It is time to say “enough is enough” in response to the high numbers of children killed in bombings in Syria, actress Carey Mulligan said ahead of a demonstration at Downing Street.
Teddy bears are to be piled outside the gates in a poignant message from campaigners about the human cost of the conflict.
Celebrities including The Great Gatsby star Mulligan will join protesters on Whitehall, central London, to demand the Government intervene over Russian and Syrian bombing campaigns.
Speaking before the rally Mulligan, who gave birth to a daughter last year, said she cannot imagine her own child suffering through war.
She told BBC Breakfast: “It's unimaginable to think of my daughter going through any of these experiences, let alone what the children are going through in Aleppo. It's heartbreaking and I think every parent can relate to that.”
Mulligan, who is a global ambassador of War Child, urged the people of Britain to take a stand.
She added: “I think today is so important because it's a moment for everyone at home who has been experiencing what I've been experiencing of opening the newspaper and going online and seeing these images that are just so heartbreaking and seeing children. There's a real sense of hopelessness as a reader, as an audience, as someone who lives in England of thinking that there's nothing we can do.
“And I think today we can all come together and draw a line in the sand and say enough is enough - 191 children have died in the last month in Aleppo, there are 100,000 children stuck there today and we need to call on our Government to take a really strong stance and come up with robust measures to deal with this.”
Mulligan, who has visited refugee camps, said the most shocking thing is “the sense of a lost future”.
Campaigners will deliver a letter to Number 10 demanding Theresa May take action to help cease the bloodshed in the war-ravaged nation.
It comes after the Prime Minister insisted on Friday the EU must keep “all options” open if Russia continues to commit atrocities in the conflict zone.
Campaigners said the day of action is a rebuttal to Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson's call for protests outside the Russian embassy - as they feel the British Government needs to play a stronger role itself.
Among the organisations involved are Amnesty International UK, Avaaz and Christian Aid, and Labour MP Alison McGovern is also expected to speak.
Press Association.
