Strong representations have been made to an anti-abortion organisation to stay away from the town when the annual Keswick Christian Convention is being staged in the summer.
For the past two years Brephos, an organisation that provides resources and training to help churches address abortion, have had a presence in the town during the gathering and have brought along a large billboard showing the image of a nine-week-old foetus in the womb, which has been prominently displayed in Main Street.
Keswick Town Council clerk Vivien Little said the council receives a lot of complaints from the public when Brephos is in town and the billboard causes a lot of distress.
Councillors heard that at a recent town liaison forum meeting, Mark Ellis, of Keswick Ministries, said strong representations had been made to Brephos urging them to stay away because of the disagreement in the anti-abortion organisation’s approach.
He said Keswick Ministries will also be exploring other options to deter Brephos from making an appearance and would keep in close liaison with the town council.
Meanwhile, the council plans to explore Public Space Protection Order (PSPO) powers and facilitate local charity stands, staffed by volunteers, at the Main Street junction to deter Brephos.
“There are some things we can do to stop this,” said Vivien. “There are some powers outside the public protection order that we can use.”
Cllr Sally Lansbury said another option was to predict when Brephos was going to arrive and get an enforcement officer there.
This year is the 150th anniversary of the Keswick Convention and big numbers of people are expected to converge on the town in July.
Last year there were 3,000 plus children and young people along with more families.
