5 Reasons To Spring Into Action And Join Us To #SpeakUp
Tea pot? Check. Picnic blanket? Check. Speaking up against climate change? Check!
In case you needed even more reasons to throw a fun event in your local community— and help protect the life you love from climate change while you’re at it — here are five reasons to join us at a Speak Up Week of Action event this summer between the 1–9 of July.
Whether it’s a love of bluebells or a burning desire to meet your newly elected MP, there’s a reason for everyone to get involved this July — what will yours be?
- You joined us to #ShowTheLove this February
Were you one of the millions of people across the UK who showed the love this past February? Together we showed how much we care about protecting our cherished places and all the people and things that depend on them both in Britain and around the world. Now is our chance to encourage our politicians champions a cleaner and more secure future.
During a Twitter chat, we asked our followers which one sentence they would use to inspire others to take action against climate change. One response that stuck with us was the wonderfully thought provoking: “How wonderful is it that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world.”
We can’t think of a more beautiful sentiment to help kick off our Week of Action.
2. Britain’s natural beauty deserves protecting
There’s nothing quite like the beauty of the British springtime — waking up early to the songs of migrant birds, the sight of swathes of bluebells, the heady scent of hyacinths or a bleat of a newborn lamb.
Our gardens, parks, woodlands and farms are filled at this time of year with a veritable feast of colours, textures, and shapes — everywhere you look, a reminder of those everyday things we love so dearly.
Maybe you’re a keen birdwatcher or simply love the new visitors in your garden at this time of year and would like to help make sure there are plenty of places for birds to safely migrate to in this great time of change. Or maybe you love gardening, cycling, kittiwakes and herons and know these also need safeguarding.
We’ve seen repeated, dangerous and illegal levels of air pollution across the UK at the start of the year, harming wildlife and humans alike. By joining us to Speak Up, you can begin conversations about the clean and secure energy sources needed to help the countryside and its inhabitants breathe again and ensure we can all continue to enjoy beautiful spring times for years to come.
3. Make friends in your community and with your MP
As the weather gets better, you’re probably feeling inspired to be more active and celebrate the sunshine by having a picnic or going for a lovely long walk. Why not find out how to have fun doing something you normally would by joining or organising a local event and enjoy the added bonus of joining like-minded people who share your interests and hobbies?
Here are some event ideas to help get you started:
Nature walk: who doesn’t feel inspired by fresh air and beautiful surroundings? Invite your MP to take some time to appreciate the places and things that we could lose to climate change.
Showcase your community: whether it’s solar panels on your local school, community-owned wind farms or an energy efficient building, invite your MP to visit a community energy champion.
Have a tea party: with others in your community who love something at risk from climate change — think beekeepers, football clubs or fair trade chocolate sellers. Use your local place of worship, cafe, charity shop or just your street!
Invite your MP to your local school: politicians often visit schools in their constituency, if you have a link to a local school why not suggest this?
We are already making real progress, and clean and secure energy is entirely possible within a generation if enough of us show we care. Your local MP will only know you care if you tell them you do. Starting a conversation with your MP about protecting what you love at a Speak Up Week of Action event could be the first step towards winning them over — or an opportunity to remind them of a conversation previously started.
4. Your love for nature will help protect it for future generations
“I very much like you have been saved so many times by a view.” These are the words of the poet Anthony Anaxagorou who wrote the words to our latest film, A Love Song.
We recently published a report called Britain’s Special Places Under Threat, in collaboration with the Priestly International Centre for Climate, which studied some of Britain’s special places that are being damaged by warmer, wetter weather — including iconic locations such as the Birling Gap Cliffs and Skara Brae World Heritage Site.
If you’ve been lucky enough to take in these spectacular views then you’ll know just how breathtaking and inspiring they are — and how important it is that we preserve them for generations to come. And even if you haven’t been to these particular spots, I have no doubt you can conjure up some every day places that put a smile on your face — perhaps places that you share with your family and children. Places that you don’t want to risk losing to climate change just because no one knew you cared.
5. Help your community and those around the world
We want to continue to protect our beautiful green spaces by taking the opportunity to show how proud we are of our local communities and champion the relationship you have with the places and people you love.
The great news is that by taking action here in the UK, we’re standing with communities around the world already feeling the devastating effects of a changing climate. Together we can ensure that millions of people around the world with no electricity can get access to clean energy — an amazing opportunity.
You don’t need to be an expert on climate change or be up to date on climate politics; you just need to show that you care.
#SpeakUp at an event near you to show politicians there is still hope and we can take small steps to help us shift to clean, secure energy within a generation.
