North East’s on board for Great Big Green Week
CLIMATE-FOCUSED events have begun across the North East as part of the nationwide Great Big Green Week campaign which runs from Saturday, June 10th to Sunday, June 18th June this year.
Typical of them was Norton Green Market held in Stockton where, alongside the usual stalls was Julie from Climate Action North with her hydrogen cars, Tees Wildlife with rock painting and bird feeders, Stockton Food Power Network with free fruit, Billingham Tidy Up, Stockton Fair Trade Partnership – selling all things Fair Trade, the Co-op Community Team, talking about plastic recycling, and Stockton Borough Council giving a recycling & EV car demo.
These sort of events can use Big Green Week to boost their profile.
The campaign, now in its third year, has grown bigger each year it has been held and this week will unleash a wave of support for action to protect the planet.
People and organisations from Newcastle upon Tyne to Sunderland, and North Shields to Morpeth are organising events like Green festivals and film screenings, as well as a conference on sustainability initiatives in the region and a day of celebration of positive action on climate and nature at National Trust’s Wallington site. A full list of events can be found here.
Nationally coordinated by The Climate Coalition, many of the events across the UK are being organised by their members, including some of the UK’s largest charities and conservation organisations such as the National Trust, Save the Children, the RSPB, and the Wildlife Trusts.
Other notable organisations taking part include BT, English Heritage and Good Gym, while the campaign has engaged household names such as Dr Amir Khan and Chris Packham.
The event comes at the same time as newly released polling data from The Climate Coalition shows that:
- Only a quarter (26%) of people polled across the North East believe the Government has a plan and is capable of tackling climate change and the destruction of nature
- Just under half (45%) polled in the North East think protecting and restoring the natural world is the most important factor for tackling climate change
- While over a third (29%) polled in the North East are likely to lobby their MP or vote for a candidate to tackle climate change and protect nature.
Marion Williams, of Friends of Leazes Park in Newcastle, said: “The Friends of Leazes Park regularly take part in Great Big Green Week to encourage users of the park to appreciate nature and our need to take care of it.
“Both children and adults enjoy our nature crafting and happily leave their crafts for others to discover and enjoy in the park as a reminder to Love Parks and take care of them and learn more about climate change and what they can do to reduce their carbon footprint.”
Bronwen Smith-Thomas, co-director of The Climate Coalition, said: “We’re running Great Big Green Week to celebrate the people across the UK who are already taking action for a safer, greener future.
“What is happening in local communities is so inspiring and shows the appetite for change. Now the Government has to step up, raise its ambition and deliver urgent action to protect us, people around the world and the next generation,”
