Stalwarts of Occupy: Steve

Occupier and OT reporter Emma Fordham speaks to another of Occupy London’s familiar faces

EM: When did you arrive at OLSX?

STEVE: At the end of October. Two weeks in.

EM: What brought you here?

STEVE: I wanted to visit London and thought I’d check out what Occupy was about. I didn’t expect to stay.

EM: What were you doing before you came to St Paul’s?

STEVE: I was living in Brighton. Just living.

EM: What have you been doing while staying at the OLSX camp?

STEVE: I do water runs for the kitchen. It involves loading empty barrels into a trolley, pushing them around to the other side of the cathedral and across the road, filling them at a public water fountain then wheeling them back without losing any precious water. I help the Shelter Working Group with looking after the tents and building wooden constructions. Shelter makes sure all the tents are okay and that the people and stuff in the tents are okay. If a tent becomes empty we pack it up and store any stuff that’s left in it and allocate the tent to someone else, until the owner returns.

EM: Why did you decide to stay?

STEVE: I enjoy the camaraderie and the chance to help out.

EM: Is camping in the city a hardship

or a joy?

STEVE: Somewhere in-between. It’s easy to find food in the city but hard to find nature. I don’t feel the cold but I miss the countryside. I’m not normally a city-dweller. In Brighton there’s the sea.

EM: Of all the issues Occupy aims to address, what are the most important for you?

STEVE: Trying to make life easier for the masses.

EM: Tell me three things about the current system that you’d most like to change…

STEVE: Eliminate the rich – well, not eliminate them, I’m a peaceful man – but eliminate their riches. Redistribute the riches to the poor, and make sure everyone in the world has enough to eat. I’d like to see an even financial footing throughout the world.

EM: What do you think Occupy has achieved so far?

STEVE: We’ve raised a slight awareness of the problems. There’s a long way to go.

EM: What do you think Occupy should do next?

STEVE: I haven’t a clue. But I think this movement is important and can’t be stopped. The authorities are trying to stop it, with court cases and evictions and changing the rules about camping and protests but hopefully they won’t manage it because we’ve got it rolling now.

EM: Where will you go if the St Paul’s camp is evicted?

STEVE: I’d go and find another camp and see if I could help there.

By Emma Fordham