Brighton Badger March

My photo

Today was the Brighton peaceful protest against the badger cull. I went down on my own and was quite nervous having never been on a protest before, and not having any moral support made me feel like I might look like a bit of a wally.

I got there just as the speeches were beginning, (no thanks to First Capital Connect trains making me late, as usual) and just caught the tail end of the Green Party speech. It was tricky to hear parts of the speech from the Badger Trust representative, but Dominic Dyer's speech was very heartfelt, got right to the nitty gritty and encouraged a very meaningful round of cheers at the end. It was exciting to see one person be able to generate so much enthusiasm, an he explained the history, the present situation and where we need to get to in such a simple way that even an alien that's just landed on this planet could understand. It made me wish that I had other people who don't understand the importance of this (my Dad, for example) because it was really a very well explained speech. Plenty of gusto ensued for the chants for the march on the back, and I was eager to get going.

I found myself up the front without meaning to, and after getting into the spirit, was shouting, clapping and cheering along. We started off outside the Theatre Royal, and would up Church Street, down Queens Road and past the clock tower and down West Street. It started to get very windy as we approached the sea front so some of the larger banners had to come down to stop being blown away, but then we went along the seafront. I got chatting to a few people as we made our way along the seafront, and then we headed back towards Grand Parade and up the bottom of North Street. By the end was just me walking beside Dominic right at the very front as we made our way to the finish point back in New Road, where lots of congratulatory hugs and cheers rang out between those who knew each other. Such a sense of community was amazing to see.

I can't stress enough how important it is to get behind this cause. Not only did I feel welcome from being on my own, but I was inspired by the amount of people getting together, sharing the same views and the overwhelming support for our wildlife. We, as Britons, need to make sure that this murderous killing spree ends, NOW. I feel quite lonely in my day to day life in my feelings towards the badger cull, as no one in my family really understands what it means, or pays attention to what's going on. To quote, "The culling of badgers can make no meaningful contribution to the reduction of bTB in cattle", is entirely accurate. To be part of this today made me feel quite emotional that there are so many like minded people out there, and I hope to be able to continue to make my voice heard, with this phenomenal support.

Photo credit: Emily Laurence. I am in the brown t-shirt and black hat.