Climate Change in the City

In this episode of Preston Threads, presenter Neetal Parekh explores climate action in Preston through the work of  Preston College, Community Energy Preston and Preston City Council. Guests Councillor Suleman Sarwar, Cabinet Member for Climate Change, Mark Taylor, Director of Schools at Preston College, and Nicola Parkinson, Co-Chair of Community Energy Preston, discuss how green skills, education and community-led energy projects are helping to build a more sustainable city. The episode also looks at Preston City Council’s Climate Strategy and Action Plan, the Preston Green Pledge and how residents, students and local organisations can play a part in tackling climate change. Together, the conversation highlights practical local action, the importance of collaboration and what a greener, more sustainable Preston could look like in the future. 

Transcript

SPEAKER_02 0:00

Hello and welcome to Preston Threads Podcast Episode 4. My name is Nital Parek, and in this episode, we are talking about climate action. And for that, I've got a wonderful panel of guests who are going to introduce themselves. So let's start with you first.

SPEAKER_00 0:15

My name is Mark Taylor. I'm Director of School for Construction and STEM at Preston College.

SPEAKER_02 0:21

Welcome.

SPEAKER_03 0:22

I'm Nicola Parkinson. I'm the co-chair of directors for Community Energy Preston. Welcome.

SPEAKER_01 0:28

I'm Councillor Sullivan Sawa, Cabinet Member for Climate Change at Preston City Council.

SPEAKER_02 0:34

Welcome. Okay, so I'm gonna start with you, Mark. Um, can you tell us about Green Skills and the support that Preston College has received from Preston City Council for some of the courses that are running?

SPEAKER_00 0:46

Yeah, absolutely, yeah. Uh I think first of all, Green Skills are massively important to us as a college and and the city of Preston, uh, and the support we've had from Preston Council over the last three years to deliver projects to develop curriculum that can inform our learners, employers, and the community around green skills and sustainability, it's had a big impact. We've done that through uh a government-funded project called UK SPF and its United Kingdom Shared Prosperity Fund in partnership with Preston City Council, and that's enabled us to refine and develop a curriculum in a multitude of different courses from solar panel installation to retrofitting domestic and commercial buildings, and also uh hybrid car uh awareness training and electric car installation charging training as well for uh for people in the city, and that's enabled us to develop curriculum to offer it to small SMEs, small microemployers, but also residents within the city boundary, uh, and more importantly, offer this developed curriculum to our community of learners, whether adult learners, 16 to 18, and apprentices to promote sustainability and awareness in in Green Skills.

SPEAKER_02 2:01

And here we are right here in uh Preston College, uh, where I guess all the magic is really happening. If we rewind back, um, how did the conversation first start with Preston City Council? Can we be a privy to just that kind of first initial meeting and how this vision was formed before we go on to uh elaborating more on green skills because I'd love to know myself.

SPEAKER_00 2:23

I think the UK Share Prosperity Fund is part of government funded that's replaced European Social Fund that focuses on you know really big community issues like skills, green skills, uh, and things that can help uh you know build build the community and and grow the economy uh and add community benefits. So we as an education provider in typically in these things go through a procurement process, we bid for projects and we were successful to get uh some aspects of the UK Share Prosperity Fund around skills and also around green skills, and that's where the collaboration started developing the curriculum and refining the offer. Hopefully, that'll evolve and stay in future years, even after the project funding finishes uh this year. If any more project funding doesn't come down the track, we've still got a sustainable provision that'll educate people for years to come.

SPEAKER_02 3:17

Excellent, and I'm sure all our audiences watching. Um, can you just elaborate a little bit on what Green Skills actually means?

