'Together, we can make a difference'

For information on CARGO events planned so far click here

CD now available : £12 + £1 p&p get in touch.

Cheques payable to Paul Field - Nearfield Records PO Box 6 Wallington SM6 8ZS or via Paypal.

uses music, words, dance and images to tell the story of the Abolitionists campaign, together with the struggles of the African slaves themselves, to end the slave trade 200 years ago and to use that story as a platform to raise awareness of the many forms of slavery that still exist today. It aims to show how in the past and the present ordinary people can make a difference.

‘Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world’ (Margaret Mead).

‘Cargo’ will stand alongside the work of organisations that are both celebrating the work of William Wilberforce, Thomas Clarkson, Olaudah Equiano and others in the bicentennial of Abolition in 2007 and still working to end contemporary forms of slavery.

Compassion UK are partnering the project and it's supported and endorsed by other organisations such as ‘Anti Slavery International’, ‘Stop the Traffick’, ‘Set all free’, Wilberforce 2007 and ‘WISE’ (The Wilberforce Institute for the Study of Slavery & Emancipation in Hull).

For links to all these organisations click here
To Join the fight for freedom and sign the 'Anti Slavery International' Declaration go to http://www.antislavery.org/2007/actionsign.php

Information will be available at all events to promote the work of human rights/anti slavery organisations and a CD will be produced of the songs and music along with a Backing Track & Script & Score.

As a performance and resource ‘Cargo’ will put a special emphasis on raising awareness of current slavery issues and so will have have a long ‘shelf life’ that will extend beyond the bicentennial celebrations of Abolition in Spring 2007.

There are already possibilities for it to be used as part of conference presentations in the US and beyond later in 2007 & 2008.

As the project progresses I am looking for people, around the country who would be interested in becoming involved in some aspect of the production whether as part of the cast or part of the co-ordinating and organising team for a large or small event.

For more information on any aspect of Cargo or details on putting on a production or solo concert, or for more information on Paul Field’s work please get in touch get in touch or by post to - Nearfield Records PO Box 6 Wallington SM6 8ZS

For Cargo events booked so far : click here

'The Wilberforce 2007 partnership in Hull has warmly welcomed this project as part of its 2007 events, and as Director of the Wilberforce Institute of the University of Hull, I can confirm our extremely warm support for the project and our willingness to provide whatever academic advice that Paul needs to deliver the project. The performing arts have a vital part to play in acknowledging the human rights goals that underlay British abolitionism and Paul's own track record and religious commitment suggest that he is the right person to write and deliver the proposed musical. It will provide a truly community-based and permanent commemoration of 1807, and we are delighted to endorse it.

All the best for the project’
Sincerely, David Richardson Professor of Economic History
Director, Wilberforce Institute for the study of Slavery and Emancipation : (WISE) : Hull

To find out more about Wilberforce 2007 & WISE click here

Compassion seeks out some of the world’s most vulnerable children and through individual sponsors provides them with the means to break the cycle of poverty.

Compassion UK, 43 High Street, Weybridge, Surrey, KT13 8BB 01932 836490
Email : info@compassionuk.org
Web Site: click here

To Paul Field,

'Paul, I would like to confirm that we will be working closely with you as an important member of our campaign.

Stop The Traffik is a growing global coalition of organisations, networks and community groups who will use March 25th 2007 (the 200th anniversary of the day on which the bill to end the Transatlantic Slave Trade became law), as a catalyst for a campaign which will cry for freedom for every human caught in trafficking around the world, with a particular focus on children and young people.

We look forward to working with you & to supporting you with our global campaign'.

Peter Stanley Strategy Director : Stop The Traffik :
1a Kennington Road, London, SE1 7QP

To find out more about Stop the Traffik click here

Imagine you are a slave.

It is 1787. You work between twelve and fourteen hours a day and are subject to cruel punishments if you don’t work hard enough. You are owned and not paid a penny for your work. You will not grow old.

You plant, tend and harvest most of the worlds crops, non stop until you die. You see more slaves than free people and that is the truth, there are more slaves than free people in the world. Your slavery brings great wealth to a few. To change that is unthinkable.

However, in the back of a printing shop in London twelve ordinary men are plotting the unthinkable. To abolish slavery. Unknown to you a great wheel has begun to turn. You are living through the moment in history that will be regarded as the beginning of the Abolitionist movement.

As these twelve men well know, in Britain there are no caravans of chained captives or whip wielding overseers stalking the rows of sugar cane. Their campaign will have to make ordinary people understand what goes on to bring them the sugar they eat, the coffee they drink and the tobacco they smoke. And it will work.

In 20 years the world will be changed. William Wilberforce will champion the cause in parliament and the bill making the trading of slaves illegal will be signed into law by King George III on the 25th March 1807. But that is just the beginning. It will take another 30 years just to take the next step, to outlaw the ownership of slaves.

Wilberforce will not live to see it. Neither will you.

Now you are you again

It is 2007. The great wheel has been turning for 220 years to good effect. Yet still, at the very least there are fifteen million people trapped in some form of slavery. In a world of a hundred times that number they are fewer than they were. Officially in fact, there are none. But new words, sleight of presentation, government complicity and more than a few blind eyes cloak the slavery that still is.

Poverty, desperation and ignorance hide or disguise what lies ahead for those who find themselves tricked, traded, trafficked, kidnapped, forced, bonded or conscripted. To survive they must obey.

Now there is a slavery for everyone. From sex tourism, prostitution and pornography to forced labour for governments or armies, menial work based on caste or ethnic group, bonded labour, child labour and plain domestic chores.

Two hundred years ago, slaves could be considered as a long term investment. Today there is an endless cheap supply of slaves. The unprofitable are quickly discarded and replaced.

They are disposable people.

You and the rest of us will make the world what it will be in 2107. We are the ordinary people who need to know what lies behind the sugar they eat, the coffee they drink, the tobacco they smoke and the clothes they wear. We need to know how big the slave trade is today We need to break down apathy and prejudice and uphold the right of every human being to be free.

Finishing a task can be just as hard, just as inspired as starting it.
Only when there are no slaves can the wheel finally slow down and stop.
‘Nobody is free until everyone is free’ (Vivek Pandit)