Bringing communities together: Asthma and Lung UK’s first Clean Air Campaigner Conference
On Saturday 15 July we hosted our first ever Clean Air Campaigner Conference. We brought together campaigners from Manchester, Glasgow, the West Midlands, West Yorkshire and Liverpool, who care about tackling toxic air pollution in their communities. Sophie from our Clean air team shares some of the day’s highlights.
At a time when policies that are known to reduce air pollution, such as clean air zones, are being hotly contested in public debate, we need to be bold, brave and ambitious in the fight for clean air. That’s why we brought together campaigners from key areas across the country to connect, share skills and strengthen our movement.
Learning about the UK’s toxic air
We kicked off the day with a series of talks from our clean air team in Asthma + Lung UK. We set the scene by acknowledging that air pollution is now contributing to up to 43,000 premature deaths every year the UK, and is the single greatest environmental threat to public health.
We took a deeper dive into the five key regions we’re campaigning in to look at progress that’s been made through tireless campaigning by organisations like Asthma + Lung UK and others. We also talked about what needs to happen to reduce toxic air to within legal limits.
We held a regional quiz to gauge awareness of how air pollution is affecting different cities. Many of those we met at the event were shocked at the results, but also motivated to fight for change.
We held our event in Greater Manchester, which now has the worst air pollution in the entire country - despite being mandated by government to implement a clean air zone (CAZ). Liverpool City Region also has yet to implement a CAZ, and both regions have seen increases in air pollution over the past year.
We also celebrated the promising developments we’ve seen elsewhere in the country. Glasgow successfully launched its Low Emission Zone (LEZ) on 1 June 2023 and after a landmark court ruling London’s ULEZ will expand to cover Greater London, protecting the lung health of millions more Londoners.
Hearing from our communities
One of the most important parts of the day was meeting members of our community living with lung conditions. As well as people who have loved and lost people with lung conditions. The room was filled with people who had stories to share.
We heard from fantastic campaigner, Anjali Raman-Middleton who set up the campaign Choked Up in 2020 with her friends in sixth form. Choked Up’s award-winning campaign highlighted the disproportionate impact of air pollution on people of colour, and among deprived communities. They used creative tactics like putting up air pollution warning signs that mimicked standard road signs across South and East London.
We were also joined by fearless young campaigners from the Unity Project who spoke about a friend who lost her life from an asthma attack. Hearing about the loss of loved ones is always heart-breaking, and it’s what makes us determined to keep up the fight until everyone can breathe clean air with healthy lungs.
Sharing new skills to build confidence in campaigning
There was so much passion in the room. We wanted to help channel that passion, so we ran some training on storytelling and political lobbying to provide the tools needed to really make a difference in reducing air pollution in their local area.
Storytelling is a powerful way to make your voice heard. Everyone has a story to tell, and it’s about how you tell that story that can make all the difference, so we focused on learning new storytelling techniques.
On the day, we heard our supporter, Gary’s fascinating story. The room was gripped in silence as he took us on his journey from meeting his wife while working at an airport, to having to put out a fire that broke out on a plane, causing his lung condition to develop.
No matter who you’re talking to – whether friends, family, colleagues or MPs - having a clear story will help to persuade people about the merits of your argument.
We know that local politicians care about the day-to-day impacts of an issue so we also ran some lobbying training about how to take those stories straight to decision makers.
Combining crafting with activism
Craftivism is where crafting meets activism. It allows for quieter forms of campaigning for those who like to think, reflect and campaign through art. Sometimes it can feel like campaigning is all about raising your voice loud enough for everyone to hear. But actually, for many, the seriousness of losing loved ones to a lung condition calls for other means to express grief, anger and desire for change.
For every region we’re campaigning in, we’re running petitions calling on local leaders to implement ambitious policies to cut air pollution. Every good petition hand-in needs to be eye catching – and our campaigners did not disappoint. Not only did we end the day with a creative collection of hand-painted placards, we also left with a fabulous hand-made banner.
We can’t wait to send our banner around the country as we take your messages to politicians demanding better for our friends, family and loved ones.
To sum up our first Clean Air Campaigner Conference, I’d have to say it was inspiring, moving and full of amazing people. We’re already thinking about how we can make next year even better. We’d love you to be part of shaping the day. Please let us know what you’d like to see next time round by emailing us your thoughts via email: campaigns@asthmaandlung.org.uk.
1 Birmingham City Council (2022) Clean Air Zone interim report provides evidence of impact on air pollution. Available at: https://www.birmingham.gov.uk/news/article/1086/clean_air_zone_interim_report_provides_evidence_of_impact_on_air_pollution