On the July 18th, Sand in Your Eye were at Skegness beach working on a climate message to Rishi Sunak Prime Minister.
As Marlena Shaw’s ‘Lets Wade in the Water’ blasted out from the pier; Jamie, Dave, Claire, Jocasta, Jonathan and Hannah set about marking up a 60metre postcard addressed to the PM.
Working with Rights Community Action, as part of their ongoing #WeAreHere campaign the ‘Postcard from the Edge’ sent a clear message to the Government; More action is needed to protect coastal towns from devastation.
The people of Skegness, Mayor Pete Barry, Extinction Rebellion, and Lincolnshire Climate Conscious Students all contributed to the sand art with messages of their own surrounding the postcard. ‘Save us?’, ‘I am so scared for my grandson’, ‘almost out of time’ and ‘don’t let us drown’ covered approximately 120x60m of Skegness sand. As the tide began to roll in around 4:30pm, the image gradually disappeared with the water.
“The fact that it will disappear with the tide is quite symbolic because if something isn’t done about climate change, communities living along this coast will be washed away by flooding,” explained Naomi Luhde-Thompson, Director of Rights Community Action.
The Government released its latest proposals for boosting the country’s resilience the day before the sand drawing. The five-year national adaptation plan outlined measures to tackle overheating and flooding.
The 140-page document was criticised by experts for not containing substantial new money or legislation.
Rights Community Action called for the Prime Minister to give local councils more power to take action. It said existing planning rules were “inadequate” and “investment falls far short of what is required”.
