Protests Archives - samuelshoesmith.uk

Kidical Mass Nottingham

Yesterday was the very first Kidical Mass cycle ride! I wanted to launch Kidical Mass here in Nottingham after deciding towards the end of last year that we needed a family oriented ride on a weekend day. In collaboration with the North South Active Travelway (NSAT), I pushed the idea of a family ride and […]

Nottinghamshire Pride 2022

A few weekends ago was Nottinghamshire Pride.  I had such a brilliant and action packed weekend and I wanted to write about it here.  It was my first one as a resident of Nottingham. The fact I could go back to my home comforts for a bit of a rest, to recharge myself and my […]

Why the abnormal felt so normal

It has been a long since I last updated my blog.  I may one day explore the reasons for this massive gap, or I may not. A few weeks ago for one of the first time in a very long time I felt normal and it was doing something that so many people would find […]

First Critical Mass Wellingborough

Back on Friday 31st July 2020, Wellingborough held its first ever Critical Mass. What follows is collection of photos and videos from the day.    It was such a massive success.  At its peak, there were 67 people cycling in one big group.  As I have watched some of the videos back, it seemed […]

London and Brighton Naked Bicycle Rides

Every year since 2014, I have cycled in the London part of the World Naked Bike Ride.  This year, like usual, I stripped off and cycled in the capital back on Saturday 8th June 2019 with hundreds and hundreds of other cyclists.  But this year, on the following day I then cycled in the Brighton […]

UNISON Reception in Parliament

My blog posts are like buses. You wait for ages for one to come along and then two come along at once. Like my previous blog post, I went to Parliament again. But this time to attend a UNISON reception to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the introduction of the minimum wage and to launch […]

Happy New Year 2019!

I often start my Happy New Year post by saying the year just gone has been “great”, “special” or even “wonderful”, but 2018 has been marked by a devastating loss and it has overshadowed the good times. However, these good times do need to be revisited as now is the time to reflect on the […]

National Funeral for the Unknown Cyclist

Yesterday I attended the National Funeral for the Unknown Cyclist and the first UK pedal on Parliament organised by group Stop Killing Cyclists. It has been in my calendar for months and months.  I really wanted to go but owing to some important matters at home, I nearly didn’t attend.  I am pleased I nipped down […]

Happy New Year 2018!

Happy New Year everyone!  It is now 2018!  Wooah. 2017 was generally a great year!  A few blips.  Enormous thanks go to everyone who made it wonderful and supported me.  I am someone who really focusses on connections.  An act, gesture, or spoken word, even if it was tiny, would have really made an impact. […]

Stop the chicken mega factory in Higham Ferrers

I received an email a couple of weeks ago from Compassion in World Farming saying about the building of a chicken mega-farm close by. The email was targeted to me. It said “Hello Samuel” and something along the lines of it being proposed to be built “just up the road”. I skimmed over it and […]

Protest, crawl and ppaaarrttayy

I had a bloody good time. On Saturday 11th February I was scheduled to work and did everything I could to get the day off. I managed it. The week before I had met up with Tom who had said about the idea of doing a Spoons bar crawl. That Saturday was also the day […]

Anti-Trump protest

On Monday 30th January 2017, I took part in the anti-Trump protest in London. It was a demonstration organised within just two days. Thousands of people lined the streets of Whitehall to voice their opinions. This was in response to Trumps executive ordering banning the entry into the US from 7 Muslim majority countries. It […]

Happy New Year 2017!

Happy New Year everyone! 2016 was a pretty great year for me. A huge thank you to everyone who made it wonderful. Life can be taken so fast so it’s important to grasp it and enjoy it. Live it! Carpe diem. YOLO. I shall make 2017 a special one. The plans on how to do […]

Road traffic collision

Yesterday I was in a nasty crash. Coming along Northampton Road before it becomes Oxford Street, I approached a car in front of me. It hit the brakes, indicated left and made a left manoeuvre. Despite hitting my brakes, there wasn’t enough time for me to stop. The time between her indicating and turning was […]

World Naked Bike Ride 2016

I recently took off my clothes and rode a bicycle around London for my third World Naked Bike Ride. It has now become an annual event and one which I would not miss. The event is a series of protests and one of making statements. It calls on society to reduce its reliance on cars […]

Air pollution

It’s killing you. Two of my interests are the protection of our environment and cycling so one particular topic that pops up on my radar time and time again is that of air pollution. A year ago I went on a protest against the wider issue of climate change entitled “Time to Act“.   It […]

Bicycles, Bins, Bombs and no plan B

Lots of B’s. Bicycling, Bins, Bombs and no plan B. I finally got round to creating the following video. I have a tendency to film everything and anything. On the Sunday evening when I arrived back in Wellingborough the idea of beginning the seemingly humungous task of editing it was daunting. With no one to […]

Don’t Bomb Syria!

Today a vote will occur in the House of Commons about whether Britain should bomb Syria. I say. Don’t Bomb Syria. On Saturday I attended a protest in Whitehall and listened to impassioned pleas for the government to for an air strike campaign not to happen. David Cameron has called on his MPs, and others […]

People to the People

I try to avoid the lure but with it being just so easy I fell victim.  Click, click, click and boom after a few days for a small price arrives some fun.  Amazon, please start paying your fair share of tax. Anyway, I treated myself to a new toy.  And here’s the “unboxing” video: Power […]