I58-Network

Hopefully this answers most of those crucial questions and provides all the practical details about coming to the camp itself.

How long should I come for?

A full week is a long time for people to attend the camp, so if you want to come for only a few days, thats wonderful. The big "Day of Action" is Saturday 9th, and the Biofuels Day of Action is Wednesday 6th, both of which are worth being around for, as are the opening and closing days (the Sundays). We already have an idea of when we'll have the most people, so if you're flexible, do ask.

Where is it?

Perhaps part of the excitement of the camp is that we simply don't know for sure which field it will be in. We know it'll be on the Hoo Peninsular, near Kingsnorth, though. If you are considering booking a discount train ticket, Rochester is as good a bet as any, and it'll be less than a fiver to get to the right place for the shuttle bus. The announcement will be

We'll be meeting in a church on Saturday 2nd August, to eat dinner, chat things through, and get out to camp bright and early on the Sunday morning. The obvious advantage being, we'll be in a group. The "Climate Caravan", which starts at Heathrow a week before the camp, may well be passing through, so we might even get to join them.

You can be sure to know where the camp is, by joining the camp email list. This keeps you up to date with things on a roughly weekly basis.

What does is cost?

The camp has always worked on a basis of donations. Generally people have been asked to contribute £10 on arrival, and £4/day of food, but many people won't give all of that, especially if they're staying for a long time. If you're coming to help with the cafe, we'd ask for a tenner towards the project, as there will be some costs involved. However, the bottom line is: pay what you can.

What should I bring?

Lets start with what not to bring: anything weapon-like (though safety razors are fine) or any cooking stuffs. The former, because the police do like to stop and search people entering the camp, and the latter because the food on site is too good to miss. If you think vegan cooking is boring, wait till you've visited the Anarchist Teapot (South Coast neighbourhood) or Veggies Burger Van!

You should bring clothes to suit all weather conditions, a tent (though sharing is a good idea), and anything else you'd generally take camping. Bring a torch if you want to find your tent in the dark, and a towel if you fancy a solar shower. A bible might be handy, and if you have any mugs or teaspoons going spare, we'd be delighted to have them in the cafe, but can't guarantee their return. At your own risk, please bring musical instruments, but be aware of others sleep requirements!

Where (exactly) should I camp?

Climate camp is big. Its not Glastonbury big, or Greenbelt big, but its big enough that some thought needs to be put into positioning your tent. The camp is divided into neighbourhoods, mostly based on regions and we're recommending that people involved in the cafe go and camp in the neighbourhood most appropriate to them. However, if you are coming alone, don't worry, we'll make sure you have someone else from the cafe to camp next to.

If someone is already trying to recruit you to a neighbourhood, thats a good thing, though don't over commit yourself to doing stuff! Many neighbourhoods will be holding their own preparation meetings right about now, so if you can work out now where you'll want to camp. You can find out more on the main Climate Camp website.

Is the site child/disability friendly?

The site is incredibly friendly to both families and disabled people. The wheelchair accesible neighbourhood has been the Yorkshire neighbourhood in the past, but even if that changes, one will exist. The main parts of the camp are on board-walks. Guide dogs are welcome, however we discourage the bringing of other dogs to the site. If you need help with anything, theres almost always someone on hand.

Neither the camp, nor the cafe project, can accept responsibility for under-18's, but that shouldn't necessarily stop older teenagers from coming if they're in a group or know older people on site. For families with younger kids, there's an activity area, and during the main day of action, there'll probably be a "Kids Bloc" for families to join. Many parents were pleased with the site's attempts at child-friendlyness last year and we still hope for improvements this time around.

What else will be going on?

Aside from the cafe, there'll be plenty of other things to do. To start with, theres workshops galore and in the evenings theres often a bit of live music. The camp has site meetings, through which everyone gets involved in running the camp. Neighbourhoods also have meetings, which are good to attend.

There are also hundreds of tasks to be getting on with to make the camp a better place, from general site duties, cooking in your neighbourhood kitchen, sitting on the gate or helping with the welcome tent, to talking to the media and more specialised areas like the medic caravan.

Then there's the actions, which are entirely optional. I58 is all about Christians being involved in direct action movements, so we'll be encouraging people to go out and take part in actions during the week. Both on the Wednesday and the Saturday, we should have groups of people heading off site as part of the big actions, and it would be nice if the had its own affinity groups on both.

Should I be doing anything now?

We don't need people to book, as such, but telling us what dates you'll be around for is quite helpful, and in the case of Saturday night in London, essential due to space requirements.

What we do want is for you to invite lots of people, and while we're making publicity materials at the moment. Climate camp is an amazing experience, one best shared with friends, so do try to bring a few along. For this and more, see the Planning and Organising page.

That still hasn't answered everything!
Please use the contact form, or get on the email list, and we'll try our best.