One of the best things I decided to do last year (after becoming a Mother for the first time) was to join Divest London (divestlondon.org).  Global Divestment Day on 14th February was so energetic, powerful and inspiring that I’m still feeling a positive glow from this special Valentine’s Day.

After a couple of months of creative planning, five hundred passionate Londoners gathered at City Hall in central London to urge the London Assembly to divest their pension fund from fossil fuel investments.  A sea shanty divestment choir introduced our action, before we divided into groups to spell out our urgent message.

Each letter represented a community of people concerned about climate change, including students, health, food, faith and London boroughs.

Our action continued with powerful speeches from inspiring campaigners, including a message of solidarity from environmental campaigners in Uganda, representatives of affected communities in Colombia and Bangladesh, and British divestment campaigners.

As one of several relatively new members of Divest London, I was impressed by how seamlessly the day had come together.  Given that our energy was replicated in hundreds of other events across the globe, it was heartening to see that the Fossil Free movement is gaining serious momentum as a powerful force for change.

On a personal note, I had been slightly nervous about taking Aidan along to his first action…but as you can see, he enjoyed the day!