Craftivism.

Speaking of bunting, I thought I should mention the fantastic Climate Rush/Craftivist Collective campaign, A Railway Adventure, which is taking place throughout Britain on April 10th. As it says on their website:

"Over the next four years the UK Government will hike rail fares by 31%, the highest raise in fares in a generation. We were promised 'fair fares' but instead prices are up and our trains are overcrowded. A complicated ticketing system makes it even more difficult for us to choose the train. As the Craftivist Collective we are passionate about showing our love for our local and global neighbours. These unfair fares will stop people using trains when we need them to help us keep our carbon footprint down. They will hit the people living in poverty the most and stop them getting to their jobs and alienate them even more from society. They will be a great excuse for people to continue to go on short haul flights across the UK because it's cheaper and more convenient."

Personally, I love the railway. It is an integral part of our history, our culture, even our literature. If the circumstances were right I would choose the train over the car any day of the week. But the situation in Britain is ridiculous; I travel back and forth between London and north Wales at least once a term and in the three years that I have done so I have already seen the fare increase by £10. Even with a young person's railcard I pay well over the desired amount. In November, for example, when I went to York for the weekend to visit my brother, I spent nearly £70 on train tickets. I did not have the time or the freedom to go mid-week or early in the morning, so I stood on a train filled well beyond capacity for two plus hours. I cannot understand why this is the case; why it costs less to fly to Pisa or take the Eurostar to Paris than it costs me to go home for a couple of days; why the prices will continue to rise.

The Craftivism campaign is a wonderful way to highlight these issues. It involves sitting in train stations throughout the country, eating jam sandwiches and drinking tea, while making 4inch deep x 7inch wide fabric train carriage petitions - like this - in order to make a difference:


Hand-sewn/cross-stitch/fabric pen stats, facts and quotes are encouraged. (More photos here). Unfortunately - annoyingly - I will miss the Bangor event this evening because I am in London and I will miss the main London event on Sunday because I will be at home. Regardless of this, however, I am planning to print off a template before I leave, pack my sewing kit and an assortment of fabric scraps and do my bit for the project on my over-priced train journey back to north Wales.