The Movement

What is the CFM?

The Children’s Fire Movement (CFM) is a peaceful, non-profit organisation** that seeks to support individuals, communities and businesses in committing to leaving a more life-affirming legacy for our children and their future generations.

**The CFM is an arm of buddygroups CIC, a UK registered non-profit Community Interest Company.

Our primary means of achieving this aim are…

1) To bring people together in agreement with the ethic of ‘Life First’  – by publicly demonstrating/promoting this via our website and other places both off and on the web.  That is… to place the continuation of Life, and our future generations, First – before profit, power or personal ambition. (Learn more about Life First here, and demonstrate your agreement by signing our Life First campaign here).

2) To provide training, and an online community area, to support individuals and groups with integrating the wisdom of the Children’s Fire into their everyday lives. Agreeing to put Life First and then actually putting Life First (as with any form of behaviour change in our busy 21st century lives) is not always an easy thing to do – especially when going it alone.

3) To provide communities, businesses and individuals with community/democracy building tools that place the Life First ethic at their very heart.

Please note that the CFM encourages self-authority and life-affirming resilience – we are not here to dictate the details of what community, or society, should look like. We exist only to provide life-affirming structures to support individuals and community groups move in whatever way is needed, whilst always ensuring that the continuation and diversity of life is safe-guarded.

The movement comprises several aspects, ranging from a simple life-affirming agreement to a path of life-change…

So, the CF Movement isn’t just a peaceful collective of individuals and groups who care about our children’s future – it’s also a pragmatic, self-sustaining network aligned only with ensuring that life is respected, and that it continues in all it’s myriad forms.

We’re Not Re-inventing the Wheel!

Yes, the good news is that there are already a plethora of environmental movements, peace movements, ethical charities, businesses and on-line action-based websites (such as Avaaz.org) that already do some fantastic work towards creating a more compassionate and sustainable future.

As more movements form and grow we are notified of campaign after campaign, after campaign. It is so very important that we continue to be notified, AND… from our perspective, so many of these campaigns are tackling the symptoms of a broken system, which will continue unless we fundamentally change the way humanity goes about it’s business. The Children’s Fire Movement supports the exposure and healing of the root causes that underlie the many symptoms we now face.

The Way Forward is Together

Humanity is comprised of an amazingly rich diversity of cultures, disciplines and practices but despite the advent of the internet and other accessible media, there are still damaging rifts in our societies born of ignorance and fear.

This movement is about bridging these divides. Primarily through the focus of our shared responsibility to the planet and our future generations, but also by providing individuals and community groups with the tools needed to look more deeply into the human condition and into how ignorance, fear and isolationism can be so destructive to us as a species – on so many levels (from personal anxiety and depression to wider issues such as world poverty, terrorism and war).

Local Communities

One of the key areas of activity for the CFM is to provide a catalyst/support structure for local community building.

One such offering in this area is our CCLJ Programme.

It’s a Peaceful Process

It is so important to understand that this is a peaceful, non-violent movement that in no way condones judgement or reprisals. We operate on the understanding that each and every one of us is doing the best we can in each moment – given our life circumstances, conditioning etc – and therefore promote empathy and compassion as our guides. This, in no way, equates to apathy or inaction – there are many potent non-violent means of creating real, sustainable change.

It’s Origin

Below is Antony Cholerton‘s (the founder of the Children’s Fire Movement) account of how the CFM came into being…

Although I was taught about the Children’s Fire many years ago, along with other tools, concepts and practices, it wasn’t until early 2011 that the light bulb actually switched on in my mind regarding it becoming an accessible, and possibly significant movement for change. I am learning to appreciate that there is a perfect timing and rhythm in all things.

 

It was when I came across a YouTube video of Tim ‘Mac’ Macartney delivering an emotive talk on the Children’s Fire at QI Global that the penny actually dropped. It wasn’t just his inspirational delivery of an ancient, and timeless wisdom, but also the manner in which I came across the video. It had been sitting, ‘lost in action’, in one of the many tabs in my web browser for weeks until a potent thunderstorm descended upon our Cornwall home. Though the power had been taken out (thankfully I’d been working on a laptop) and the room plunged into darkness, the powerful tones of Mac’s voice were now emanating from my headphones!

 

Maybe the questions we should be asking are ‘what are the consequences of us not mustering the courage to speak our truth?’ and ‘what kind of legacy will we, both as individuals and as a human collective, be leaving for our children, and our children’s children  if we choose to remain victim to our fears – mute and passive?’.His words resonated, mingling with my deep connection with Earth and my responsibilities as a father of three beautiful children. And even though it’s taken me until now to publicly respond to that catalytic event, it had been pretty clear to me in that moment as to what was needed. I think we all know, deep down, beneath our fears and assumptions about the world. Beneath the ‘what if’s’ and the fantasy of ‘what will happen to me if I dare to speak my truth?’. Maybe the questions we should be asking are ‘what are the consequences of us not mustering the courage to speak our truth?’ and ‘what kind of legacy will we, both as individuals and as a human collective, be leaving for our children, and our children’s children if we choose to remain victim to our fears – mute and passive?’.