SPEAKER_00 3:26

Um Yeah, it's it's a massive topic, it's obviously a global topic around that. I think uh we've tried to contextualise it in uh a Lancashire context. So we focus on a lot of work around civil engineering, around uh wastewater recycling, sustainable drainage systems, and making sure uh people are aware that the great work that the Preston Council are doing, United Utilities and a lot of the infrastructure upgrading that's being done, people are aware of that and and can see uh you know benefit to you know the community infrastructure. But also it in Green Skills encompasses everything around making sure that you know we can use the earth resources better and more sustainably, but improve people's lives, improve people's health in terms of standard of living, health and well-being are in in the house and standard of living around property, and install products that are more sustainable, more energy efficient, so people can lower energy bills, save money, uh, and get more benefit for the you know for the materials the systems are using. So it encompasses heating from transport, also from you know, standard of buildings, wastewater infrastructure, what you know, recycling, right down to food sustainability as well. It's not just a construction or a civil aspect, it's around making sure that as a community and also as a you know as a nation we're being a bit more sustainable to protect for future generations.

SPEAKER_02 4:57

Fantastic. And i I guess what has the course achieved so far and what's the response been like?

SPEAKER_00 5:03

Yeah, the course has achieved awareness and that's a core aim. I think us as an further education provider, what it's incumbent on us to spread awareness and educate people on why we need to do this and what the benefits are. So we started that right at uh year one. If a learner comes to us from secondary school, we have sustainability regulated qualifications embedded in the core curriculum. So alongside maybe bricklaying, engineering or science or or even joinery, they learn around sustainability, around the wider world aspects, but also contextualise what it means to be sustainable living in Lancashire and how they can play a part in it and be you know how it's relevant to them if they go on to be a future professional in terms of what materials they install, the impacts of those materials, and what decisions they can make to ensure that we are being sustainable or we're building correctly that's going to adhere to you know the best practice in the industry.

SPEAKER_02 6:02

I think what's also wonderful, just just adding to what you were saying, uh just a little off air, we were discussing that uh you know students have come with such a passion with it. I I was thinking were they reluctant um about you know learning about green skills and sustainability, but actually um they they're really passionate. And if you could just share that with our own.

SPEAKER_00 6:22

No, they are. I think we we operate a learner voice uh termly uh forum, and a lot of that is themed around what their sustainable items are there, want to see the college improved. I know we'll touch on it later, but the the solar farm is one thing that the learners are passionate about seeing and making use of our space to provide power uh and lower the reliance on, you know, in terms of you know the traditional methods of energy and and you know provide a cost saving water recycling. We've done a lot of work on uh you know water, wastewater recycling and uh and our water fountains, but sustainability for young people is really core and and a passionate topic, and they they are passionate around making sure that as a college corporately we can be more sustainable.

SPEAKER_02 7:10

Just to add, uh you're you're collaborating with Community Energy Preston with something very exciting, of course, in the install installation of solar panels. Tell us you know, I I'm sure Nicola's thinking, do you not take my answers? I won't see the to know a bit more about that.

SPEAKER_00 7:30

Yeah, no, it's a really exciting project that's been in, you know, that's been in the planning and and development for for a number of months now. Uh and I'll be excited to see you know the solar panels installed. We have a small solar farm on our ISTEM building that was built in 2016 and a wind turbine that generates power as well. So we've got a small offering, but this is about expansion. If you've ever been to Preston College, we've got a large amount of roof space. You can just see how either all the way around is we've got flat roofs that are just uh just tailor-made to create solar panels uh that are non-intrusive as well. I think that's really important that we talk around uh we want to be more sustainable uh as uh as you know big organisations, local authority. You know, it's not like uh it's going to be divisive in you know in front of people's houses. We're quite enclosed on our private campus here, away from far enough away from residential housing to obscure any obscure any obstruction. And I think it's ideally for a big large solar panel on top of our campus uh of three or four buildings where it can generate that power and ultimately uh save the college money, save you know the taxpayer money in terms of the government fund of the college, and all that saving can be reinvested in people's education. It's just a really great thing to do that as a golden thread right through to a learner experience.

SPEAKER_02 8:53

Yeah, and and and what what what determined your choice to obviously partnership with uh community industry preston?

