Fownhope’s Heart of Oak Society traces its roots to the age of friendly societies, when communities provided their own safety net. Its anniversary celebrations reveal a tradition still very much alive, says MARK SEDDON
IT WAS with a mixture of excitement and trepidation that I paced around Gatwick departure terminal. I’d been a staunch supporter of Fidel Castro and the Cuban revolution for years but what was it really going to be like?
Once aboard my flight I had many hours to reflect before arriving in Havana to a thunderstorm.
I was met by a representative of the Cuban Institute for Friendship with the Peoples — the organisation that runs the Brigades — and set off for Juan Antonio Mella International Camp.
ROGER D HARRIS and SARA FLOUNDERS challenge propaganda against the blockaded socialist island
As the US intensifies its economic and political pressure it is now vitally important to demand the British government intervene to end US aggression, writes GEOFF BOTTOMS
A teaching delegation to Cuba offered IAN DUCKETT a powerful glimpse into a schooling system defined by care, creativity and the legacy of the island’s remarkable 1961 literacy campaign


