World renowned climate activist Greta Thunberg will visit Bristol today (Friday, Feb 28).
The teenager will take part in a Youth Strike 4 Climate march through the city centre and stop by a mural of herself in Bedminster .
Thousands of activists from across the country are expected to flock to the city to watch the 17-year-old give a speech on College Green at 11am.
UPDATE: We are posting live updates on Greta Thunberg's visit, including the latest traffic news, here.
Due to the unprecedented numbers expected at the march police warned there is potential for "crushing" during Greta's visit and admitted the event may not be controlled "adequately".
And as a result there are some parents across the city who are in two minds about whether to take their children to the event.
One such parent is Cllr Helen Godwin, the Bristol City Council cabinet member for women, children and families.
Writing on the Bristol mayor's blog she said: "As my children are primary aged I have been considering all week whether it would be appropriate to take them out of school to hear Greta speak tomorrow.
"It feels like a once in a lifetime event and opportunity to hear from a young woman who has used her voice so powerfully to change the world.
"However, the statement released by Avon & Somerset Police and Bristol City Council has led me to reconsider.
"The main concern for tomorrow has to be the safety of children, and, as a parent I respect the concerns that the police have in terms of safety, especially of primary aged children.
"The nature of the Youth School Strikes is ‘organic’ and as such it is really difficult for a city to plan for crowd sizes, transport implications and moving people around.
"We simply do not know how many people are planning to come to Bristol or the exact plans of the organisers.
"Bristol is a city with a long history of protest, and we are rightly proud of this and everyone who wants to take part tomorrow should be able to do so proudly and safely."
However Cllr Godwin also shared some ideas for those families and teachers who decide not to attend the march at College Green today but want to help their children mark the day.
- Encourage all students to walk or cycle to school
- Host a class litter picking competition in your local area
- Ban the plastic with a plastic free day (including no plastic school chairs!)
- Make some placards out of recycled materials to wave outside the school gates
- Come up with a student climate plan for the year ahead with pledges everyone can sign up to which will reduce their carbon footprint.
