Black Lives Matter protesters gather at Rickmansworth Park

As many as 300 protesters settled down in Rickmansworth Park on Saturday afternoon for a socially distanced peaceful and poignant event.

The family-friendly event had only been arranged within six days and for many, it was the first BLM protest they had taken part in.

Attendees, who brought placards and posters with them took the knee for eight minutes and forty seconds, shouted ‘I Can’t Breathe’, ‘Black Lives Matter’, before the event came to a close shortly after 4pm with a chant of ‘No Justice No Peace’.

Protesters took the knee and maintained social distance (Photo: Twisty at Twisty Images)

And in between, they listened to several speakers from a variety of backgrounds and ethnicities.

Some younger black people spoke about the experiences they have faced of racism, even within their own Hertfordshire communities, they spoke about the importance of raising awareness within communities, while also urging everyone to look at themselves and reflect on what changes they can make too.

Guest speakers talked about their experiences (Photo: Twisty at Twisty Images)

Rachel Carter, a deputy head teacher at a school in London, read out the names of more than a dozen black men who had died following police contact.

Ms Carter, who lives in Rickmansworth, added: “I think Britain is very good at holding up America as the big bad wolf, but Britain here needs to look at itself, including everyone here and myself.

“Everyone needs to make change from today and reflect.”

Ms Carter also spoke about the racism she is subjected too - what she called ‘everyday racism’.

And she also highlighted the fact that 1 per cent of head teachers in the UK are black and 1.2 per cent of deputy and assistant heads are black.

Many protesters came to express solidarity during the protest (Photo: Twisty at Twisty Images)

An Asian man spoke bravely about a racial attack he had experienced just as week ago.

The father-of-two did not say where it happened, but he was out on a run before being approached by two kids - and he was beaten.

He said the protest in the park was the first time he’d been out since the attack. He told the crowd that he was beaten because of his colour.

But he said defiantly that the attack hadn’t changed him before closing the speech with ‘I am brown, Asian, and I am British’.

Around 150 people attended the peaceful protest (Photo: Twisty at Twisty Images)

One of the most memorable speeches was from a head teacher living in Rickmansworth.

The speech was impromptu and she described herself as a ‘white, middle-class, professional woman living in a nice house with nice friends.

She said that in the last few weeks, she had done a lot of research, and said it was time to ‘take herself out of her lovely Rickmansworth bubble and try and do things differently’.

The leader of Three Rivers District Council, Sara Bedford, was also invited to speak and she finished her speech by taking the knee.

Council leader Sara Bedford showed her support (Photo: Twisty at Twisty Images)

The concluding speech by one of the organisers included: “We’ve shown we can stand together for a unified cause. Let’s fight for a fairer tomorrow because enough is enough”.

Organisers Dee and Tahlia appeared to be delighted at how the event went.

They said: “We wanted it to be peaceful and it was. We had authentic speakers.”

'Racism is the pandemic,' read one sign (Photo: Twisty at Twisty Images)

Although there are no further protests planned in Rickmansworth, Dee said: “This is just the start, this is so big. Change is going to come, we are seeing it now. It takes all of us.”

Check out Facebook group WD3 Unity if you want to find out more about the Black Lives Matter movement in Rickmansworth.