The Tenant Oral History Project

The Tenant Oral History Project is an initiative aiming to document experiences of people living in rented accommodation, using audio recordings and making it available to the public via the internet and the British Library. The project will be conducted in the most open way, publishing all our materials and themes we aim to cover. Anybody can download our guidelines and conduct their own interviews. Via the internet teams across the UK can contribute and upload their own interviews.

Interviewees will talk chronologically about their experiences, starting with the time when they got their first own place, through to today or until they left rented accommodation.

Interviews will be conducted as a conversation between one interviewer and the interviewee. The interviewer will ask occasional questions, trying to keep the interview on track and on topic.

Themes aiming to be covered:

• finding a place

• viewing properties

• making a decision/choosing a place

• estate agents before the contract

• being interviewed as a tenant

• references/guarrantors

• the tenancy contract

• paying the deposit

• inventory

• pre-existing furniture

• moving in

• making it your own

• estate agents after signing the contract

• initial snags/promises made

• repairs

• management of the property

• paying the rent

• interacting with the landlord

• bills

• former tenants

• giving notice

• moving out

• getting the deposit back

All interviews will be uploaded to the internet unedited. At regular intervals the interviews will be recorded on CD and submitted to the British Library’s Life Story collection. All interviews will be released on a Creative Commons license. All contributors have to complete a release form. Contributions without release form can not be considered.

Interview Deposit: www.archive.org

Website: flashradio.wordpress.com

E-mail: drone@riseup.net

We were at the Climate Camp from August 14-21 at Heathrow in 2007.

There were 8 days of inspiring workshops, information and skill-sharing, debates and a real example of a functioning low impact living village for just over 1,000 people at its largest capacity.

Residents set up their tents in neighbourhoods which also automatically meant they were part of that community and were able to attend neighbourhood meetings which were held everyday to organise the camp and the direct actions were could do as a neighbourhood.

In this podcast we focus in on one direct action which took place at the BAA offices at Bath Road in Heathrow. We were there for 24 hours. We interviewed several people some of whom who were penned in at other actions and this podcast gives a flavour of how the day went on Sunday 19th August 2007, the Day of Action.

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I set up for the climate camp on friday night with a friend. While waiting for the train to Hayes and Harlington at Paddington station I saw a familiar face, a girl with dread locks and camping gear. we smiled and said hello to each other. she was taking the Oxford train that was leaving earlier, we followed her.

When we got out of the bus in a quiet suburban area I immediately relaxed, the London chaos was behind and a friendlier more peaceful atmosphere welcomed us

after few minutes walking on the light of the clear night we could see the white tents of the camp and hear our people singing, the rows of policemen standing by the road didn’t matter, the sense of purpose produced by being part of something big was stronger than anything.

At the camp “Seize the day”, my favorite band, where performing in the main tent

we listen to them for a while but had to go to set up our tents

The next day my friend was going to lock herself to the gate of Carmel, an

Israeli company that imports fruits and vegetables from Palestinian illegally

occupied land,

more info at (http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2007/08/378741.html) a peaceful

protest in front of this company had been arranged with climate campers to

rise awareness about this company’s unfair trading and disregard for climate

change issues.

The protest went ok apart from each one of us being searched by police under

section 60 and about 6 young people arrested for getting into the company’s

office and creating some chaos.

That night at the camp Rob Newman performed his activist political stand up.

Next day was the big march when everyone was going to march to Sipson village

and then to BAA.

We some training on de-escalation techniques to avoid violence with the hundreds

of police surrounding the camp but only few of us managed to succeed on

crossing the different lines of police on horses, normal police on foot and

riot police. They were taking no chance, they were determined to stop us at any

cost.

I was among the people who were kettled in the fields for few hours and then

escorted back to the camp by police where we were free to go to the BAA

building to join the rest of us who were already there

The atmosphere at BAA was a happy one, lot of young people singing and bonding

together in the exercise of their right to free expression.

Here are the recordings I did during my 3 days experience of the climate camp

Big Green Gathering 1st August 07 - 05th August 07

Flash Radio podcast from the Big Green Gathering in Somerset, 2007

Feature podcast, mainly interviews on the changes of the BGG, social enterprises, grassroots movements and money.

DOWNLOAD Big Green Podcast; 128k MP3, 53min, 51MB

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We’re currently discussing what the best way of operation is for us, but there is no doubt that Flash radio Podcasts will keep coming. Check “Become Flashradio” in the top menu for details.

