a weekend of joy and resistance: summer gathering 2025

Having narrowly missed out on two of GNDR’s previous summer gatherings (joining the movement weeks after the 2023 edition, and with 2024’s called off in favour of planning for the general election), I can’t tell you how excited I was while hopping on a train to Staffordshire two weeks back, finally headed to the camp I had heard so much about. 

Despite its legendary status within GNDR, I had no idea that this free weekend away would be as fun as it was, or that I’d spend it making sixty new friends and plotting civil resistance between curry and salsa lessons. In fact, all aspects of the trip, from the nostalgia of sleeping in bunkbeds with Girl Guiding decor, to waking up in woods with deer tracks and singing nuthatches, or suddenly finding myself helping out in the kitchen by lifting 40kg of chickpeas while still in my pyjamas, were more than worth the wait.

Around half of the attendees were newcomers to the movement, which is brilliant as the summer gathering is a great way to get stuck into GNDR. When you’re not painting t-shirts, dancing in a conga line or tying messages of hope to a tree with ribbon, camp allows you to try public speaking, work through your feelings about the state of the world, and find out all the tips and tricks to being an activist without diving headfirst into an action. 

This year, the weekend was largely structured around planning the next stage of our PAY UP campaign, which will involve an action to coincide with chancellor Rachel Reeves’ November budget. In a marquee fit with fairy lights and hand-painted banners, we explored the different ways we could take on this challenge, and honed our organising skills through lessons on protest history, design and tactics. 

One workshop even gave us the opportunity to stage a very silly faux-protest. Thinking on our feet to organise a demonstration-turned-sit-in was the perfect way to stretch our non-violent direct action muscles, as it turns out, and soon had us negotiating better terms for that evening’s party. Celebrations kicked off with a talent show, where participants demonstrated their aptitude for taekwondo, juggling, or reciting endless pi decimals, and ended with an impromptu ceilidh, where we danced our way completely out of the building and into the summer night.  

Personal connections and camaraderie like this do so much to strengthen our resistance. Meals eaten together (courtesy of our maestro chef Alex — who would’ve known tomato sauce on toast for breakfast was so good?), rooms cleaned together, and evenings warmed by the campfire led to us all having conversations with strangers as if they were old friends. By the time we were saying our goodbyes (while seeing who could do the worm on a forest floor), I realised that, contrary to popular belief, activism is often joyous — and that I only wanted more of it.

At such a divisive, antagonistic time, I can’t tell you what a relief it is to feel supported by a group of people you have common cause with. To be somewhere you can unpack sticky, emotive topics, and have people from all backgrounds offer solidarity without any cliques or hierarchy — just an interest in how we can inspire each other to move forward. 

This didn’t end with the weekend, either. With friendships forged and plans in place, GNDR now has huge momentum for the rest of its PAY UP campaign. This is all because the summer gathering truly is the best place to dance, laugh, make and think your way into building community — and perhaps the only place you’ll get fireside tarot readings soundtracked by Charli xcx.