A ‘kissmob’ of red-clad couples kissing for the planet will hit central Manchester’s Piccadilly Gardens on Thursday morning in a stunt aimed at raising awareness of a new Friends of the Earth campaign.

The ‘flashmob’ style action will be accompanied by a mass give-away of Kabloom ‘Kissboms’ – hand grenade-shaped seed parcels which ‘detonate’ to grow bee-friendly wildflower seeds when watered.

The stunt is part of the environment charity’s new push to get people to back one of its campaigns by planting their kiss on their favourite cause at www.foe.co.uk/kiss .

The charity is asking people to choose which issue they care about most – saving the bees, championing clean British energy or making sure the everyday products we use don’t harm the environment – under the banner ‘A kiss means the world’.

Once enough kisses are collected, it will trigger an exciting project activity, from creating 60 jubilee bee-friendly wildflower gardens, to an investigation into Britain’s broken energy system or launching an exposé into products that damage people and the planet.

Friends of the Earth’s North West Regional Campaigner Helen Rimmer said:

“Kissing is the way we show we care – but the people here today for our kissmob stunt aren’t just feeling frisky for the sake of it.

“If everyone takes the time to show how much they care about our planet, we can give it the kiss of life it needs.

“From saving the bees to mending our broken energy system or investigating dodgy products which harm our planet, we’re calling on the people of Manchester to show us which green cause floats their boat.”

ENDS

1.       Helen Rimmer, Friends of the Earth’s North West regional campaigner, and Catherine Thomson, coordinator of Manchester’s local Friends of the Earth group (07956 577 206), will be attending the event and are available for interview. Please contact the press office on 020 7566 1649 to arrange a phone interview with Helen Rimmer.

2.       To find out more about Friends of the Earth’s campaigns and support our work, visit www.foe.co.uk/kiss.

3.       Manchester Friends of the Earth is an award-winning environmental campaign group, raising awareness and lobbying for policy changes at a local, regional, national and international level. The group consists entirely of volunteers, and its campaigns are funded by membership fees and individual donations. Up-to-date information is available on the group’s website: www.manchesterfoe.org.uk. Manchester Friends of the Earth is a Licensed Local Group of Friends of the Earth, England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

4.       To find out more about Kabloom visit www.kabloom.co.uk or call founder Darren Wilson on 07716 133 316.