Addressing the assembled peace activists, Eastbourne Mayor Greg Szanto drew attention to the need to support the World March for Peace and Non-Violence which starts on October 2 2009 from New Zealand and ends on January 2 2010 in Argentina.
Peace, he said, was not just the absence of war and the elimination of weapons, but a state of mind in which all human beings are valued.
The theme for 2009 is Hope for the Future. Eastbourne for Peace and Liberty secretary George Farebrother said, "Ideas that were once seen as idealistic but impossible are now common currency.
"Britain has now signed a treaty banning cluster bombs and eminent mainstream voices from all over the world, including President-Elect Obama, are now seriously embracing the aim of a world free from the menace of nuclear weapons.
"However, hope is a fragile plant. As the New Year opens we can only express our sorrow and outrage at the renewed carnage in the Middle East.
"We must do our best in Eastbourne to face these realities and also to keep hope alive."
laura.sonier@trbeckett.co.uk