Camden and Barnet residents joined tens of thousands marching through central london to protest against the government’s handling of the refugee crisis on Saturday.
They marched from Park Lane to Downing Street, where there were speeches in Parliament Square from politicians including Jeremy Corbyn, the newly elected leader of the Labour Party, and Green Party leader Natalie Bennett.
Former teacher and photographer Linda Grove, of Belsize Lane, took a series of pictures during the march.
She said: “I feel so strongly that we should accept some refugees in our country..The march today, was full of every nation and every organisation from Camden Teachers to the North London Jewish Society with wonderful banners like: ‘I’ll share my toys with you,’ to: ‘I’m an immigrant too.’ I felt very proud of our nation.”
She was joined by four Jewish families from Finchley whose children are all pupils at Manorside school and who marched to show solidarity.
Among them was Ariel Kahn who said: “We believe that this country should be welcoming to refugees, as they have helped make the country what it is today. We wanted to show that as Jews, our own historical experience of being refugees has put kindness and care for the vulnerable and those in need at the heart of who we are.
“It mattered to us that our children see the caring community they are part of at school extends much further than our postcode, and to discover how their own actions can lead to change.
“The march had an amazingly warm atmosphere, with music, singing, and cheering. The warm safe feeling we would hope to extend to any new arrivals on our shores was very much a feature of the march.”
Earlier, Dartmouth Park resident Benedict Cumberbatch recorded a message to introduce a new charity single for Save the Children.
As reported in the Ham & High Camden and Haringey council leaders have pledged to home refugees in the boroughs.
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