Hands Off Lewisham Primary Bridge School!
I attended Lewisham Primary Bridge School as a wee nipper in the early 1980’s, and 2 decades later I have found out it is one of the latest schools to be occupied in protest due to closure and selling up to Leathersellers.
Parents and supporters have been occupying and protesting at the school since its closure in Easter. Lewisham Council plan to demolish this lovely old building which has been a thriving community school and build a new privatised school to the capacity of 800 pupils, 3 - 16 year olds.
English Heritage have awarded the building as grade 2 listed, creating a spanner in the works for Lewisham council and putting a hold on, but not yet ending the proposed plans.
The closure of the school has caused much upheaval to the routines and education of the pupils and parents. Pupils are having to get up an hour earlier in the morning in order to get transported by coach to and from the gates of the school to The Mornington Centre in New Cross! This “temporary” solution is costing Lewisham Council £900 a day.
An eviction notice was served to the occupation for Wednesday 24th June at 10.30am.
I went down on the day to show my support, make some T-Shirt banners, take some pictures and join the 50 or so local campaign supporters gathered outside the school in protest of the eviction.
A group of lively students from Goldsmiths College Anarchist Society joined parents on the roof of the school, where a camp has been set up and access to the roof has been sealed. There was strong police presence early on and a police helicopter flew over the site at one point, but the police moved on later in the morning and the atmosphere remained positive.
The bayliffs were due at 10.30 but arrived late and after some kind of negotiation it seems the eviction has been resisted!
If you are interested in finding out more and getting involved check out the Facebook Group: Hands Off Lewisham Primary Bridge SchoolPrimary Bridge School 
