CLIMATE emergency demonstrators marched through Rugby at the weekend protesting against air pollution in the borough.
Close to a hundred people joined Rugby Extinction Rebellion’s Air That We Grieve march against the expansion of the town and the effect it will have on air quality.
They marched from the Lord John Scott statue in Dunchurch to the William Webb Ellis statue in the town centre – both identified as air pollution hotspots in Rugby Borough Council’s (RBC) 2018 Air Quality Annual Status Report.
Protesters pushed a skeleton in a pushchair and a mannequin in a cardboard coffin, while others wore breathing apparatus and waved placards and banners.
Borough councillors Neil Sandison and Jim Ellis joined in with the non-political demonstration.
At the end of the march, teenager Samren Reddy – a member of the UK Youth Parliament and originator of Rugby’s Youth Strike 4 Climate – delivered a passionate speech to the gathered crowd.
Afterwards, Rugby Extinction Rebellion affixed a Declaration of Rebellion to the doors of Rugby Town Hall.
Co-organiser Adam Sheridan said he was ‘buzzing’, adding: “I now feel we have a chance to build this into something very powerful in Rugby.”
Visit www.facebook.com/groups/RugbyExtinctionRebellion for more information on Rugby Extinction Rebellion.
