What we do
Making changes in our own lives is important but it's not enough. We believe the most effective climate action we can take is to use our collective power to demand that governments and corporations act now. This is our story.
November 2018: A small group of mothers meet under a ‘Worried Mum’ banner at a climate protest. There is an instant connection and Mothers Rise Up is born.
May 2019: MRU draws 3000 mothers, fathers and children to central London for a bold and colourful march to demand climate action on International Mothers Day. Over 100 high profile parents sign an open letter calling on governments to act.
September 2019: A protest outside the London headquarters of fossil fuel giants Shell and BP includes giant pushchairs and a new take on popular nursery rhymes such as 'Old King Coal'.
July 2020: MRU and Parents For Future UK create a family-powered wind farm outside Number 10 and publish an open letter from prominent parents calling for the Government to deliver a fair and green recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic.
March 2021: #OurOtherMother, a creative collaboration with children’s illustrators, such as Anita Bagdi and Jim Field, was launched during lockdown on Mother’s Day. The campaign, which celebrates the beauty and wonder of Planet Earth, has been adopted by parents groups from Nigeria to New Zealand.
June 2021: We kick off our campaign for Lloyd's to stop insuring fossil fuels by delivering a giant oil drum of dead flowers and an oversized Father’s Day card to Lloyd’s Chair and father of four, Bruce Carnegie-Brown. The action helps secure a face-to-face meeting with Lloyd’s staffers.
November 2021: Together with Moms Clean Air Force (U.S.), Warrior Moms (India), Parents for Future, Mums For Lungs and the Ella Roberta Family Foundation (U.K.), we deliver a letter to Alok Sharma, chair of COP26, from nearly 500 parents groups in 44 countries calling for ambitious climate action.
December 2021: We deliver an advent calendar depicting a mini cricket match that is disrupted by the climate crisis to Lloyd's HQ. It clearly hits the mark. Lloyd's Chair and cricket fan, Bruce Carnegie-Brown, gets in touch to say the calendar is displayed ‘in pride of place’ and debates Lloyd’s climate record on Twitter for the first time.
May 2022: Mothers Rise Up and Parents For Future UK are the first climate groups to secure a meeting with Lloyd's Chair, Bruce Carnergie-Brown. He acknowledges the severity of the climate crisis but gives no indication that the insurance giant will agree to a more rapid phase down of support for fossil fuel projects.
June 2022: Dancers, parents & kids recreate the 'Go Fly A Kite' scene from Mary Poppins where work obsessed dad, George Banks, realises that his children are all that really matters. We hope Lloyd's of London bosses - Bruce Carnegie-Brown and John Neal - will have their own epiphany and take more ambitious climate action for the sake of all children.
September 2022: The campaign moves to Lords - the home ground of Marylebone Cricket Club (which is also chaired by Carnegie-Brown). We unfurled a huge banner with the message ‘Bruce: Fossil Fuels are just not cricket’ - during a break in play at the England - India international as part of a weekend of action that began with a cricket match outside Lloyd’s HQ
November 2022: With the UN Climate Summit in Egypt failing to agree a phase down all fossil fuels we head to Downing Street with friends from Parents for Future UK and Extinction Rebellion Families. We deliver a letter from parents to Prime Minister Rishi Sunak calling on him to put children's health and future before corporate profits.
March 2023: Keeping the pressure on Lloyd's of London, Mother Earth performs live outside the Lloyd's offices to a crowd of parents and children. She sang reworked Motown classics about her plight and the desperate need for climate action within the company.
June 2023: Mothers Rise Up take action outside the Lloyd's of London investor AGM. The team hand out information to arriving investors and discuss why they should stop investing in fossil fuel insurance, for the sake of future generations and their legacy. The action was set to beautiful string music.
August 2023: A huge crowd of parents join MRU outside 10 Downing Street following the announcement of 100s of new oil and gas licenses. The announcement came as the Rhodes wildfires burned and extreme heatwaves raged across Europe.
October 2023: 'Nightmare on Lime Street' Halloween cake & cards are sent to Lloyd’s of London executives urging them to stop enabling terrifying fossil fuel projects .
October 2023: Mothers Rise Up co-founder Maya Mailer features in Women's Health magazine, discussing why she feels compelled to campaign and how other women can get involved.
November 2023: Mothers Rise Up appear on Channel 4 show 'The Great British Bake Off: An Extra Slice' reaching audiences of 2 million people. The team win Star Baker for their renewables powered lightbulb cake.
February 2024: MRU stage classical dance protest outside Lloyd's, kicking off the Global Week of Action to End Fossil Fuels. The performance featured oil derricks on stilts and a child inside a giant planet Earth zorb.
“Mothers Rise Up brings the campaign for climate justice to life with fantastic props, inspiring songs, powerful actions and the passion of parents fighting for their children’s future.”
— Konnie Huq, broadcaster and children’s author.