*[Enwl-eng] Wisdom from a wise woman

[ENWL]

As
This is part of a series of 6-weekly emails written by our Director telling 
stories to help you understand what the heck we're trying to do and where 
you might fit in.
Hi,

I recently got challenged by a wise woman called Angela. After confessing 
how hard I find things right now, she told me the trouble is I don’t 
celebrate enough. Now, Angela wasn’t telling me to close my eyes to the 
heaviness of this moment. She was saying we should open our eyes to the 
energy being poured into making things better. Because, where there is 
action there is hope.

So I thought about it. And here are the top 5 things I'm celebrating in 
2021:

  1.. We’re fighting for a better world and winning. In Tenerife, we helped 
local activists stop a mega port from being built that would have destroyed 
the only whale heritage site in Europe. This wasn’t just about stopping 
something bad from happening. It was about fighting for a different model of 
development, that doesn’t allow growth and profit driven companies to walk 
all over nature. The local activists made it happen, but I’m so proud that 
we could back them up and help make this a European story.

  2.. People are refusing to be ignored in Serbia. You can’t help but be 
blown away by the thousands of people in Serbia who have gone from 
organising around kitchen tables, to signing petitions and taking to the 
streets. All to stop Rio Tinto grabbing their land and destroying the 
environment. The multinational corporation wants to exploit the area for 
lithium, regardless of the irreparable damage to the water, land, air and 
its people. Land grabbing and environmental destruction are happening all 
over the world. But people are fighting back. I’m celebrating them and our 
work to support their fight.

  3.. Passing the million marker of people that make up this community of 
WeMovers. Our power comes from speaking up together - the more of us there 
are and the more our knowledge is rooted in local realities across Europe, 
the more we can stand up to the likes of Rio Tinto or big pharma that are 
exploiting our planet for mega profits that benefit the few. There’s now 
more than a million of us and we want to keep growing. So please help us 
spread the word!

  4.. Growing our ability to move fast and make positive change. Almost all 
our income, about 80%, comes from small donations from individuals. [1] When 
I started at WeMove Europe, that figure was at 60%. It just keeps growing. 
And the fact that we take zero cash from corporations or governments means 
that we are independent. We can speak truth to power, without worrying that 
those folks might cut our funds in the morning. And while we haven’t yet 
closed our funding gap for this year, I’m celebrating all those who give 
money to support change.

  5.. Building a WeMove Europe team of 28 people rooted across Europe. From 
Madrid to Brussels to Warsaw, and now Amsterdam! We just hired a fantastic 
campaigner to build our impact in Europe. The team will grow again in 2022 
with plans for another team member to boost our campaign support for 
YouMove - our tool that allows many more organisations, movements and 
citizen initiatives to set up their own campaigns online.
We know the world is not in the best shape right now. After all, that’s why 
we campaign and speak up together to change things for the better. But when 
we take stock we can find things to celebrate, no matter how small. And it’s 
important. When we can look back with pride, it gives us the energy to push 
ahead with hope.

So I’m curious. What about you? What are you celebrating? Let us know via 
this survey and we’ll share some of the joy back with the rest of this 
community. Keep going people!

Laura - Executive Director of WeMove Europe



References:
[1] The rest is from a couple of progressive foundations and individuals 
that give larger amounts. You can read more on our website 
https://www.wemove.eu/how-we-are-funded



WeMove Europe is a community of people from all walks of life, who call 
Europe our home,
no matter where we were born, where we live or who we love. In the name of a 
brighter future for people and the planet,
we come together to sign petitions, send letters and protest on the streets 
to make our voices heard.
Our power comes from each other. And it's thanks to small monthly donations, 
fivers and tenners, that we can keep going.

Vladimir, please help keep WeMove Europe strong by chipping in.

      DONATE!

WeMove Europe SCE mbH | Planufer 91 Berlin | www.wemove.eu | Privacy policy 
|



From: Laura Sullivan - WeMove Europe
Sent: Saturday, December 18, 2021 2:42 PM
Subject: Wisdom from a wise woman
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