More than 50 people gathered at the Usk bridge in Llanfoist on Friday to demonstrate against the election of Donald Trump, as part of the Bridges Not Walls campaign that has organised protests across the globe.

The demonstrations began at 2pm, and were arranged on behalf of a coalition of regional and multi-national groups that represent migrant, climate change and LGBT issues. Organisers hoped to make a statement against the divisive comments made by President Trump during his election campaign.

Francis Buxton, who helped to coordinate the local effort, said, “We are here as a counter to the hateful things that Trump’s been saying about Muslims, about people of other colour and about women… this is a stand for the things that are opposite to that.

“There are some loud voices in America, and we’re not going to have an abusive voice like theirs, but we want to say we’ve got a strong voice. It’s about positive affirmative messages”.

The protests were co-ordinated with the inauguration of the newly elected President, and representation from local organisations was strong, with members of the Quakers and Abergavenny Friends of the Earth in attendance, along with representatives of several of the town’s churches.

Canon Mark Soady was one of the church leaders at the protest. He said: “I think remaining silent is admitting defeat and giving into the things in the world we don’t accept, so it’s important that we stand up to them and that can be done peacefully like we’ve done today.”

Campaigners hope to continue to arrange future meetings to help spread positive messages into the political arena over the next four years. Anyone interested in this cause should visit www.bridgesnotwalls.uk.