Whalley Range Climate Action Group

Everyone welcome to come along to discuss the climate emergency with other concerned people and get involved in actions to make Whalley Range a more sustainable place to live. We meet on the 3rd Saturday of the month and eat a vegetarian/vegan lunch together after the meeting. Bring a little food to share if you can at the JNR8 Youth & Community Centre, 82 Cromwell Ave, M16 0BG

Local people and organisations taking action to address
the climate emergency.
climateaction@whalleyrangers.org
@RangeAction
Facebook: Whalley Range Climate Action
Group
Judith – 07792 690 278

See the Whalley Range Climate Action Group’s leaflet below on keeping warm, saving energy, and getting financial help for insulation and bills…

PDF leaflet: leaflet_A4_pgs1_2 leaflet_A4_pgs3_4

Click here for the June 2022 issue of the Whalley Range Climate Action Newsletter

NEWSLETTER June 22

March 2022

Local community groups and residents creating a MASS PLANTING OF SNOWDROPS in Alexandra Park Whalley Range Manchester yesterday.

We worked on this together because we want to COMMEMORATE THOSE WHO SUFFERED FROM COVID AND THOSE WHO LOST THEIR LIVES, as well as the hard work of all those who cared for us during the pandemic. Planting snowdrops will CONNECT ALL OUR COMMUNITIES IN A COLLABORATIVE MEMORIAL to CREATE A CONTEMPLATIVE SPACE for us to remember the suffering and pain of loss every year.

Why Snowdrops?

Snowdrops flower in February, the time when the pandemic started in Europe, and once planted they will come back every year at that time as a living reminder. Snowdrops are pure white and tear shaped, symbolising grief, yet their arrival is often seen as the first sign of the returning spring and returning hope. This Curve will beautify the space permanently and expand every year as the snowdrops set seeds and spread under the trees.

A huge thank you to Avril from the Whalley Range Climate Action Group for dreaming of this, making it happen and organising the sun and to everyone who came out to plant snowdrops, including our MP Afzal Khan and our local councillors Aftab and Bano.

Newsletter May 21

May 2020 Update

The Whalley Range Climate Action Group would like to thank everyone for everything they are doing to keep people in our area safe and well and a special thank you to all the key workers who are doing so much for us all.

Although the Covid experience is terrible for so many people in so many ways we have seen some positive benefits for us and the climate, especially the reduction in carbon use, less pollution and more walking and cycling. We have been using our air quality monitors to measure the air quality in Whalley Range and are delighted to report that the pollution levels have been inside the World Health Organisation safe levels all through the lockdown. This is fantastic news for our health and our challenge is keeping the air safe as the lockdown ends.

A group of us have been studying the Amsterdam City Doughnut, a tool to make places ‘home to thriving people in a thriving place while respecting the wellbeing of all people and the health of the whole planet.’ We have been meeting every week to talk about how we could use the ideas in Whalley Range and the first step will be to make the Whalley Range Selfie. Watch this space for more details of how to get involved.

We are supporting the new Whalley Range Walk Ride group which will work to promote more walking and cycling in our area.

We printed a newsletter just before lockdown, please text or ring Judith on 07792 690 278 if you would like a copy/ copies posted through your door. We are really looking forward to meeting people again when it is safe.

Read the groups 1st edition Newsletter here:

WHALLEY RANGE CLIMATE ACTION GROUP NEWSLETTER final

Whalley Range Climate Action Plan
Introduction 2
Our current emissions 2
General information about Whalley Range 3
Average carbon footprint of a UK resident 6
Strategies for carbon reduction in Whalley Range 9
Existing organisations, social networks and projects 10
Sources 15

Read in full below:

Whalley Range Climate Action Plan

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Whalley Range Climate Action Group upcoming meetings:

The Whalley Range Climate Action Group meet at JNR8 Community Centre (back of Manley Park Church)

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The Whalley Range Community Forum have produced the Whalley Range Community Forum Climate Emergency Statement and Strategies working document.
Read it here: WRCF Climate Emergency Policy and Strategies November 2019

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Notes from the meeting on Sat 7 September from 11-1pm:

WR-CAG-notes-7.9.19 Download

Blog for steady State Manchester on Whalley Range Climate action Group (WRCAG)

Climate change is a tricky subject. Some people deny it, are ignorant about it or think it is nothing to do with them. On the other hand, many are terrified by what a globally heated world will hold for them, their children and for the future of millions of our fellow humans. The Guardian newspaper suggests we intensify the very language we use with phrases like climate emergency, climate crisis and global heating instead of climate change and global warming.

