HOW can I chill when our world is melting?


This was just one of the many slogans on show as more than 250 Hexham schoolchildren missed lessons on Friday morning to take part in the global School Strike for Climate Action campaign.


Inspired by Swedish teenager Greta Thunberg, who started the world’s first school strike, pupils from first school age right through to high school children took to the town’s bandstand to make their opinions about the climate breakdown heard.


Victoria Connolly, a Year 11 pupil at Queen Elizabeth High School, in Hexham, coined the catchphrase of ‘how can I chill when our world is melting?’ and was one of the many who went on strike to challenge politicians to take decisive action on climate change.
She said: “We are on strike before the earth goes on strike. We don’t get to vote so this is how we get our say on such an important issue.”
Fellow QEHS student Louis Driver was among the crowd of protesters wanting to put pressure on the government.


He said he was very concerned about the findings from a recent UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change which claimed there was only 12 years for global warning to be kept to a maximum of 1.5C, with any change, even by half a degree, likely to increase the risks of drought, floods and extreme heat across the globe.


Louis said: “I wanted to let politicians know that decisive policy making to cut C02 emissions now is needed as we may only have 12 years left.


“I will be 27 at that point and I will only have been working for a short while after gaining a qualification, and I will not be in a position to make decisive changes that people in politics today can make.


“Protesting is what I can do now to change the future. We want to tell the people in power that the young people need changes to be made to help save the planet.”


Kate Edwards, also of Queen Elizabeth, said: “It’s our future so it matters to us.


“Climate action affects us more than politicians in the government so we are campaigning to raise awareness of what action needs to be taken.”


Evie Ronnie added: “Everybody is leaving us with their mess to clean up. The damage is irreversible,” while Edie Martell said: “The government isn’t really doing anything about it now so we need them to get into action. It is really important because it is affecting us all.”


Joining the schoolchildren on the strike was Dom McDermott, also known as Mr P. Bear, who came to the demonstration dressed as a polar bear.


Underneath the thick woollen animal suit, he had four layers of clothing on and he made it his mission to jump about and dance as much of possible to illustrate how hot it was for ‘a polar bear pursuing seals on the ice.’


He said: “I’m using this theory to interpret the bear and how it feels the heat.


“The bear is here today as it is one of the most endangered species on the planet. The whole of the planet is in danger and all ecosystems are likely to be impacted, such as food security, settlements and water supplies, as well as on iconic wildlife.


“The polar bear is the symbol for climate breakdown as its habitat is already disappearing very, very fast.”


Friday’s strike at the bandstand was organised by members of the Hexham Youth 4 Climate group to coincide with protests going on at the same time across the world.


School Strike for Climate protests were held in 100 countries worldwide, with tens of thousands of schoolchildren estimated to have taken part in strikes across the UK.


The youth protest group is a subsidiary group of Hexham Climate Action, a group formed to forge links with Tynedale Greenpeace and Transition Tynedale and highlight concerns about the state of the climate.


Since forming last month, the group has attracted around 60 people interested in becoming members.