A special evening has been organised by a group of Gloucester students to raise money for the relief effort in Australia, following the wildfires that have devastated parts of the country.

The night, called ‘Australia is Burning’, has been organised by the Gloucester branch of the UK Student Climate Network (UKSCN) with help from Strike a Light, the Gloucester-based arts and culture initiative.

The UKSCN is a nationwide group made up of students, mainly under the age of 18, who have organised strikes and school walk-outs to raise awareness of climate change.

Nora Buffery is a member of the Gloucester UKSCN and one of the people behind the upcoming fundraiser.

She said: “We’re holding an arts awareness night with half of the proceeds going to the wildfire relief fund and the other half to the school strike group in Australia.

“We’re going to have live music and performances from people like Issy Winstanley and the Gloucester Poetry Society.”

Nora has been part of the Student Climate Network since March 2019 and has been involved in school strikes including last September’s Global Climate Strike, which saw over 300,000 people take to the streets in the UK alone.

But she says the ‘Australia is Burning’ night will be the first large-scale fundraising event they have arranged.

“It’s a bit scary because we can’t guarantee anyone will turn up,” continued Nora, a student at Denmark Road High School.

“But Strike a Light have been really helpful with the logistics side as well as helping us to advertise.

“They came to our strike in September and we’re now working with them to create a theatre project on climate change.”

Ben Whitnall from Strike a Light added: “These young people are genuinely inspiring – they’re conscientious and compassionate, and also fierce and funny.

“Their attitude is infectious and we’d love to see loads more people supporting them. More power to them!”

‘Australia is Burning’ will be at Gloucester Guildhall on Thursday 6th February.

For tickets and more information, visit www.strikealight.org.uk