A ninja in Knutsford - against food speculation

Partially as an ironic jab at preconceptions about people wearing certain types of clothing, and partially because all waterproof gear is black, I headed to Knutsford, the centre of George Osborne’s Tatton constituency, kitted out like a ninja, all in black.  Joining me was my faithful cameraman and co-flyerer Pablo.

We were armed only with blu-tack and 5000 flyers, asking the question ‘What can one person in Knutsford do about global hunger?’.  As the flyers point out it’s quite a lot actually: Chancellor George Osborne is the guy who can something about it, by regulating food speculation, and he’s the MP for Tatton. The flyers point people to WDM’s Knutsford page to find out how they can get in touch with Osborne and push him in the right direction.  So why wouldn’t he help?  Again we point people in the direction of the ‘The Real George Osborne’ comedy mini-series to find out why.

It was sheeting it down as we approached the town, and the North in all its overcast glory could be observed as we approached.  Undeterred we set about the task of making a bigger splash in Tatton than the mammoth raindrops drenching the picturesque streets.  

Pablo, being a typical Parisian immediately headed for the first place we could get coffee which happened to be St Ann’s church where they were holding a coffee morning with chat and biscuits for the community.  It was a great opportunity to meet some people, and the ladies there were very welcoming as we sat down to dry off.  

After discussing certain aspects of the Bible - a fair and obligatory thing to do considering we were enjoying their coffee - we mentioned why were here and what we were hoping to achieve.  They pointed us in the way of some hotspots in Knutsford and promised it would be on the agenda of their next local meeting after they had done some research on the website.

From there we headed to the local Oxfam, touching base with the staff, and promising to be in touch again.

Along the way we stopped at local hotspots - the cinema, the library, the pub, the council chambers - all to leave our trademark hello and reminder.  Before long we struck gold and chanced upon the local Conservative party offices.  No doubt they would welcome our expose of George Osborne, so we popped a few dozen through the door, and then scarpered, just in case it wasn’t as popular as we thought.

Post offices, phone boxes, notice boards, all we deluged with site of Tatton’s glorious MP George, as we made our way round the towns and villages of the constituency.  Most importantly, every letter box of every house we came across was dropped a little reminder.

On top of this we have had the local paper run a full page advert of the said flyer - hopefully creating some subliminal marketing memory.  All of this is to raise awareness, and hopefully to encourage the good citizens of Tatton to mention to their MP that there is something one person can do about global food poverty.

We hope to have a constituency meeting sorted with him in the near future and hopefully have already prompted the sending of many letters.  

You should be able to see the video below but if it's not appearing, then click here to watch it.

Video by Pablo Melchor www.kinopablo.com