SPEAKER_00 8:59

Yeah, I I I think it the college were we've just done a piece of work around uh upgrading our roof uh structures and and making sure they're fit and right and and robust for the next 20 years, uh, and then it's the ideal time to think around what we can do as corporate as a a big institution, one of the anchor institutions in Preston, uh, and supporter of you know the Preston model and Preston Council around ensuring that we can support what other authorities are doing in the city. And I think this is a good way and a good example if an organisation like Preston College makes you know makes that statement of putting the solar farm on top of the rooms. We'll we're showing the way what can be done to other organisations to hopefully in the local area can adopt the same approach and engage, you know, you know, with this this really good initiative.

SPEAKER_02 9:51

And I I guess this really nicely brings me to Nicola. I I actually Mark didn't take any of your answers so community energy is quite new to Lancashire. Uh can you explain uh what it is for us?

SPEAKER_03 10:07

Yes, uh of course. Um so obviously traditionally energy is producing a big power station and then it powers a big community. So the basic idea of uh community energy is to facilitate the development of renewable energy on a community scale. So for Community Energy Preston, we're really focused on solar as our renewable, but there are other community energy groups that look at um hydro and wind. But really, the important thing is that we're kind of bringing energy into something that is locally produced and also community owned, which is really important. So instead of those big profits flowing to distant investors and big energy giants, the income actually for the renewable energy installation stays in the area and the fund and helps to fund further projects and community programs. So um, but also there are those wider benefits. So these projects provide secure locally generated electricity, there's the carbon reductions, um, protecting organizations and people from rising energy bills, which is hugely pertinent at the minute. Um, also potentially creating jobs and green skills and volunteering opportunities. Um so so yeah.

SPEAKER_02 11:27

And and I think just to add, community energy pressing beautifully marries up with the values and the principles of Preston of the Preston model as well. And I just think it's uh amazing. And and and again, just similar to what I asked Mark, if we rewind back, how how did Um Community Energy Preston get started and how was the vision uh created?

SPEAKER_03 11:50

Okay. So I wasn't actually like an OG, if you like, to use um blankets broaden the audience, but I am a founding member and director. Um I I was on a career change and I was back at university and I had a little bit more time, so I wanted to do something environmental. And actually, it was my husband who was part of the original group, um, and he encouraged me to join in. I did ask my husband last night and I was like, well, it's just to get some some details, really. Um but it came really out of Climate Action Preston, so a grassroots organisation in the city, supported by Preston City Council, Lancashire County Council, and Preston Cooperative Development Network. So that was set up, it created a I guess we had support from them, um, and then we we got a small group together that were stable enough to then go to incorporate into a community benefits society, and we've been incorporated now for about two or three years. Um so yeah, here we are. Here we are.

SPEAKER_02 12:57

And and I guess uh just just how how is the project um with with Preston College, how did that all come about? And and and very honestly, what what what how do you hope this will shape Kimmy's energy project?

SPEAKER_03 13:10

Okay, so so our kind of bigger vision is quite simple, really. It's to develop this locally owned renewable energy across Preston and the wider Northwest. And really, for that to be quite a ubiquitous thing across Preston and something that everybody's can you repeat that again?

SPEAKER_02 13:29

What is that within?

