Thank you all for your comments. I have many other things that I could be doing with my Sunday afternoon, but would like to share my reasons for attending a pro-EU event.
Since the referendum vote we have heard from a loud minority (and it is a minority) of Leave voters and some of the media expressions of very anti-eu sentiment ("Up yours EU", "Evil Dictatorship" "Nazis"). Our European neighbours are hearing this and our reputation is badly bruised. I am going to have MY say tomorrow. I am going to say that I appreciate all the EU has done for me, my family and my region and that the loud abusive minority do not represent me. I am going to celebrate what the EU has done for the UK.
On 23 June a decision was made which will take away my rights as an EU citizen and those of my children, one of whom has very concrete European career plans which are now in jeopardy. That decision threatens to break up the UK. That decision is going to bring years of hardship (that is something politicians actually seem to agree on and they don't seem to be lying). It is a decision that was advised against by every expert or MP that I have respect for. It is estimated it will cost the country £70 billion a year. It has unleashed a terrifying wave of xenophobia. It has shaken the lives of two close European friends who have lived here 25 years, pay taxes, give so much to their community yet feel unwelcome. I could have said "OK", but I cannot.
Had that decision been the result of a fair, fact-based campaign and the result of a well-informed vote, I might have said "OK". It was not. The NHS whopper remains on the leave campaign FB page as a haunting reminder. The media played a criminal role in leading voters off the cliff. We saw what in many other professions would be labelled gross professional misconduct from some M.Ps, most of whom are still running the country. I cannot say "OK".
If Leave voters want to organise a "Get us out quick" march, as long as it is peaceful and legal, I can honestly say I have no problem with it at all. At a March for Europe event in September, a Leave voter approached me and asked in amazement why I wanted to remain. We both explained our point of view, neither of us changed our minds, but we were polite and friendly. I value such debate.
Democracy means the people having their say in shaping a country's future. If the whole Brexit process could have been done and dusted on 24 June, there would have been little time for me to have my say. Most of us don't know if we are going to have a soft, hard or scrambled Brexit. I am allowed to have my say. I will continue making a noise, legally and peacefully to campaign for the closest possible relations between the UK and the EU. I will campaign for the continuation of Erasmus funding, medical research funding, university collaboration. Who knows, they may even benefit some of you who are so against pro-EU events one day.