Settle: celebrating the Big One, and the Friday 21st service.
The Climate Crisis and the Nature Crisis are already here. What can people in a small town like Settle do?
Not everyone can go to London for the Big One (21-24 April); In the market town of Settle, North Yorkshire – two groups: Settle Justice and Peace Group and Settle Action on Climate Emergency organised a stall with banner this market day Tuesday 18th to tell local people about it:
about the four days in London and about the service at midday on Friday 21st at St John’s Waterloo, London (You can see the service words at the end of this post). It is also Earth Day on 22 April. This year’s motto is “Invest in the Planet”
Audience participation was provided by three big tubs. People were asked the question “Do you think the government is doing enough to prevent climate change?” and could throw the ball into tubs labelled Yes, No and Don’t know. (“No” won with 50 votes compared to a total of 16 in the other two categories.)
The group told people about “The Big One” and also provided people with information about many green events and activities in Settle: from “Eco-Explorers for families” next meeting a walk on Wed 19th April (under Churches Together in Settle) to Tree Planting/managing with the ACE biodiversty group. The ACE Settle Website has good posts – e.g. the latest shows how insulating old housing stock will take 200 years to be completed with the governments brand new plans issued last week (whereas we should be aiming for 7 years – by 2030 or at the worst 27 years by 2050.) We need the government to ACT now both to reduce climate change and to reduce the damage that will be caused by climate change.
ACE Settle also has good talks. For example, last week Kate Jennings who is policy officer for the RSPB spoke to us. There is lots of peat in the hills near Settle and she told us how eroding, drying out peat gives off masses of CO2. And that planing trees on peat also causes it to decompose and give off CO2
Judith (back left) of St John’s Methodist Church, who enlivened the activities with some Irish music on the accordion, is planning to go to London for the Service at St John’s Waterloo. She is going down by train the night before so that she can attend the talk there before the service at 10.30: “The Big One: in conversation with members of the House of Lords: with Baroness Kate Parminter and Bishop Steven Croft of the House of Lords Environment and Climate Change Committee. (and has been told to get there early, as there are only 200 places and it is first come first served..)
She will be taking the poles currently used in the banner here, ready to be used for the Green Christian banner that will be carried after the Service at Waterloo on the pilgrimage to parliament afterwards.
Another member of the group from Settle Quakers plans to hold a vigil in the market place on Friday morning.
Another member of the group will also be travelling down on Thursday.
The banner shown in the picture is currently in the church hall at St John’s Methodist Church Settle, next to the display by St John’s Eco-group.
Judith said: “It was an opportunity to meet people with different views”
In Settle, and the UK, we only see very, very small changes in climate but elsewhere in the world there are much bigger changes, with fires in Australia, floods, melting glaciers in the Alps, melting ice in the Arctic and these changes will cause famines and unrest (or maybe unrest followed by famines) and migrations. We owe it to future generations to look after the world as best we can.
The Extinction Rebellion have three points:
Tell the Truth:
Act Now (And we should have acted ten, twenty years ago)
Decide Together.
At least two members will be travelling down to London.
Next: Green Christian @ The Big One
Previous: Why I am going to “The Big One”
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