However, both denial and terror risk confining us to a similar, paralysed, state of inaction, so that nothing changes. What are the paths out of this immobilisation?

A tiny group of residents in Whalley Range got talking about climate change. While we fully support the national and international actions of Extinction Rebellion/Friends of the Earth/Climate Justice and all the other efforts being made to promote real change, the phrase Thinking globally and acting locally also spurred us to think about what we can do right now, right here, in our own locality of Whalley Range.

We started locally and small, using word of mouth to find fellowship, trying to remain humble and open to ideas. The group grew in size steadily and we now have dozens of interested parties. Initially, I thought we would be a kind of retrofit support group, trying to help each other get properly insulated, reduce our energy usage, become car free and work out better ways to have flight free holidays. It has become a lot more than that.

Conversation triggered us to act, and we began by extending those conversations into our community. We listened to each other and to the residents we met at our simple stalls at community events. In no time we had a presence at Celebrate, (an annual local festival), at Ecofest, an event run by a local church, at the Windrush event in a local park We joined in an inspiring Clean Air Day action, when streets were closed around schools to enable pollution free walking and most joyously of all free street play for the children. The sounds of birdsong, children playing and people chatting rose out of the car free silence.

What used to be taken for granted, safe walking and children playing out, has become a privilege, that took a huge amount of organisation and preparation to bring about and lasted for less than half a day. This has also reinforced the value of the kinds of conversations we are aiming to have. We do not instruct, but rather, ask Where are you up to with the climate change thing? and What would make Whalley Range a climate safe, buzzing, good place to live?

These discussions were interesting, challenging and produced actionable ideas about what is important here in our own community. Many people in Whalley Range are thinking about climate change, environmental degradation and pollution. They are fed up with the noise, danger and pollution from cars and the limiting effects this has. They feel the constraints: unsafe walking especially for children, asthma increased by pollution, litter everywhere. People were outraged by the plastics they feel they cannot escape, wrapped around everything, all the time. We found much common cause with many other local organisations such as the Whalley Rangers and local wildlife support groups. Many organisations whose prime purpose is not about climate change, for example, Age Friendly Manchester or the local Park support and Heritage groups, joined us in thinking that climate change is their business too and that they can act here in Whalley Range.

It has been exciting to hear these perspectives, to take the street on Clean Air Day, and to discover that residents are willing to discuss these issues. It has made me a little braver to speak about climate change. This week, my lovely neighbour was in the street with two young relatives showing off their new cars. The cars were idling in the street, doors open, he showed me the clever seats. We had met on many occasions, so I felt able to turn the ignition key off and say idling cars are not good for us. I had the same conversation with the man sweeping the street who left his vehicle idling for 30 minutes while he had his lunch break.

Our next meetings will be opportunities to reflect on what we have heard, what our priorities are and to decide what our main actions should be. We think it is likely that not everyone in the group will want to work on the same things. Some will be interested in schools, educating parents and pupils, others in taking the streets away from cars, others in building consensus against plastics in supermarkets, schools and our shopping bags. Connecting with other organisations that work in our area including the National Health Services has been highlighted as a way to make our work more effective locally.

WRACG does not have a manifesto; our first leaflet simply explains who we are local residents working on what we can do about climate change, with a simple list of suggestions to help anyone reduce their impact on the planet. Reducing energy use, going flight free, consuming less, walking, cycling and using public transport, eating a mainly vegetarian diet are all important actions. Having a group of like-minded people around empowers us, to tell others what we are doing and to explore ways we can reduce our carbon emissions.

Another key action is to make our voices heard on this issue, wherever possible, in whichever organisations we are in contact with. Building connections between people will make Whalley Range an Abundant Community, where we know and value our neighbours through shared events and conversations. Then we will have a good life that is also a climate friendly life, here and now.

Massive policy change is needed, for sure, and governments must lead on the bigger changes. But if 10% of people get behind the need to reduce emissions drastically, that a massive opinion former and a strong message to local and central government, that will be hard to ignore. In the 18^th century, rich landowners planted trees that they know they would never see to maturity but which are still enjoyed by many of us today. We can take a leaf out of their book and start planning for our descendants instead of just thinking about today and this week.

WRCAG has only been active for a few short months. We will continue to reach out to all the members of our communityâ€¦different ethnicities, religions, ages, interests. Climate change will damage all of usâ€¦we need to work for change together, here, where we live.