Global Climate Strike Spalding brings environmental protest onto Market Place during worldwide day of action

An area of Spalding town centre was taken over by environmental campaigners on Friday on a day of rallies across the world against climate change.

The Global Climate Strike event in Market Place brought together young people and senior citizens, all concerned about the future of the planet.

It was one of at least five events across Lincolnshire (Grantham, Horncastle, Lincoln and Stamford) and nearly 6,000 protests estimated to have taken place around the world.

Brenda Cook, one of the "strikers" in Spalding, said: "My generation hasn't looked after the world as we should have.

"Things like global warming and devastating floods have come upon us very quickly when we didn't realise that we were wrecking the earth.

"So it's time we stopped and changed the direction we're going in to make the world a better place for our children and grandchildren."

Dan Wilshire, former Green Party parliamentary candidate for South Holland and the Deepings at the 2015 and 2017 general elections, said: "Global warming is the only issue that should matter to most people because it's going to affect everything we do .

"So the Global Climate Strike events are a way of encouraging people to keep in mind that the world is slowly warming up, something that will have an impact on the strength of storms, tsunamis and other extreme weather events that will become more frequent.

"That's the accepted science and so we have to figure out the best way to solve our problems with carbon emissions."

The Global Climate Strike movement was inspired by Swedish teenage environmental activist Greta Thunberg whose call for "real and bold climate action", as delivered to the World Economic Forum in January, inspired the School Strike for Climate protests.

This has led students across the world to abandon their classes and lectures so they can march on the streets instead as a way of urging political leaders to take action against global warming and environmental problems.

Martin Blake, organiser of Spalding's Global Climate Strike, said: "There are strong and vested interests that are trying to rubbish the science, while the biofuels industry wants us to believe that we don't need to tackle climate change.

"But the best way to counter that is to have events like this so that politicians will sit up and take notice."

Businesses supported the event, including staff from Gosberton-based Seed Co-operative which grows, processes and sells organic, open-pollinated (naturally grown) seeds for both UK and overseas markets.

Helen Holmes, a grower and crop scientist at Seed Co-operative, said: "People are focusing their concentration away from the important issue of the environment.

"It's the single biggest issue facing everyone on the planet and, in comparison, everything else is a distraction."

David Price, the firm's managing director, said: "We've got a life support system called the planet which I don't want turned off."

Mr Blake, a South Lincolnshire Green Party member, said: "I'd estimate that over 40 people took part in Global Climate Strike Spalding at some point. "Many weren't able to stay for the whole duration, for whatever reason, but I believe this shows that the people of this area care deeply about the lack of action on the part of our politicians in tackling climate change.

"All of us who took part in the event will hope that they'll now sit up and take notice."