Soon, students across the UK will be striking once again to protest lack of government action to combat the climate crisis. Below is a step by step guide on how you can join #YouthStrike4Climate.

 

STEP 1-FIND YOUR NEAREST STRIKE

Check the list of already registered strikes here to see if there is one planned in your area already. If your city, town or village is on there and you want to get more involved in organising, sign-up here. If there’s not one there yet, keep scrolling!

STEP 2-SEEK PERMISSION

Seek permission. You’ll need permission from your parent/guardian to miss school which is usually only done in situations of illness. Absence can also be granted in ‘exceptional circumstances’ and many believe that imminent climate breakdown is ‘exceptional’. Neither UKSCN nor Youth Strike 4 Climate is encouraging you to break the law and you can legally strike with permission for absence from your school. Some people choose not to seek permission and that is their own choice.

You stand the best chance of success with a clear understanding of your personal motivations to strike, consent from your school, and permission from a parent / guardian. Resources to help you talk to your school can be found here. Letters parents can send to your school to help you get their permission can be found here.

STEP 3-SPREAD THE WORD

Spread the word. In order to create a meaningful impact, UKSCN needs your help to make the #ClimateStrike to be as big as possible. Thousands of students have attended strikes across the world in recent months, and to do the same in the UK we need to reach as wide an audience as possible. The best ways to do this include:

  • Sharing the website; Sending the link to our website to as many people as you can, along with sharing it on social media or in group chats. This is a great way to further spread information about the UK wide strike. Here’s some inspiration for messages that you can send to people.
  • Talking to people about what you’re doing; if you’ve got this far, chances are you’re passionate about this issue. Talking to anyone and everyone about UKSCN, the #ClimateStrike , and how students are fighting the ecological crisis we have created will spread this passion and be powerful in gaining their support. You can find our posters here.

 

 

WHAT SHOULD I DO IF THERE ISN’T A STRIKE NEAR ME? 

If you can’t find your city, town or village on the list of strike locations, it’s likely it hasn’t been organised yet. Now’s the time to register your own event and get to work bringing people together to join you at your strike!

 

CHOOSE A LOCATION

Choosing a location is really important, and places that work well include government buildings, town halls, Universities or public squares. It should be easy to get to, hopefully central and quite busy so that people can get to know why you’re there.

 

MAKE A FACEBOOK EVENT

For guidance on how to do this, check out this guide. The key thing is to make sure the name clearly shows what it is i.e. climate strike. A suggested name could be “Manchester Climate Strike”.

 

PROMOTE YOUR EVENT

Some easy ways to promote your event are:

  • Word of mouth – tell all your friends and family that it is happening and encourage them to not only spread the word, but attend on the day itself.
  • Posters/flyers – try this editable template, or feel free to get creative and make your own. Good places to stick them up include lamp posts, on doors of the toilets at schools/colleges/universities, bus stops, post offices, town noticeboards
  • Online noticeboards – if your community has any online newsletters or information channels, think about approaching them to put the word out. Community facebook pages also might be a good place to start. 
  • Set-up a Social Media account or page – Instagram is good for getting more young people, Facebook and Twitter would be better for adult outreach. To make your own graphics for Social Media, you can visit toolpic.fridaysforfuture.de or www.protest.graphics or try Canva to make your own.

 

REACH OUT TO LOCAL COMMUNITY GROUPS

The concept of climate justice is inherently related to social justice: existing vulnerabilities will only widen in the face of the climate crisis. Therefore, the climate crisis insects with the work of lots of social justice groups. Groups you could contact could be:

  • Trade Unions
  • Faith centres (e.g mosques, synagogues)
  • Colleges + universities
  • Schools
  • Women’s groups or feminist societies
  • Disabled people’s organisations
  • Black, Asian and minority Ethinic organisations
  • LGBTQ+ groups
  • Residents associations
  • Other environmental groups (eg. Extinction Rebellion, Friends of the Earth, Earth Strike, Greenpeace)
  • Other activist groups (eg. housing, education or healthcare campaigns, other social justice groups)

Remember to explain who you are and why you are contacting them. Some organisations have already publicly announced support for us in the past – to see the full list click here.

 

CONTACT YOUR LOCAL PRESS

Check out this media toolkit for all you need to know about how to get coverage for your strikes.

 

LOGISTICS

There are a couple of things that you might want to consider having at your event:

  • Entertainment! If people are going to stay for a while, make sure you have ways to keep them entertained – music, or speakers, or fun games and activities 
  • Wellbeing area – protests can be overwhelming spaces, it is good to have a tent or area where people can take a step back. Depending on how big your strike is, you might want to consider having first aiders or contacting groups such as St John’s ambulance.
  • A megaphone or microphone
  • Visuals – make sure you have some banners or clear signs so that it’s immediately clear what you’re doing and why 
  • Leaflets to hand out to passers by to spread the message 

 

LEGALITY AND POLICING

This next section applies to England, Wales and Northern Ireland only. For information on Scotland please contact SYCS.

In the UK we have the right to protest peacefully, but even when actions are both legal and peaceful, this doesn’t mean the police will act reasonably. It’s impossible to know how the police will react in any given situation.

The vast majority of protesters in the UK don’t get arrested, but we aim to be prepared for anything in order to keep ourselves and other people as safe as possible. Click here to find out how to keep people safe at your strike.