28th-29th January, London (or in your own location at your own time) 

CCA are joining XR Walkers who are organising a pilgrimage walk to support the 16 climate protesters who are appealing against their disproportionate sentences of a combined 41 years for peaceful protest (the Whole Truth Five, M25 gantry protesters, HS2 tunnellers and the Van Gogh Sunflowers action). The walk will symbolically link HMP Bronzefield, where currently 6 of the prisoners are being held, with Parliament and then the Royal Courts of Justice where the appeal is being heard on the 29th and 30th January.

The walk will take place overnight  28th January to 29th January, walkers meeting at Staines train station at 9pm on 28th January and walking a total of 20 miles through the night to reach the Royal Courts of Justice in the Strand by 10am the following morning.

This is the route: https://www.plotaroute.com/route/2840540?units=km

(Please be careful when you open this map – close all ads and do not click on pop-ups that say ‘download now’. You will then get to a map that you can open on your phone or laptop.)

Timings are as follows:

9pm                         Start from Staines Station

10pm                        HMP Bronzefield pick up. It will be possible to join here and walk as far as Ashford where you can catch a train back to London. Outside HMP Bronzefield Rev Helen Burnett will lead a short reflection and we will sing this song: https://open.spotify.com/track/4spU5dh2O8aRQDgIrdpiZi?si=AyePR7U0RF21PID7oV1RSA&context=spotify%3Asearch%3Awe%2Bshall%2Bovercome
Please listen to Joan Baez’ intro as it speaks into our current situation. We will sing in solidarity with all political prisoners and with abolitionists worldwide.

1:30am Hounslow pick up. The Gurdwara Sri Guru Singh Sabha in Hounslow has kindly offered to open their doors for us so that we can take a break inside and have a hot drink. We are asked to remove shoes and cover our heads when in the Gurdwara (scarves are available there for our use)

6:15am                 Hammersmith Broadway pick up. Meet at Hammersmith Broadway. The walk will not be stopping for a break here so please be at the front entrance of the Broadway by 6.15.

8:30am                 Parliament Square pick up. We will join those gathered there. There will be a break till about 8.45am and then we will walk on up to Trafalgar Square and along the Strand to the Royal Courts of Justice.

By 10am                Arrive RCJ

There will be chances to join the walk at at the above locations along the way, but if you want to join somewhere else along the route, please email us and we will arrange contact by WhatsApp so you can find the walkers. 

The walk will be safe, non-violent and will not be disruptive. We are responding to the request for a walk to show the strength of feeling against the sentences and we hope to bring as many people as possible to the Court.

Please email us at christianclimateaction@gmail.com to let us know you are taking part in some or all of this walk.

We will try to arrange accommodation, which may be floor space, for the night of 29th January for those who want to stay on in London for the 30th January when many of us will be attending the rally in support of the appeal organised by Defend Our Juries (https://defendourjuries.org) at the Royal Courts of Justice. 

If you want to meet people from CCA for the DOJ rally on 30th January please email us.

If you are not able to come to London we are asking people to prayerfully walk in their local areas, 16 laps of your park, your garden, or a 16 mile walk with friends, all at once or spread over a week, you can be creative as you like…

We want you to make it 16, because of the 16 UK political prisoners who are joining together, in a mass court appeal at the Royal courts of Justice, but this appeal is challenging corrupt law making and the attack on our democratic right to protest. The outcome will affect the rights of every person in the UK to engage in meaningful peaceful protest. 

So let’s get what is happening out there. Talk about what you are doing. Post a short video of your own ‘16 for 16’ on social media using the hashtag #16for16 and tag us into it. Keep praying for all those who have sacrificed (and those who in the future will sacrifice) their liberty to protest what is being done to all life on earth.