A logo with two closed fists holding red mugs. One of the mugs has the letter “A” on it and the other one the letter “E”. Three arrow shaped fume lines are on top of the mugs. A white circle surrounds the image described. The name “Dalston Solidarity Cafe” is written on this circle in black capital letters.


We are like you.


We are refugees and students.
We are migrants and working class people.
We are retired and caring for others.
We are the people who have suffered from the feelings of isolation and disconnection experienced in a society like ours, and exacerbated further by the pandemic.

We decided to pursue tangible practices in order to (re)establish the lost connection with each other and to support one another in autonomous, self-organised and community-led ways.

This Mutual Aid network wants to connect different practices, activities and realities into a space where people of all colours, creed, class and gender would come together and experience meaningful as well as politically relevant conversations and encounters.
We hold this space for everyone who’s part of the community, local and beyond, who wants to join a network that resists the constant oppression of capitalism, patriarchy, racism and discrimination.

We are different from charities and welfarism because we practice ‘mutualism’:
we don’t want to fill the gaps the institutions have failed to address, instead we want to create strong communities that will be able to ‘protect themselves’. 
These communities want to be horizontal and accessible to everyone.

Our core principles are:

Self-governance 
Independence 
Equality and consensus 
Reciprocity 
Empowerment
Openness and mutual respect

We are envisioning:

Classes, workshops, trainings and talks about Feminist Self Defence, setting up food cooperative, workplace organising, renter resistance, legal workshops & migrant rights, alternative medicinal practices.

A series of more activism-focused topics such as diversity of tactics, consensus & decision making, know your rights.

Social activities such as film screenings & discussions, cultural bridging, cooking and food sharing, reading sessions & a book club.

We want the input and ideas from the community to play an active role in the shaping of this project. We welcome you to take part into the building of the event programme itself.

Love & Solidarity & Revolution