SPEAKER_03 13:30

So to make it a common thing across the community. So something that the communities know about, something that other businesses piques people's interest. Um, and so we we build this bigger community energy network across across the city and beyond, really. Um keep that local and keep that energy locally owned and with those benefits flowing back into the community. So if I just step back a little minute just to explain how the actual model works, because I think that's quite important to kind of understand. So before I talk about the brilliant partnership with Preston College, so we first of all we identify a roof space that is appropriate. So in this case, as Mark said, Preston College has some really great flat roofs, perfect for solar installation. So once we're happy that this is a viable project, we do feasibility studies to make sure that's a thing that can we can take forward. We then vitally need to raise funds to be able to do this because we're a not-for-profit, um, you know, we work on a voluntary basis. Um, so we do this through a community share offer. So that's the kind of critical thing really that makes it community-owned. Um so our community share offer, which hopefully we'll embark on for this project in the autumn, that goes out to the local area and across the northwest, and people can buy shares. So the capital that we we raise through this community share offer, this then goes to pay for the installation of solar panels. So we provide the capital, we manage the feasibility studies, the pre-construction, all those aspects. So we take that off um Preston College's hands um and we organise and manage that. And then this enables Preston College to buy electricity at a discounted price than they would pay normally. So that's where Mark was talking about the savings for the college um coming into play. Um, this is through what we call a power purchase agreement, and then through that, we can then pay from the from the money that Preston College pays us, we can then pay investors back so they get um a return on their investment, and then the surplus profits from that can then be channelled into community or the community projects, so community fund. We're not sure how that'll work with this project as yet, but yeah.

SPEAKER_02 15:47

I feel like you've got it all worked out to the T. Isn't this amazing? I just think it's amazing. It's amazing. You're really setting the precedents for um, you know, for the future and uh almost like a model for others to work from, and and just this this really kind of amazing partnership and how it's all grown because it you know essentially I feel like both Preston College and Um Community Energy Preston and even Preston City Council, there's just one overall vision, isn't it? And it's to it's to it's sustainability and and it is literally going back to the title having some action uh for our climate. So so that's amazing. And I know you want to elaborate just a little bit more on that partnership with Preston College.

SPEAKER_03 16:28

Yeah, sure. So we've been in talks with Preston College for a little while. Obviously, as Mark said, um you know, their ethos at the college really ties into what we're trying to achieve as well, like commun wider community benefit and that kind of ripple effect of education and um and providing community energy. So it's a really, really uh nice partnership that works really well for both of us. This will be our first project, so this is our kind of flagship project, and hopefully it'll be like you say, provide a blueprint for other further projects that we want to do and a really great case study. Um, so at the minute we're in this critical planning phase where we're just looking to design, we're looking at design, we're looking at legals, and importantly, that marketing of our share offer. Um, we're gonna install uh well, 881 solar panels, which is cool.

SPEAKER_02 17:22

Yeah, the golden number.

SPEAKER_03 17:24

The golden number. Um, and we've already had some really nice collaborations with the college. Um, we our logo was actually designed by a student. So we ran a competition about 12 months ago, and I absolutely love our logo. Um, it's it's just so friendly and it's brilliant, really talented students. Um, and we're also running another competition at the minute to help do some social media because you know we're a bit older, we need some help with that from the young people. So um, so yeah, there's already a really great partnership that's going on beyond the actual installation of the solar panels. And I also think all the things that Mark was talking about in terms of the integration of um environmental things through the college sounds absolutely incredible, and this sort of puts into action what they're practicing what you preach, isn't it? You know, you are a beacon for the community and for the students and for future generations, so it's a wonderful thing. Yeah, we're we're really excited.

SPEAKER_02 18:27

It is really exciting. I can feel the excitement in your voice as well. It is it is um amazing, and I'm sure all our viewers who are watching it they must feel really invested hearing this because it you know it really is the future. So over to you, Councillor Salah. Um, of course, you know, it it comes back to the one that literally ties the thread at Preston College Community Energy Preston and Preston City Council, uh, who recently published um its climate strategy and action plan and we'd love to know more about it if you could elaborate on it.

SPEAKER_01 19:00

Yes, of course. No, it's something I'm really proud of because it moves us as a council from ambition to now delivery. Um the um strategy is made up of fire priorities, it's the strategy sets out what we must do to reduce our council's own contribution to climate change, for example, by shifting from to cleaner energy to sort of heat and power. Um the strategy also has a focus around a district as to how we can work with our undercar and community organisations, as we mentioned, with both more with the Northam Preston College and the Community Energy Preston, and also working with residents as well in order to address um the challenges of climate change and also the opportunities as well that come along with it for climate action, which overall will improve our lives, as we mentioned as well. Um overall, I think in terms of our climate strategy as a whole, uh the overarching aim of our strategy is to create a path for a less threatening and more equitable future, uh, which offers our residents a greater security, improved health, uh, but also better living conditions as well. Uh we've seen it with certain residents that live in poorer conditions, deprived areas, poor insulation, insulated homes, etc. And also new employment opportunities as well, as we mentioned from Preston College, and overall a cleaner local environment.

