Author: SSTIE Official Announcements

New Union, New Name.

West Kent European Movement (WKEM)  was established as a branch of the European Movement UK many decades ago.
 
SSTIE – Sevenoaks Swanley & Tonbridge in Europe was established in 2017 following the 2016 Referendum on the UK’s membership of the EU. It became affiliated with the European Movement UK soon afterwards.
 
The two groups remained separate despite them both being part of the EM family, and despite them both covering broadly the same geographical areas.
 
They have had the same aims and objectives but slightly different operating styles.  Like many campaigning organisations both groups went very quiet during the pandemic.
 
But other groups have woken up and are now back out in the big wide world again, and it is probably time that we joined them.
 
With a view to moving this forward we have taken a number of steps and made some changes.

  • WKEM and SSTIE have merged into a single organisation – West Kent for Europe.
  • and we have a new logo.
  • We now cover the constituencies of Sevenoaks & Swanley and Tonbridge & Malling (as we did before), and we have added Tunbridge Wells (where TWIN is sadly no longer active) and also Dartford (which has had no EM local group).

We are signing up to the EM Membership System. Other EM local groups that have done so have found that there are significant numbers of EM member who were not known to them. We hope that this will also be the case in West Kent.
 
These EM members that we do not yet have contact with will not of course receive this email, but we will contact them soon.

Tonbridge wants MPs to have the final say

SSTIE were campaigning on the streets of Tonbridge for the first time on Saturday 9th December. We had 21 volunteers over 4 hours from 10 am to 2 pm, during which time we spoke to hundreds of people and we were pleasantly surprised by how positive the overall response was.

The majority of the people we spoke to think that Brexit is a mess and that it is not what people voted for – no matter how they voted in the referendum.

Continue reading “Tonbridge wants MPs to have the final say”

Europe Day Picnic (West Kent)

SUNDAY, MAY 14TH:

Europe Day Picnic

Join us for a picnic to celebrate Europe Day – the annual celebration of European Unity and Peace.

Europe Day, also knows as Schuman Day, usually falls on May 9th and it is a public holiday celebrated with EU flag-waving activities in many European countries.

It is named after the historic declaration by French Foreign Minister Robert Schuman in 1950, which led to the Treaty of Paris between the 6 founding members of the European Coal and Steel Community of France, Germany, Italy, Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands in 1951.

As May 9th falls on a weekday we will hold the picnic on the Sun 14th – same day that many other organisations including the EU offices in Strasbourg and Luxembourg will be celebrating it.

Our picnic is a jointly organised event by Sevenoaks & Swanley Together in Europe and Tonbridge & Malling Unite For Europe, in association with Greenwich for Europe and Lewisham East for Europe who will be holding a simultaneous Europe Day picnic at Blackheath, as well as other groups all over the country celebrating Europe Day in their local area.

So, bring some food, some drink, a mat to sit on, some blue and yellow balloons or an EU flag, if you have one, and join us in the village of Otford, just outside Sevenoaks, for a nice family-friendly day out.

Otford Rec
Otford Recreation Ground

The venue is within easy walking distance of Otford train station.

Date: 14 May 2017
Time: 12:00–15:00
Location: Otford Recreation Ground, Otford, near Sevenoaks TN14

March for Europe

March 25th is the 60th Anniversary of the Treaty of Rome, and is being celebrated throughout Europe. For us in the UK, political circumstances mean that the celebrations with be joint with political protest against Brexit and how the government is handling it.

Saturday, March 25th:

March for Europe Demonstrations

March 25th is the 60th Anniversary of the Treaty of Rome, and is being celebrated throughout Europe. For us in the UK, political circumstances mean that the celebrations with be joint with political protest against Brexit and how the government is handling it.

Many different organisations are joining this march, as well as thousands of individuals who are not affiliated to anyone,  but each have their own reason for joining, because we all have so much to lose. Whether you care most about Freedom of Movement, the Single Market, environmental protection or one of the many other benefits that EU membership gives us, this is the time to stand up and be counted.

 

Schedule: Sat, March 25th, 2017:

  • 9-10 a.m. – Depart West Kent (wherever you live – see below)
  • 11 a.m.     –  Meet at south end of Park Lane
  • 2 p.m.        – End of march, speeches

 

While SSTIE is not involved in the organisation of this event, we support this event and we encourage our members and others to join.

A number of us will be traveling by train where we will be joining with members of Tonbridge and Malling for Europe and Tunbridge Wells For Europe. If you would like to travel with other people from the local area, then please let us know using the contact form, or simply come to meet us for one of the following trains:

(9.10 – Meet at Tunbridge Wells)

TrAIN 1

9.44 – Depart Tonbridge (meet at 9.25)

9.53 – Depart Sevenoaks

10.04 – Depart Orpington

10.37 – Arrive in Victoria

Train  2

9.51  – Depart Borough Green & Wrotham (meet at 9.30)

10.00 – Depart Otford (meet at 9.45)

10.09 – Depart Swanley (Platform 3 / meet on train / 3rd carriage)

10.41 – Arrive in Victoria

 

10.45 a.m. – Assemble outside WHSmiths in Victoria/ walk to Park Lane

 

March for Europe Route

 

SSTIE on the Streets of Sevenoaks

On Saturday 11 March 2017, members of the group Sevenoaks & Swanley Together in Europe (SSTIE) took to the streets of Sevenoaks as part of Open Britain’s National Day of Action. They handed out leaflets encouraging people to write to their MP about getting the best possible Brexit outcome for Britain.

Open Britain’s Day of Action in Sevenoaks on 11th March 2017

On Saturday 11 March 2017, members of the group Sevenoaks & Swanley Together in  Europe (SSTIE) took to the streets of Sevenoaks as part of Open Britain’s National Day of Action. They handed out leaflets encouraging people to write to their MP about getting the best possible Brexit outcome for Britain.

The response was overwhelmingly positive, and the group signed up a couple of new members for Open Britain. Photos were tweeted by SSTIE secretary Heather Styles, who also prepared a press release for the local papers.

“We had a successful day on Saturday” said SSTIE Coordinator, Peter Kinsler, “I was very interested to find a number of young people really concerned by the outcome of the referendum and where it is all going. It seems clear to me that we need to target seriously places which young adults frequent to give them the chance to sign up and be involved in what could be a political process covering a number of years. They are the ones who are going to be  affected by Brexit and we need to get them on board as fast as possible.”

SSTIE is currently looking to recruit new members. Further information about how to get involved in SSTIE’s activities and how to apply for membership is available on the SSTIE website.

Photo of SSTIE members
Members of SSTIE outside the post office in Sevenoaks