Three Britons are walking an estimated 350km from London to Brussels as part of ongoing efforts for the UK to rejoin the European Union.
They are carrying a public petition, which has signed by thousands of British citizens, calling for the UK to get back in the 27-strong bloc.
This comes just ahead of a major pro-Remain march in London later this month where tens of thousands of people are expected.
The three walkers are accompanied part of the way by members of East Kent for Europe, which is a branch of the European movement, founded by Winston Churchill together with other European political leaders in 1949 in the aftermath of World War 2.
East Kent for Europe is also active in the campaign for cross-channel trains to stop again at Calais and Ashford stations, and also in “citizenship education” focusing on Erasmus+ projects and more youth mobility.
Eurostar trains stopped stopping at Ashford in 2020 at the outset of the health pandemic and local MPs have campaigned for a restoration of the service to the Kent town ever since. Travellers from Kent have to travel to St Pancras in London if they wish to take a cross channel train.
The “Rejoin the EU” ramble comes with reported 60% of the UK and 80% of under 25s polling that they want to rejoin the EU.
A spokesman for the campaign told this website: “We wanted a way to show our support for the European Union from the UK, which still has the largest pro-EU campaigning community in the whole of Europe.
“We decided we would collect messages of support on our website, then publish them all together in a physical book.
“The question was: how to get the book to the EU Parliament in Brussels?”
Their answer was to hand deliver the book after walking all the way from London – Brussels in over 2 weeks.
Three members of the National Rejoin March / NRM Youth team are responsible for the Rejoin Ramble.They are: Peter Corr, Ceira Sergeant and Clare Hall.
Peter Corr is also the person who is organising the main REJOIN march in London June 20 which is expected to attract many thousands from across the European Movement groups in UK.
The ‘ramble’ to Brussels is intended to help raise pre-publicity to that event.
Peter Corr used to drive HGVs cross-channel while Claire Hall is his partner. The couple live in Burton -on-Trent. Ceira Sergeant is a student nurse from Liverpool.
They had been training for the marathon walk to the Belgian capital for 12 weeks and have been joined for part of the trek by many supporters from different organisations.
After a ferry from Dover, they stopped at Calais on Thursday, 28 May, where they were joined by local residents who organise, via the internet, conversations in French and other European languages. The scheme is designed to promote international linking and understanding.
The walk is due to end in Place Luxembourg, Brussels, a square directly opposite the EU parliament which is where the walkers hope to present their Rejoin petition.
Brexit has re-emerged as a hot political issue in recent weeks with a fierce debate in the Labour party and any possible leadership challenge this summer to the current PM, Sir Keir Starmer.
The UK official exited the EU in January 2020 after a referendum vote in 2016 resulted in a narrow majority wanting to leave the bloc.
Photo credit: Rejoin the EU/ East Kent for Europe
