I WANT to offer my congratulations and thanks to the young people from Stroud’s secondary schools for their recent climate change demonstration, writes reader Nigel Westaway.

I was there at the green by the canal when they arrived and I found their energy and concern profoundly moving - and I left later with a sense of hope I hadn’t been able to find for a long time.

So far, our MPs have largely failed to grasp the enormity of what is facing humanity on a global scale, despite urgent warnings by scientists and, lately, by everbody’s favourite naturalist, David Attenborough.

If the school students strike every month as planned, I hope their numbers grow and grow, until our leaders are forced to take notice.

So please stick with it, young people; we need you like never before.

And by the way, I wouldn’t describe any of this as ‘skipping school’ - it’s the beginning of taking responsibility for the future which we, the older generation, are simply not doing.

And finally, thanks also to Colin Belford, head teacher at Archway School for finding a way to allow those who wanted to join the strike to do so.

To you, a plea to wake up – good exam results are going to be meaningless in a world that can no longer support us.

Nigel Westaway

Stroud