March With Us to Protect Wildlife in Orpington on Sunday 29th March 2026

Last year we gathered in Priory Gardens to protest against the horrific catapult attacks happening in the park and across the borough. Animals from pigeons, swans, ducks and geese to foxes and squirrels, including red listed species like starlings, have been left bleeding and dying in the grass on a near daily basis. Even people’s pets, cats in their own driveways and dogs being walked in local parks, have been targeted in the local area. The culprits are so brazen, videos of the attacks are being uploaded on TikTok and Snapchat.

A year later, nothing has changed.

These attacks are still happening in Orpington, across South East London and across the country. Animals are being maimed. They are losing eyes, their bones are being shattered, birds will never fly again, baby animals are watching their parents killed in front of them. Locals are making police report after police report, yet little action is being taken. Residents tell us they are now frightened to enjoy their own green spaces.

Priory Gardens has become one of the worst affected places in the UK.

This march is about making one thing clear: we are not going anywhere.

We will not stop raising our voices until this issue is taken seriously by the authorities and meaningful action is taken to stop these attacks.

On Sunday 29th March we will march through Orpington to demand change.

We will meet at 1:30pm outside Lloyds Bank (177–179 High St, Kent BR6 0LJ) in The Walnuts Shopping Centre. From there we will march together to Priory Gardens, an approximately eight minute walk, looping the route before ending in the park.

Proposed route: https://maps.app.goo.gl/yZpYvpLn814YgdgX8?g_st=iw

The event will last around an hour and a half. Please wear comfortable walking shoes.

If you are not physically able to take part in the march itself, you are very welcome to join us at the end point in Priory Gardens to stand with us.

Enough is enough. It is time to reclaim our parks and green spaces as the havens for wildlife they should always have been, not playgrounds for cruelty.

Event details

The procession will begin outside the Walnuts Shopping Centre in Orpington High Street. The march will begin heading down the right-hand side of the High Street until it reaches the small roundabout junction between High Street and Church Hill.

The march will then turn right onto Church Hill and follow it down until you get to the gates of Priory Gardens on the left where the event will continue into the park. The procession will follow a straight path into the park, passing the Rose Garden on the right, then the Play Park on the left and the main ponds will be ahead of the path where the procession will continue around the main pond on the path.