Extinction Rebellion Winchester holds protest march

Members paraded up and down the High Street on Saturday, June 1 to raise awareness of the Restore Nature Now march in London on Saturday, June 22.

A spokesman for Extinction Rebellion Winchester said: “We are basically going to be marching around the city centre with two objectives.

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Red Rebels in Winchester High Street (Image: Chris Atkinson)

“One objective is to draw people’s attention to a forthcoming big march in London, which is called ‘Restore Nature Now’, and that march is a collaboration between Extinction Rebellion, the Wildlife Trust and the National Trust, so it is a wide breadth of organisations. The agenda of that march is to bring the nature biodiversity crisis to the fore.

“We want the government to provide more funding for nature, make polluters pay for their damage to nature, create more green space and put more legal framework around nature and our healthy natural environment.

“Today we will be giving out leaflets about that future march, but we will also be spreading the wider message that the UK is one of the most nature-depleted countries in the world. And people don’t understand that because they don’t see the change relative overtime.”

The protestors were joined by members of the Red Rebels, who were dressed in their customary red robes and white face paint.

Protesters marched up Winchester High Street (Image: Chris Atkinson)

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The spokesperson continued: "The Red Rebels are an iconic symbol for Extinction Rebellion. Their meaning is one for individuals to interpret, but what they are good at is drawing attention in a passive way.

“Some of those Red Rebels are from Winchester, and others have come from out of town for today’s march.

“As a movement, we find them really useful for engaging with people and they make for a real spectacle, and that’s why they are here today.”