ON SATURDAY May 3 2025 the North East Volunteers for Liberty (NEVfL) held our first May Day Partisans Party to launch the North East Branch of the National Association of Italian Partisans. It is now just three months later, but we have already made a huge impact.

One of the most interesting results of the May Day Partisans Party was the creation by Harry Gallagher of his poem, The Baker’s Prayer.

Alfio Bernabei translated it into Italian and it took on a life of its own; not only on social media or in Britain, but in Italy too — three weeks ago, on June 25, it was read at a civic event in Parma.

On July 2 we held the Remembering the Arandora Star commemorative event, a civic commemoration held in Middlesbrough Town Hall to mark the 85th anniversary of the disaster, when the ship carrying WWII internees was sunk by a torpedo, killing 805 people.

The commemoration was led by my friend and colleague Ian Stubbs and was attended by relatives of some of the 13 Teesside Italians who lost their lives, giving them an opportunity to see the Arandora Star memorial which is not on public view. Ian was the principal activist in erecting the memorial in 2009. I had the honour of representing the National Association of Italian Partisans (Associazione Nazionale Partigiani d’Italia, or Anpi) and of reading the address for Anpi UK.

We feel that it is vital that this event is commemorated as it demonstrates the experiences of Italians on Teesside during the period of fascist rule in Italy.

Swiftly after this commemoration came Saturday July 12, the date of the 139th Durham Miners Gala or “Big Meet” as it is more generally known in Co Durham. This year glorious summer weather saw almost 250,000 people from all over the world descend on our beautiful city for the the world’s greatest celebration of community, international solidarity and working-class life, a unique and inspiring spectacle, our joyous celebration of Durham’s radical heritage.

For the past four years I have organised the NEVfL contingent who take part in the banner parade, proudly displaying our colourful flags and banners commemorating the International Brigade; this year, for the first time we gladly added the Anpi tricolour flag to reflect the NEVfL’s new objective: to commemorate ant-fascists from all nations, with special emphasis on local anti-fascists and those from Ireland, Italy and Spain.

Meeting in Durham’s historic Market Square, we found the streets already crammed with people, with banners and, of course, the brass bands. As we set off music filled the air, not just from the brass bands, but samba bands and the popular Scottish pipe bands as well. We marched the one-and-a-half miles from the Market Square to the parade ground, the sheer number of contingents, some almost a hundred strong, means it takes a few hours to get to the halfway point: the Royal County Hotel. We marched with supporters, friends and relatives of local International Brigade volunteers.

This year as we were crossing the Elvet Bridge, just before the hotel we were joined by Harry Gallagher and he was thrilled to see the Anpi flag and spoke of his continued amazement at the impact his poem has had. He marched with us as we reached the Royal County Hotel where the Gala dignitaries assemble on the balcony to acknowledge the marchers and the bands. A select number of bands are chosen to stop under the balcony to perform for them.

From here we made our way, cheered and applauded by the crowds, to the Riverside parade ground, here we listened to the speeches from the leaders of the Durham Miners Association, trade union leaders and, memorably, we heard the passionate speech from Husam Zomlot, the head of the Palestinian Mission to Britain.

This year we made an even greater contribution: we joined the exhibitors on the parade ground and, with Solidarity Sunderland, we had a gazebo where visitors could learn about Solidarity Park International, Solidarity Sunderland and, as I had leaflets and scarfs, Anpi UK.

We had propped up the flags we had carried in the parade at the Solidarity Park banner. I spoke to two visitors who told me they were from Italy and were at the Gala for the first time as guests of a British trade union. They asked why we had an Anpi flag and I explained that we had recently set up a north-east branch of Anpi UK and offered them a leaflet. They explained they did not need one as they were already members of Anpi. For me, this encounter epitomises the spirit of the Big Meet, where like-minded activists can enjoy a day of camaraderie and international solidarity.

I am pleased that Anpi North East has had such an impact in our area in such a short space of time, and with invaluable support from Anpi UK, we have a very firm foundation upon which we can continue to commemorate the anti-fascists from our region: we have established commemorations around which we can build a schedule of events in order to build interest in anti-fascism in our region.