Faslane to York: The “Health Through Peace” bike tour

IPPNW cyclists at the starting line in Faslane, on their way to York.

by Aino-Ritva Weyers, International Student Represenative

A group of medical students and doctors from all over the world (Kenya, India, Pakistan, Germany, Nepal, Nicaragua and Russia) came together here in Scotland today to cycle to this year’s “Health Through Peace” conference and IPPNW Congress in York. On the way we aim to discuss global nuclear disarmament, causes of conflicts and weapons, and the affects on individual and population health with people we meet on the way. We start our cycle the 26^th of August from Faslane ( the harbour of the UK trident fleet) and finish in York where the conference is taking place.

On Monday, we will meet Scottish parliamentarian Bill Kidd in Edinburgh to learn from him about his engagement for nuclear disarmament in Scotland and especially recently during the Nuclear Ban Treaty Conference in New York. The ban on nuclear weapons is a huge concern to all of us.

The aim of our bike tour is to exchange knowledge about conflicts, peace, and the different relations our home countries have with nuclear weapons, and to talk with local people to learn about Trident in the UK. We want to better understand the unique position Scotland is in, being a country which hosts nuclear weapons, while at the same time it has democratically rejected them. We want to support the civil society here in Scotland, whose work we, as a part of a global movement, do really appreciate.

You can find out more about our bike tour here and read profiles of the cyclists here.

Our exact route will be: Glasgow -> Helenbrough -> Faslane, back to
Glasgow and then to Edinburgh -> Haddinton/Dunbar Area -> Berwick ->
Alnwick -> Newcastle -> Darlington/Middlebrough -> York