PUPILS from three schools in Bradford on Avon are to turn out on Friday (September 20) in solidarity with the International Youth Strike for Climate Justice.

Children from Christchurch and Fitzmaurice primary schools and St Laurence secondary school will gather at Westbury Gardens next to the River Avon.

The gathering at 1pm is supporting the strike for climate justice being held all over the world to draw attention to the threat of climate change on the future of young people and their demand that more and faster action is taken.

Protesters, both adults and children, will gather at the gates of St Laurence, Christchurch and Fitzmaurice schools and march with placards and banners into town expressing their concern.

On arrival in the gardens there will be short speeches by children, students and adults to support people all over the world whose lives are suffering because of climate change.

Lucy Vigar, a former pupil at St Laurence School who is now a student at Warwick University, will be one of the young people addressing the gathering. She said: "There’s no time to lose in the fight for climate justice.

"Climate change is all around us: intensifying storms, hurricanes, heatwaves and wildfires, as well as slow-burning disasters like drought and famine - all of which hit vulnerable communities the worst.

"This moment is a unique opportunity to create a roaring up swell of public support for the ambitious climate solutions we need at all levels of government worldwide."

The School Strikes movement began in August 2018 when Swedish schoolgirl Greta Thunberg went on strike. Since then the movement has spread across the globe.

The strike on Friday is being supported by organisations as diverse as Amnesty, the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, the World Wildlife Fund and Oxfam.

People attending will be invited to bring a plastic-free picnic to eat after the gathering.