SPEAKER_02 20:25

So um you touched upon it just um a little just before, but how are you working with Prestonians to make um our city or the city more sustainable?

SPEAKER_01 20:35

Yeah, so I just mentioned new job opportunities. Um, so we know the shift to cleaner heat and power is creating big local demand for new skills. So, as Marc has explained about Preston College, they're working hard to meet this demand, and the council has supported them in doing that. Uh, we are providing them with £360,000 of UK SPF funding for green skills training. Um, another way we're supporting Prestonians is by uh reducing our congestion, uh reducing our carbon emissions and air pollution. Um, we're encouraging active travel, we're working, we're investing in new cycle routes, uh, working with Lancashire County Council. Uh, we're doing this across the Ribble, across the Tram Bridge. Um, we're also funding community groups as well, uh, who are promoting sort of walking, um, cycling, um, not just within the city but also outside of the city as well. Um, the other another good one is Preston Pedals, who we're working closely with as well. Um, they're a community cooperative who uh recycle bikes, um, fix bikes, and also teach people how to ride bikes as well. And I think I believe they're opening up a new hub just near the railway station as well. Um, other ways we're supporting Prestonians as well is supporting community-owned businesses as well. So, as uh was mentioned earlier, um from Community Energy Preston, um we'll soon be generating renewable energy, which I think is quite important. Um um not in the city but as a whole what's happening around the world as well we can now see the focus of renewable blends you and how important that is um so the council are wins the council are supporting that uh that sort of work and we have done from the very beginning in terms of one of my personal priorities coming into this role um was to set up a precedent climate forum it's never happened before and I wanted something where it would hold the council to account it would hold our anchor uh community organisations anchor and community organisations to account and by what we're doing in terms of climate action um it was also brought up by the 24 recommendations from our climate jury that we had in 2024 and it's just I didn't want the conversation just to end there so we have 24 recommendations from our climate jury what are we now going to do with those recommendations so that's why I wanted to set up this forum and I'm pleased to say that it's gone down really well.

SPEAKER_02 22:54

We've had two sessions now we are looking to have a third one hopefully soon in the summer perhaps uh but like I said it's just to encourage and everyone to come together work together and sort of deliver the recommendations set out by the climate jury fantastic and and of course apart from the brilliant Press and um threads podcast to make Prestonians aware of the amazing um work and awareness that you're bringing to Prestonians what how else are um given the the the diversity in the different languages all within pressing how are they finding out about the amazing work that um is is being done how else is what other mediums are being used because I I just think there's so many people you need to know about what is exactly happening. It's an important message.

SPEAKER_01 23:40

No you you're you're right and um I think we can do the best we can and this is where we've got the Green Pledge we've got the throns of pledges so one of the key things I wanted to introduce coming into this portfolio um last year was how can we get it more involved with the community um how can we do more um sort of events on climate action climate change um I've not seen much of that happening um we are kind of seeing that now with colleges and and community organisations but it was to um have have a day where we can showcase what we want to do so I took the Green Pledge which we had um as a council uh it was a commitment to climate change and I wanted to relaunch that green pledge and we did that at the Lancashire Encounter Festival last year in September it was a very rainy day for those of that for those of you that were there or remember yeah so we are quite drenched um luckily we saved the throne um so I mean if you're a Game of Thrones um fan you'll know you'll know what I'm talking about. It's a throne of pledge where it was designed by a local artist using sustainable materials and on the day we had multiple um people in the city come forward and make a pledge in the rain uh put put a crown on sat on the chair took some pictures and just pledged themselves pledged their allegiance as you as you would say to uh the Green Pledge in Preston so um it attracted over 50 people on the day as well who the like I said they took pictures of themselves wrote pledges about climate change and what sort of climate action they want to take and what they can do in response to climate action. The Green Pledge itself covers seven areas where individuals can take positive um action to address climate change and improve the local environment so these include water energy waste recycling the pledge is also on our website I mean it's not a plug but if you go to the Preston City Council website and type in green pledge you can see it.

