Date: 22nd June 2024

Creation Cries Out eccumenical service: 11am, Catholic Church of the Immaculate Conception, 114 Mount St, Mayfair, London, W1K 3AH. Includes children’s outdoor nature-based church
March: gather between midday & 1pm, march sets off from Park Lane, London W1.

Details: The service and the outdoor activity will begin at 11am and finish at noon – do come if you can, even if you haven’t booked via Eventbrite, we would love to see you and creation needs your visibility. We will then walk together to Marble Arch to meet those that aren’t coming to the service at about 12.30pm, before joining with other faith and climate justice groups in the AIR block of the march.  The what3words for our approximate location for those wanting to meet us at Marble Arch (by 12.30pm please) are ///divisions.shut.assume, also marked on the map below.  

We will plan to walk over to Park Lane to join the march, shortly after 12.30 and will try to post our location on  Park Lane in our updates and opportunities WhatsApp chat with reference to the labelled points on the map below. Please note that it is not always possible to get signal in a busy march and can’t guarantee timely information, so you may have to look for us in this area.

If you want to join the short march marked on the map below (whether or not you are coming to the service), we have a small group joining that, so please email CCA and we will connect you.

For those who want to, we will regroup between 4 and 4.30pm in Trafalgar Square, near to the bottom of the steps to the National Gallery, where we will say our goodbyes and a closing prayer. 

Why are we marching?

You are invited to join us for the biggest ever march to protect the natural world and tackle the climate emergency. CCA members will be gathering with thousands of others in London for a family-friendly, legal march to demand that UK politicians show strong domestic and global nature and climate leadership.

Creation is in crisis. Nature in the UK is in long-term decline and without radical change we’re set to lose even more precious habitats and species. That is why we’re joining a coalition of nature and climate organisations at a mass demonstration calling on politicians from all parties to act now for nature, people and climate. 

The vision is for a huge creative, family-friendly and legal mass gathering that demonstrates a united call to protect and restore our natural world. It is an opportunity for some creative campaigning with speeches from activists and conservationists, as well as entertainers and performance artists, all highlighting the beauty of UK wildlife and the need to protect it.

Creation Cries Out Service

We’ll be meeting at 11am for a ecumenical service with nature-based messy church for children at the Catholic Church of the Immaculate Conception, 114 Mount St, Mayfair, London W1K 3AH before leaving together to join the main march at noon. Our Creation Cries Out service is a collaboration between A Rocha UK, Green Christian, Christian Climate Action, and Operation Noah and other groups. Join us to pray, worship and lament in the context of biodiversity decline and climate breakdown.

Restore Nature Now March and Rally

After the service we will join the Restore Nature Now mass demonstration. Through Restore Nature Now a wide-range of dozens of nature, wildlife and climate groups are joining together, united in calls for politicians to support action to restore nature by:

• Providing more funding to ensure a nature-friendly farming approach
• Making polluters pay for the damage they do to the environment
• Creating more space for nature by expanding and improving protected areas and public land
• Putting a legal right to a healthy environment in law – clean air and water and access to nature for all communities
• Delivering fair and effective climate action that means we at least halve UK emissions by 2030. 

What can you do now?

1. Sign up to say you’re coming
2. Sign up for the Creation Cries Out service. In the event that numbers inside exceed the capacity of the church, priority will be given to those who have registered via this link.
3. Get creative. Here are some ideas to make and bring to celebrate nature, mourn its loss and make your point visually. If there are people in your church community can’t come, why not ask them to help you make something that embodies their concerns.
4. Order a CCA t-shirt to wear on the day
5. Donate to CCA. This will help cover the costs of our involvement in Restore Nature Now.
6. Publicise the service and the march. Here is are two sides of an A5 flyer you can download as JPEGs and get printed or email to people.

FAQs:

What is the Restore Nature Now demonstration? A legal, peaceful and inclusive demonstration organised by a group of nature, wildlife, environment, and climate organisations and individuals. Restore Nature Now aims to be the biggest ever UK gathering for nature and climate. The organisations and individuals involved are calling on all political parties to take action to restore nature and make this General Election the turning point for nature that we need.

Is the demonstration legal? Everyone has a right to protest and to organise protests in the UK. Restore Nature Now will be a legal protest and illegal activity of any kind at the demonstration will not be tolerated by the event organisers. The organisers have proactively engaged with the Greater London Authority, Metropolitan Police and the relevant Borough Councils to inform them of Restore Nature Now’s plans and event organisers are working closely with these groups throughout the delivery of the event. 

Will the demonstration be peaceful? Restore Nature Now is calling for all politicians to bring about the change needed to end the nature and climate emergencies, through a peaceful, non-violent and legal demonstration. The organisers are committed to ensuring that Restore Nature Now provides a safe and inclusive atmosphere for everyone who takes part, for authorities supporting the event and for the general public.  The event will be a non-violent and peaceful demonstration and violent and aggressive behaviour will not be tolerated or condoned by the organisers. Event stewards will work closely with the police throughout the event. 

Any questions get in touch with us at christianclimateaction@gmail.com