finally getting to put faces to the names we’ve shared group chats with for months was so satisfying. We left with a newfound sense of purpose, lots of new friends, and a mission plan on how we can play our part in building the world we want to live in.