SPEAKER_03 25:37

So I encourage everyone who's listening who's um watching just go onto our website make a pledge every actual helps however small it is so I haven't made a pledge yet have you made a pledge well we can do one after the meeting can we not do one on a I'd like to make a pledge that with I mean it my pledge is to bring more awareness through my different language skills and let everybody know about encouraging them to make a pledge as well is that a pledge yeah I think it'll be a pledge I mean I know it should be more sustainable but this is my first pledge and then do I get a crown Councillor Sawar I need a crown for this I'm sure we can we can provide one after the after the podcast so thank you so much Councillor Sawar um and this brings me nicely um to you Nicola how can people support community energy and community energy Preston okay you can support community energy presting in a number of ways um first of all you can follow us on our socials so we're on Facebook Instagram LinkedIn and we've just rebooted our website so our website is looking fabulous so please look us up online and that brings me nicely to uh the launch of our share offer so if you want to get more involved when we launch our share offer in the autumn you can buy shares anyone can buy shares you buy a share you become a member so you can invest a small amount you can invest a large amount um but everybody has the same voice actually and that's why it's so equitable so it doesn't matter how much you invest you're still going to have a voice in community energy and just keep an eye out for us um yeah look us up talk about community energy um yeah yeah and and and that that number that the golden number is literally flashing in my mind and I should have asked it when when you first it first gave us that number of 881 yeah um what what does that actually mean? Okay well first of all we can fit 881 panels on the roofs in Preston College but in terms of how much energy that is going to produce just to give the listeners and the viewers an idea um that will power 100 homes for a year so just to give you some idea of and we are even in Preston where it's not always sunny so that's great.

SPEAKER_00 27:53

It is today though.

SPEAKER_02 27:54

It is beautiful to do and finally just before I let you all go I have one final question. What would a sustainable Preston look like for all of you?

SPEAKER_00 28:07

Oh yeah it's what's a great question. Uh a sustainable Preston probably gotta encompass everything from I think first of all is is transport and other significant investment now with the trambridge and the public realm in terms of promoting you know non-use of you know motorised vehicles and promoting more walking more health benefits cycling so I think more upgrades to the infrastructure to promote that joined up approach around you know you either using public transport or or or using in terms of you know bicycles or promoting you know walking and that health benefit that approach around transport and the electrification of uh uh buses in terms of uh and even you know taxes as well you know that that will have an impact then the other impact is the other aspect for me is the big institutions like council like ourselves big private institutions just aligning and making sure that what we do it really benefits the people of Preston and is reinvested in terms of skills and in terms of you know the environment to ensure people have one healthier happier life within Preston and and and less waste really finding ways to reduce waste whether it's just household waste commercial waste uh you know or you know public waste from institutions just so it creates that saving and that cost uh that we can reinvest into the core key things like transport like education and health thank you so much and for you Nicola okay great question um I'm gonna kind of stay on brand and say it'd be really nice to see that local community energy but but really the the more solar on roofs where we've got the opportunity we should be kind of really going for that.

SPEAKER_03 29:56

But like Mark says wouldn't it be nicer to get people out of cars more and have better options for public transport and cycling around because obviously with lots of environmental things there are wider benefits like health benefits and not least with the air we're breathing and you know so yeah and reduce waste and food miles and all those kind of things.

