“It’s like living in the future now” says Ellen McCormack, one of the Youth Voices, involved with a week of activities happening on Facebook and Instagram in the last week of May from Wednesday 27th to Friday 29th organised by Earth Protector Communities (EPC).
Youth Voices Week has been organised to engage young people in positive action that encourage a sense of wellbeing in the community, in challenging times, when young people have so many big issues to contend with. There will be a series of interviews with young people, music, poetry and performance to enjoy, including a film short from the Stroud based Flies On The Wall Youth Theatre group, and an interview and virtual performance by the Birmingham-based group, Highbreed, whose songs are futuristic and mindful of Earth care.
Ellen McCormack, a year 13 student, who has been doing volunteer work for EPC, said, “When I found out about the work of Stop Ecocide and Earth Protector Communities through involvement with XR Youth, I just thought it was incredible: positive and hopeful; it feels so important. And with Earth Protector Communities, the idea of living as if the law against Ecocide was already in place I think is brilliant.”
In tandem with London Arts for Health encouraging nationwide Creativity and Wellbeing, this week, Earth Protector Communities Youth Voices will be interviewing Ruth Davey (look-again.org) on Friday 22nd May, whose organisation, Look Now, runs regular events to support wellbeing through photography, for a range of different groups. They will also be doing live interviews on Friday 29th May with Robin Ellis, founder of the Youth XR movement, and Cheltenham-based blogger, Tolmeia Gregory, ethical and sustainable fashion activist.
On June 12th, Earth Protector Communities are offering a free online mental health first aid course. Sarah Frazer, an integral member of the EPC core team and Healthy Being group is a qualified Mental Health First Aid practitioner, and the EPC team are hoping that this offer will help to support young people in adjusting and dealing with the challenges of the pandemic, as well as supplying them with skills that will benefit them post-pandemic. The course is or 16-25 year olds. There are a limited number of places so interested individuals need to book their place well in advance by emailing
Conscious of the importance of maintaining a positive outlook in these current challenging times, Earth Protector Communities have teamed up with Jasmine Tribe, organiser of the Oceans Festival in Bristol who works for City to Sea, founded by Natalie Fee, to offer a special treat for World Environment Day on Friday 5th June. There are free tickets which can be booked online by going to the EPC facebook page for the virtual screening of the film 2040. This film is so inspiring and uplifting, EPC felt it was important to make this available right now. There are a limited number of tickets available though, so to book one for your household, it’s recommended that you do that as soon as possible!
Earth Protector Communities is a charity inspired by the visionary work of Polly Higgins, the Earth Lawyer, who died last year. They are a sister organisation to the Stop Ecocide campaign group. EPC inspires local regenerative responses to our current ecological crisis and is working with a growing local and global number of community groups, including businesses, schools, health and inter-faith groups to protect our land, soil, water and wildlife; and the wellbeing of all through this means. They endorse the work of Stop Ecocide but encourage a ground-level up perspective, looking through a lens of ‘first do no harm’ to address the systemic changes which are needed.
Follow Earth Protector Communities on instagram facebook and twitter for news and updates and earthprotectorcommunities.net for further info
For the latest developments in the Stop Ecocide campaign visit stopecocide.earth and click here for our article on the recently published book Dare To Be Great by Polly Higgins.