Well, what a morning! I write this having just arrived home from my very first Climate Strike in nearly two years!

My voice is hoarse, my heart full, and my feet tired – it has been such a special day.

I arrived to Bedford Square, my placard in one hand and my reusable coffee cup in the other (no strike is complete without caffeine!).

I could hear the chants and chatter of excited voices before I even entered the square.

It felt as though it was reverberating around the whole of the city, blowing away the tentative, edgy feeling which still blankets many public spaces.

And breathing in a new, more ‘normal’ spark which has felt like it has been lost for so long since the Pandemic first began.

I think many of us over the summer have had this moment of ‘normal’ hit us.

Whether that be at a festival, holiday or just spending time with family and friends.

It is the feeling of pure elation and happiness to be connected and happy in the presence of others, instead of fearful.

As the march began to move, a sea of plackcards and banners blocked my view. Many read things like ‘There is no Planet B’ or ‘ Like the seas, we rise’.

From all around me I could hear a chorus of voices all crying out for one thing: Climate Justice.

The noise was immense, and whilst not always in tune or together, there was something so powerful about us all moving as one body of people – one wave of collective action that can’t be ignored.

I am not sure whether it was passion, or fear after two years of little climate action, however the amount of people within the march was astonishing.

One of my favourite things about theses marches, is that whilst they first originated from the Friday’s for Future School Strike movement, now they are full of faces young and old.

From school Strikers, Extinction Rebellion and a whole variety of other Grass-roots organisations, to climate-concerned individuals, these strikes are place for all.

To me it, is the variety of people who attend that always makes me feel so uplifted.

The connection between young people supporting adults or the older generation of activists imparting their knowledge and experience is just such a wonderful thing to see.

Gathering, strike, march, call it what you wish, in my eyes, they are space in which individuals can come together, support one another and share ideas.

A space where we model our ideal society where young and old mix freely and everyone’s voice is heard no matter age our background.