On 20 June 2019, bereaved families from across the UK will start a six day walk to parliament to raise awareness about the harms of current drug policy and to demand the legal control and regulation of the drugs trade.
The walk will culminate on 25 June, when record numbers of bereaved families and activists will descend on parliament to tell their stories and call on MPs to put doctors, pharmacists and licensed vendors in charge of the drugs market in order to save lives.
Rose, Anyone’s Child campaigner who lost two sons to drug overdoses says: “I'm walking 55 miles of the Thames Path for my dead sons Jake and Roland. Along the way we want to raise awareness and funding for our campaign. When we reach Parliament we want all MPs to know about Anyone's Child and the message we bring, so every one of them can't fail to see that current drug policies cause enormous harm.” .
Chris, who lost her son to a drug overdose says: “I’m walking for my son Jake, so his existence isn’t meaningless, so that 22 years of loving is not wasted, so that minds can be changed and attitudes altered. Please join us for an hour or a day and learn how changing the law could improve life for all of us in the future.”
Every week in the UK 70 people are lost in drug-related deaths. One in three drug-related deaths in the EU happens in the UK.
Anne-Marie Cockburn, Anyone’s Child campaigner, who lost her 15 year old daughter Martha to a drug overdose said: “As I stand by my child’s grave, what more evidence do I need that things must change? I believe that my daughter would still be alive today had she taken something that was legally regulated – as it would be labelled with a list of ingredients and recommended dosage information.”
The walk and day of action is part of a global initiative, Support. Don’t Punish, which will see thousands of people in over 100 cities mobilise in support of drug policies based on human rights and public health. Every year on the UN’s International Day Against Drug Trafficking and Abuse, the Support. Don’t Punish campaign mobilises thousands of people to expose the harms of the drugs war.
Walk schedule: meeting at 10 am every day.
Day 1 – Thursday 20 June, Cookham to Windsor. Meeting point: Ferry Pub, Cookham, SL6 9SN
Day 2 – Friday 21 June, Windsor to Staines. Meeting point: Jubilee fountain, Alexandra Park, Windsor, SL4 1RF
Day 3 – Saturday 22 June, Staines to Hampton Court. Meeting point: The Swan Hotel, The Hythe, Staines, TW18 3JB
Day 4 – Sunday 23 June, Hampton Court to Kew. Meeting point: The Mute Swan, 3 Palace Gate, Hampton Court, KT8 9BN
Day 5 – Monday 24 June, Kew to Battersea. Meeting point: One Over the Ait, 8 Kew Bridge Road, Brentford, London, TW8 0FJ
Day 6 – Tuesday 25 June, Thames Path Walk, 10:00am - 12:00pm. Meet at the Sun Gate of Battersea Park.
There will then be a gathering on College Green (Abingdon Street Gardens, Westminster) from 12.30pm - 2.00pm, with speeches, and a lobby of MPs from 1:30pm - 5:30pm in Room W2 in the Palace of Westminster.
* Anyone's Child: families for safer drug control https://anyoneschild.org/
* Support. Don't Punish http://supportdontpunish.org/
[Ekk/6]
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