Santa meets the XR Grandparents in Hastings Town Centre last Saturday

Grandparents dreaming of a green Christmas

Grandparents from Extinction Rebellion Hastings & St Leonards (XRHSL) set up a Christmas tree in Hastings town centre on Saturday 17 December, topped with a star saying ‘Our Present – Their Future’. Charmian Kenner explains why she and other grandparents are so concerned about their grandchildren’s future.

Grandchildren added messages about their future and the future of the planet to the XR Xmas tree.

The tree was decorated with labelled presents for a green future, such as Warm Homes and Solar Power. Children added decorations with their own messages, which included ‘Save our home’ with a drawing of planet Earth, ‘Green = Life’, ‘All renewable energy, no more plastic, stop cutting down trees’, and ‘I wish for more people to acknowledge and act against the effects of climate change’.

Above: Yee Chuan Mayhew

Grandmother of four and XRHSL member, Yee Chuan Mayhew, said ‘Children are very clear about the world they want to inherit. We are extremely concerned about the impact of the climate crisis on the younger generation. Their future is at stake and the best present we can give them is a safe planet.’

Grandparent Mandy Griffin from Hastings said: ‘Right now many families are living in cold, damp homes instead of warm, well-insulated ones. Oil companies are making billions when we could have affordable green energy instead.

‘As a Christmas gift to children, the government must set up a huge insulation programme and invest in solar and wind power, rather than opening new coal mines that will ruin the planet.’

Extinction Rebellion is campaigning against new coal, oil or gas, the fossil fuels causing carbon emissions that exacerbate the climate and ecological emergency. XR supports the expansion of renewable energy to address the environmental crisis and bring down the cost of living.

Also in: Campaigns