18 people attended last night's initial meeting, in some cases representing and/or active in more than one organisation or campaign. There were at least 4 delegates to Bolton TUC (2 Unite/2 Unison) including its President Neil McAlister, 5 Bolton Against Bedroom Tax, 4 Bolton Against Fracking, 1 Wake Up Bolton, 3 Green Party, 4 Socialist Club, 2 Left Unity, 1 SWP plus Penny Hicks from Manchester People's Assembly.

We obviously need to reach out beyond these established groups and activists in the weeks ahead and seek to try and draw in new people such as we saw at the Manchester protest a few weeks ago, not least more young people and students, Bolton's minority communities and the 'precariously employed',

if we are to grow as a collective body and start to have a real impact. However, given the wealth of experience and combined talents we have at our disposal in Bolton, we can achieve that, given sufficient strength of willingness to do it, and that we can make the thing a success and have a growing impact on unfolding political events in Bolton.