Last Saturday was International Shellday and the West London group were on the streets to #tellshell (this is the twitter hashtag we are using) to stop their crazy Arctic drilling plans and Save the Arctic. It was a very exciting day not only because we were joined by Paula the Polar Bear but also because we knew that networks all over the world would be out protesting peacefully at Shell garages. We were hoping to welcome a few new faces to our group but as usual you never know how many people will come along on the day.
It came as a huge surprise when over 25 (!) people showed up at Bayswater Shell (the first of 3 Shell stations we visited that day) 22 of which were brand new supporters! It was lovely to see that so many new people were inspired by the Save The Arctic campaign (which was launched earlier this year) and felt so strongly about this cause that they decided to get involved actively. Many new faces stayed with us all day as we marched from Bayswater to Shell Chelsea and Shell South Kensington (all the while we were accompanied by a van full of friendly policemen who kept an eye on us). I was overwhelmed by the passion of our new supporters and hope to see them all at a meeting/street campaign or protest day in the near future.
The public’s response was mainly very positive and many people had already heard about the campaign, and we later found out that in the UK alone 500+ volunteers visited almost 60 Shell stations that day! After the protests all London teams met up at Buckingham Palace for a final photo and we then headed to a nearby pub for a (few) well deserved pints.
Thank you all at Greenpeace for organising such an amazing day once again, I can’t wait for next Shellday!
If you would like to get involved actively then please get in touch with your local group here, new members are always more than welcome!
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