SPEAKER_00 30:18

So yeah I think in the in the future maybe sort of to button there but you look at the bigger cities how they've evolved Manchester Metro and and and stuff out of the line the pedestrianisation of lotkey areas and the infrastructure link the Preston's growing as a city and I think somewhere down the line I think that hopefully it can be integrated and get traffic off the road and and have that fully integrated approach and that'll in turn you know benefit for people coming to work here you know create jobs and also create a better living environment for people I agree I agree amazing and finally yeah I think for me it's uh sustainable presson is a more fairer press than being transparent about the work that we're doing and and deliver our targets. I know we can always talk about climate action and what we're doing on what we're doing on climate action but are we actually delivering are we actually achieving those targets so it's not always about net zero even though that is one of our um targets as a council but it's about targets for the people putting them first as well from where I'm from uh deprived communities I'd like to see low energy bills um in proper insulated homes um for deprived families etc in the in in the in in those areas so we've seen as well with the cost of living crisis etc people are starting to heat their homes um you've got those that live in conservation type of homes they can't change their windows etc and it's difficult for them it's quite expensive for them to change uh or sort of windproof their doors um sorry the windows uh their doors etc um so it's just just just on that really I mean I could talk about transport and everything else and green spaces but for me it's around the health health perspective and just making sure that we're deliver uh delivering really absolutely thank you brilliant and I cannot let you leave without making a pledge today um I was really proud of my pledge you inspired me uh so do we have a pledge can I ask you all to make a pledge today yeah I'll go I haven't had the luxury of prepping one like you did so that was spontaneous but no no jokes jokes aside I think my pledge is uh to continue to spread the word for green skills and from an education perspective educate people and what we can do from just a general in life sense but also from a professional sense in terms of occupations how sustainability and green skills can impact the community and an individual's professional life as well.

SPEAKER_03 32:53

Thank you that's a good one to follow um so I guess with it within my role with community energy Preston I think just keep driving that forward um really make a big success of of this of this first project at Preston College and then drive that beyond and see where that takes us I think personally well the weather hopefully is getting nicer get out on my bike a bit more and get the car at home so a professional and a personal for me thank you.

SPEAKER_01 33:24

My pledge um it's maybe quite a broad one but for me it's about how to educate how can I educate the younger generation I mean they are the future I think for me when someone first explained climate action climate change to me it went above my head and I was like it got it was quite technical so one of the things I did when I came into post last year was in June in June last year was an event called World Localisation Day and it's around a global movement just around the local economies um food systems within the communities etc and what I decided to do on that was um take it upon myself and deliver around 500 seed pots to children living in deprived communities so it meant working with the schools I did it off my own back and I remember speaking to my officers at the council and said look we really need to do something I think to show that we're serious I mean the council's already serious they do some fantastic work some of the officers that are there on climate action but I thought let's take it up a notch and they said yeah they were they said yeah let's give it a try let's see what we can do and ultimately I think the feedback that I got from all this from the schools that I delivered these seed pots to was each one of those children um whether it was crest tomatoes lettuce um I can't remember what the other ones were um they sort of yeah they grew their own seed pots at home in their little pots all by gr all by gra uh gradiable as well um yeah they grew their own food at home put it in their sandwiches and brought them to school how lovely and that that that was an education piece as well so it was a little booklet that I made it was a little some sort of stickers um certificate as well all sort of made from scratch and so look just explaining to them the benefits of growing your own local food supporting your local um uh communities local produce etc so that's that'll be my pledge maybe I can take her up a notch and maybe do a thousand this year I don't know you're putting us all to shame and you know it it is it's it's small actions uh they're all kind of achievable ones they're not uh you know um huge ones where you think oh I can't achieve that they they are you know achievable you can just start from home so just to make sure our viewers don't feel left out we would love your pledges and please put them under the comments so we can see uh and read your pledge I'm sure Councillor Sawa would and all of us would would love to uh read your pledges as well.

SPEAKER_02 35:46

What a wonderful wonderful discussion. Thank you to all our guests and thank you to you for watching Press and Threads podcast episode four climate action.