They call it the Citadel of Hope because right now they haven’t got a lot else to put in it. It is late January and the third national conference of the Occupy movement is being at a Salvation Army citadel in central Sheffield which has stood empty for 12 years. Before the Occupiers moved in, the floor was thick in pigeon droppings; now the bare brickwork is clean, and people from all over the world huddle in coats and blankets, crouched around a space heater under makeshift strip lights, sharing strategies for resisting police eviction and trying to work out what the hell to do next.
Occupational hazards: Laurie Penny on the practicalities of protest
As eviction looms at St Paul’s, the protesters are struggling with the hardship of months spent sleeping rough.
