Star date: 12th October 2014

STARS SHINE FOR WORKING CLASS MOVEMENT LIBRARY

Salford Stories and Radical Readings
Sunday 23rd November 2pm
Peel Hall £12/£8

Salford stars Christopher Eccleston and Maxine Peake will be joined by ace actress Sheila Hancock in a special fundraising event for the Working Class Movement Library on 23rd November, when they will be performing `prose, poetry and drama telling the story of radicalism and revolution, and the history of the original dirty old town'.

The first batch of tickets have already sold out and the event is being moved to a larger hall! Stop press: This has now been sold out too!

Full details here...

Despite the best efforts of the Salford Tories to denigrate it and slash its funding (see here), the Working Class Movement Library remains a unique, world famous jewel in the city's crown.

The Library, founded by Ruth and Eddie Frow in the 1950s, contains incredible, priceless archives of working people's struggles, from leaflets to badges, banners, posters and books...plus a zillion other things including print copies of the Salford Star.

Indeed, in the first ever issue of the Star*, Maxine Peake wrote that "The Library contains the history of the struggle of our people and we must never forget that. It's the history of what made Manchester and Salford the cities they are, built by the toil of the workers. I think that people should really be made aware that the Library is there and that they can go and chart their past." (see full article here)

Christopher Eccleston, who had narrated a special documentary DVD on the Library, added "I'd passed the building many, many times as a youngster without going in but when I found out about the content of the place and the story of the people who built it up it was a revelation to me, I was amazed." (see full article here)

Now both Maxine Peake and Christopher Eccleston, together with top actress Sheila Hancock – all Friends of the Library - are set to perform `prose, poetry and drama telling the story of radicalism and revolution, and the history of the original dirty old town', in a Radical Readings and Salford Stories fundraiser, on Sunday 23rd November.

"The audience can expect to be entertained by some of our greatest poets and by many of the writers that we associate with Salford, from Walter Greenwood to Tony Warren, and from Robert Roberts to Shelagh Delaney" states a spokesperson "Everyone at the Library is delighted that these three tremendous actors have agreed so willingly to contribute their time and their talent to boost its fundraising appeal."

Salford Stories and Radical Readings
Sunday 23 November 2pm
Peel Hall, University Of Salford
Salford M5 4WU

Update: 13th October: The event, even at the larger venue, is now sold out.

For further details contact the University events team 0161 295 5241, or email events@salford.ac.uk. 

The event is being staged in conjunction with the University of Salford.

Details of the Working Class Movement Library's fundraising appeal are at www.wcml.org.uk/appeal

For further information about the Library contact 0161 736 3601 enquiries@wcml.org.uk

• See also previous Salford Star article Explore The Past...Change The Future – three nights of talks and exploration of the Library's archives to help current campaigners – click here

* Read Ruth Frow's article for the first issue of the Salford Star on The Day The Government Declared War on Salford - click here