Fourteen people from across Cumbria are now trained as carbon literate climate champions. They’re getting ready to host events in their communities to highlight the crucial need for all of us to take urgent action on the climate emergency – and to show how we can do it.
CAfS climate champions will have the flexibility to offer talks to interest groups of all sorts, including parish councils, U3A groups, Women’s Institutes and more.
Champions can also pioneer their own events and promote them to whoever they want to engage. These could include workshops for schools, online events celebrating existing carbon reduction activities or challenges to get friends and family to reduce their carbon footprints.
Anyone who joined the project not already connected to a local sustainability group is very much encouraged to start by building that link, to potentially support and learn from their local group and avoid any duplication. Champions are already planning events for Great Big Green Week, with Keswick, Levens and Whitehaven being a few of the locations that will see activity.
Hugh Taylor, Janet Battye, Ian Lund and Joe Human have all joined the Climate Champions project this year. We asked them why it was that they chose to get involved.
Hugh (Kendal) says:
“I was keen to get involved in this for all the very obvious reasons – climate change is such a massive issue and we are sleepwalking into it. I’m now semi-retired so have a bit more time to give to this important cause. My career – which has included the Environment Agency, DEFRA, The Groundwork Trust and working with government departments on energy-related matters – has given me a real insight into some of the issues and the challenges that need to be overcome. I’ve recently been implementing my own low carbon journey, installing a heat pump and other measures such as triple glazing, which is also something that has taught me a lot. Having done the Carbon Literacy training with the cohort, I think we are all keen to get out there and spread the word.”
Janet (Levens) says:
“I applied to become a Climate Champion because I wanted to become more carbon literate to give me confidence and be better informed in my daily life and, especially, in my roles as a Parish Councillor and a Councillor on the new Westmorland and Furness Council. It builds on the work we’ve been doing here for the Greening Campaign and now the Great Big Green Week.”
Ian (Sleetbeck) says:
“I already seek to have a low impact lifestyle. So far I have done this by not using air travel, reducing personal transport use, economical home heating and growing my own fruit and veg for the last 15 years. Joining CAfS as a Climate Champion has helped me consider my carbon footprint and encouraged me to increase my rainwater harvesting to 1000l and think further about my lifestyle and diet. I now feel empowered to engage with my local community to share my low impact knowledge and climate change understanding gained from Carbon Literacy training provided by CAfS, and pass on my thoughts and experience to the wider world.”
Finally, Joe (Keswick) says:
“I have 25 years of professional experience in coaching and training in presentation skills with a particular interest in storytelling. My personal aim is to reach as many people as I can who have not yet taken on board the urgency, the immediacy, and the personal and the global implications of the climate crisis.”
If you’ve got an idea for an event with a climate champion, or want to discuss ways to collaborate, we’d love to hear from you! Please contact Clare Taylor, project coordinator on [email protected].