Parliament in the Making:

On Sunday 14 June 2015, 48,000 people across the UK took part in a collective event, LiberTeas, to mark the sealing of the Magna Carta.

Monday 15 June 2015 marked the 800th anniversary of the sealing of Magna Carta. To commemorate, initiated and led by Caterina, Parliament asked the nation to take a moment at 3pm on Sunday 14 June to celebrate, debate and reflect on those rights which we very often take for granted but which people throughout history have campaigned to make happen or fought to preserve. A LiberTeas event could be anything – a picnic in the park, a family Sunday lunch, a debate, a street party, an open day, or a historical walk. To coincide with LiberTeas, at 3pm churches across the country (and many overseas) were encouraged to ring for the Great Ringing Day. This was led by the Central Council of Church Bell Ringers.

Organisations and groups all over the UK (and some abroad) registered 250 events on an especially created LiberTeas website; many more people organised impromptu LiberTeas events or bell ringings. All those joining-in were offered the chance to plant a Magna Carta Yew Tree provided for free by the Conservation Foundation and provided with two tickets to the national Magna Carta commemoration in Runnymede on 15 June.

An estimated 48,000 people attended a LiberTeas. Some of these events were on a grand scale such as at Salisbury Cathedral where 3,000 people walked on a pilgrimage from Old Sarum to the Cathedral Green where they then had tea, through to a dozen friends gathering for lunch on a camp site in Wales. Many organisations took the opportunity to mark constitutionally historic events of local significance, for example The Tower of London and National Army Museum offered Tea with the Tommies, in Woborn Abbey the Russell family were highlighted, Shaws Corner of course celebrated the work of George Bernard Shaw, the day also marked the 370th anniversary of the Battle of Naseby and the battlefield was once again alive with soldiers, but this time accompanied by tea-bearers!  

Parliament has gone on to use the model to mark other events, such as the anniversary of women’s emancipation in 2018.