THE North East Volunteers for Liberty group has strong international connections, working with people and organisations from all over the world, which is why we will be celebrating International Workers’ Day on May 3 2025, on Teesside. 

Defined by immigration, Teesside has strong international links; in the century after the opening of the Stockton and Darlington railway in 1825, Middlesbrough’s population exploded from less than 100 to well over 90,000 people, the vast majority of whom were immigrants. This, along with the small but very active Communist Party, helps to explain why fascism never established a foothold on Teesside.

This May Day, we will honour Teesside’s redoubtable anti-fascist tradition. For the past decade, we have recorded and commemorated the achievements of north-east anti-fascists, especially in the period up until the second world war.

Research established that the anti-fascist leadership was a cadre of Communist Party activists who not only led the campaigns against Oswald Mosley’s British Union of Fascists, but also campaigned for social justice: campaigning for the unemployed, for children, for refugees, for pensioners and most notably challenged fascism locally, nationally and internationally.

For our most recent commemoration in February 2025, we were at Middlesbrough town hall to mark the battle of Jarama and the largest anti-fascist demonstration ever seen on Teesside: in February 1935, a demonstration against Mosley speaking inside brought 10,000 people to Middlesbrough town hall.

A year later, when the Spanish government called for assistance to repel the fascist invasion, the north-east responded: the area sent over 120 volunteers to Spain to serve in the International Brigade, nurses from our region were sent by the Spanish medical aid committee, food and medical supplies were collected locally and then shipped to Spain.

North-east ships and seamen defied the British government and their own seaman’s union to break through the naval blockade to deliver much-needed supplies to the people of Spain.

Locally organised committees ensured that Basque refugee children were accommodated in our region and that widows and orphans of volunteers killed in Spain were cared for.

For the past five years, we have hosted annual commemorations to mark the sacrifice of the International Brigade. This year, we will be adding a further international element to our commemorations because we have affiliated with the National Association of Italian Partisans (ANPI). Italy was the first nation to come under fascist control and Italian communists were the first to organise against fascism.

Almost 5,000 Italians served in the International Brigade in Spain, and many fought against their countrymen who had been sent to Spain by Benito Mussolini. During the second world war, Italian partisans fought against the Italian fascist government’s forces and the German army: we will commemorate both these partisans and the volunteers for liberty on Teesside.

On Teesside, the impact of Italian immigration is evident in several areas (not just the famous Parmo sandwich). Italian immigrants, particularly in the 1930s and ’40s, established businesses such as coffee bars, ice-cream parlours and restaurants; names such as Capaldi, Pacitto, Rea and Trillo are those of Italian immigrants who set up well-known businesses on Teesside.

The links go beyond ice-cream, however, because Italian radicals and political figures, such as Giuseppe Garibaldi in 1860, visited the area and inspired the establishment of radical political organisations.

On May 3, we will be holding a May Day partisans’ party to mark the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Italy. Hereafter, we will not only be commemorating anti-fascists from the north-east of England, but also anti-fascists from Britain as a whole, Ireland, Canada, Spain and now from Italy.

We are honoured that historian Alfio Bernabei from ANPI has agreed to attend our partisans’ party to help us launch the ANPI north-east group and to speak about the ANPI and the Italian partisans.

We also have local historian Ian Stubbs, who will speak about the SS Arandora Star disaster because on July 2 2025, we will be commemorating the 85th anniversary of the sinking. We will remember the 13 Italians from Teesside, including Camillo Rea, the grandfather of musician Chris Rea, who lost their lives when the SS Arandora Star was sunk.

The May Day partisans’ party will be held in the chapel in Middlesbrough, a short distance from the River Tees. Entertainment will be provided by our long-term supporters: the poet Bob Beagrie, flamenco guitarist Mark Boden, singer, writer and poet Sarah Dennis and poet Harry Gallagher.

The event will be free, donations will go to the Ron Dennison Memorial Fund, and we are campaigning to erect a permanent memorial to the Billingham International Brigade volunteer who was killed in Spain in 1937. If you would like to join the North East Volunteers for Liberty group or need further information, please email NEVolunteersforliberty@gmail.com.