The next dates in the Flashradio calendar are a series of workshops and discussions while producing two podcasts during the Big Green Gathering. Come and check us out at the Alternative Media Tent.

Big Green Gathering 1st August 07 - 05th August 07

Just a week later there will be the first Camp for Climate Action for this year, near Heathrow. We want to cover the week of actions, workshops and campaigns. We’re looking for more citizen journalists. Get in touch if you’re interested.

The Camp for Climate Action 14th August -21st August

A few weeks later will be the first No Borders Camp in the UK. It will take place near Gatwick Airport from the 9th to 24th September 07. More info here:

No Borders Camp 9th-24th september

If you are going to any of the other No Border camps, i.e. in the Ukraine, please let us know.

Early October will see a world-wide week of action on Housing issues, watch this space for more information.

last but not least, one of the worlds biggest arms fairs is in tow, where warmongers of the world get together, getting all excited about how good business is going.

Disarm DSEi 2007 11th september 2007

The G8 and the alternative summit have finished, and for todays podcast our reporters have got together and formed a panel discussion, evaluating what they thought on the whole protest.

We are curious to find out what you listeners think about the subject! Send us an email at flashradio@aktivix.org

And also we will bring you a selection of interviews to conclude the G8, you wil hear a member of the PGA, the Peoples Global Action Movement, one of our reporter’s reflection on the camps and their function of networking. Then we have interviewed an activist on agriculture and the movement surrounding this subject. and Gyeke_Tanoh from the alternative summit speaking on Africa and economics. Finally you will hear a person working for Attac reflecting on the protest and thinking forward on their plans for the next G8 in Japan. So we hope you will enjoy this show.

DOWNLOAD Podcast No.9; 128k MP3, 52min, 49MB

DOWNLOAD Podcast No.9; OGG, 52min, 26MB

DOWNLOAD Podcast No.9; 64k MP3, 52min, 27MB

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Today was a day of climate change actions, an alternative summit to the official g8, and a demonstration in Solidarity with Rossport Camp, also a Naked Action and a press conference by the Rebel Clown Army, with a surprise for a visiting National State Television team.

DOWNLOAD Podcast No.8; 46min, 44MB

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This 7th podcast reports from the second day of the blockades around Heiligendamm. There are more then 10.000 protesters blocking the roads and occupying the fences in all sorts of creative ways. Today was also the last day of the Alternative G8 summit where a Flashradio reporter have been interviewing an enviromental activist speaker from India on her views to alternative politics. Finally the report sums up some facts from the past days repression battle between police and protesters.

DOWNLOAD Podcast No.7; 47min, 45MB

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Our 6th podcast is about events in todays blockades and the surrounding repression. We have details from the legal teams press conference.

DOWNLOAD Podcast No.6; 34min, 31MB

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Today’s podcast centers on the Rostock demonstrations on Anti-Militarisation. The accounts from our reporters captured the atmosphere at the alternative summmit following the action against Caterpillar, an important agent with comercial ties in the Israeli occupations. The German police have once again prevented planned demonstrations and stopped an activist demo against the occupations in the West bank.

DOWNLOAD Podcast No.5; 23min, 21MB

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In our fourth podcast we present an overview of Migration Action Day in the wider area of Rostock. A series of interviews offer an account of today’s events, amongst others the Sonnenblumen House demonstration, commemorating the 1992 attack on the refugee house and an interview from the Detention centre demo. On several occasions today police prevented hundreds of demonstrators from arriving at the area of Rostock.

DOWNLOAD Podcast No.4; 18min, 16MB

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Our third podcast will focus on the demonstration taking place at Rostock on the June the 3rd under the topic of Global Agriculture and the various aspects of the international food trade. Our reporters have also collected information about yesterday’s demonstrations and the police repression that followed. Finally we bring the latest from the individuals and groups that gathered and spontaneously put together the convergence camps that host this year’s anti-G8 demonstrators.

DOWNLOAD Podcast No.3; 20min, 19MB

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In our second podcast we cover upcoming events and background information on the G8, the opposition to it and the alternative summit. The Flash Radio repression forecast informs on the current political climate.

DOWNLOAD Podcast No.2; 30min, 30MB

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Press Release

This is our first podcast in the gear up for the G8 in June. The Indymedia workshop covered what, where, why, how’s, of Indymedia and brought up some interesting comments regarding citizen reporting and activism.

We’ve sliced the thing down to less than 10 minutes so give it a listen and leave your comments below if you feel like it.

Cheers!

Flash Radio podcast 1 . Indymedia workshop . 17th May (mp3 56Mb)