Sea of chaos

Grafitti spotted in Norwich city centre on way to choir practice.

I have Friday off as time off in lieu for some of the extra hours put in when we moved offices, which is great as it's going to be a busy and hardworking weekend starting with a Uke Society gig at a local community centre on Friday evening.

On Saturday I will be joining friends and comrades from 'We are Norwich': a rainbow coalition of faith groups, trade unions, political parties and community organisations at a peaceful - yet determined - demonstration in the city centre against the visit of the English Defence League (EDL) to Norwich. Our demonstration starts at 11am in Chapelfield Gardens where there will be music, speakers and stalls before we march the short distance to St Peters Street.

The whole campaign to mobilise people has been extremely well organised and full consultation has been had with the police about arrangements for Saturday.

The EDL claim that they are demonstrating in Norwich to oppose the banning of a stall in the centre of the city operated by the Norwich Reformed Church. The city council banned the stall because of the Islamaphobic nature of its leaflet "Why not Islam". The Norwich Reformed Church are also the only group to protest at the city's annual Pride event.

The EDL is a violent fascist organisation with clear links to other far
right groups across Europe which has held countless demonstrations across the country where they have rampaged through towns attacking mosques, businesses and individuals.

As one of my chums says: "Some people think if you ignore them (violent fascists), they will go away but this was not the case in the 1930s. We need to make a stand now whilst they are small."

One of my prime aims is to document the day by taking photographs. As I've mentioned before, this is the kind of photography that I absolutely love.

On Sunday morning I'll be attending the service of remembrance at the War Memorial, then heading off for a final choir practice before our performance on Thursday evening at Bletchley Park for the national pre-launch of LGBT History Month.

Rock 'n roll.