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On 5 Oct. 1936, a group 200 men from the English northeastern town of Jarrow marched 300 miles to London. They wanted to tell Parliament they were orderly, responsible citizens, but were living in a region where there was 70% unemployment.
The marchers demanded that a steel mill be built to bring back their city’s jobs to Jarrow. The shipyard, Jarrow’s major employer, had closed the previous year forcing an already poor community to desperation.
Seventy-five years later, jobs are still an issue in the Jarrow area. Around 50 young unemployed people set off from the same town 3 Oct. 2011 to retrace the 300-mile journey to London to demand a work creation programme.
The march, organized by Youth Fight for Jobs, will end with a protest against high unemployment levels on 5 November.
The marchers are demanding the launch of a massive Government scheme to create jobs, the reinstatement of Education Maintenance Allowance payments, the reopening of axed youth services, the scrapping of controversial workfare schemes and a huge building programme of green and cheap social housing.
The marchers will hold rallies along the route – including in Leeds, Sheffield and Nottingham – before reaching London where they will march to Trafalgar Square.