Project ID: 20188065
Project Delivery Updates: Our project has now ended. We organised 6 community climate change awareness workshops with different community groups across Cambridge and took part in 4 public sensitization events as part of events to deliver the project.
We hired the services of 3 climate activists (Mr Paget Jeche, Mr Liberty Ndao and Ms Leane March) who facilitated all the workshops.
Workshop 1: On Saturday January 8 2022, we organised the first climate awareness event at Village Hall, Papworth Everard, Cambridge, with the Cameroon Cambridge community association with 25 people in attendance. The workshop was facilitated by climate activist Paget Jeche. He explained the benefits of involving everyone including black and ethnic minority communities in the fight to protect our climate. Participants asked and received a wide range of answers to their climate concerns and how they can be involved.
Workshop 2: The second workshop too place on Saturday March 12 2022 at the Sports Hall, Cambourne, Cambridge and was attended by 30 people from Ghanaian and Liberian communities in Cambridge. Liberty Ndao facilitated the 2 hours long event explaining to attendees that Bisong Foundation has created a community led climate change protection project to promote and educate individuals to adapt to the damage that climate change causes to everyone. He stated that whilst individuals alone may not be able to make drastic emissions cuts that limit climate change to acceptable levels, personal action is essential in the fight to tackle the change and that is why Bisong Foundation have organised workshops to help educate people to adopt small personal plans they can take so they join the climate change fight back. He provided some example on how people can adopt those changes. Eat less meat and dairy: He advised that avoiding meat and dairy products is one of the biggest ways to reduce environmental impact on the planet.
Workshop 3: The third session took place at the Cricket Hall, Back Lane, Cambourne, Cambridge, CB23 6EQ on Saturday 16 April 2022 and was attended by 23 people mainly people from Igbo ethnic community from Nigeria. Climate activist Leanne March facilitated the workshop during which she talked about climate change and recycling. She highlighted that appropriate recycling helps to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by reducing energy consumption. Whilst presenting the slideshows, she emphasised that using recycled materials to make new products reduces the need for virgin materials and this avoids greenhouse gas emissions that result from extracting or mining virgin materials. She answered participants questions about recycling and how it helps protect the environment.
Workshop 4: The fourth workshop took place on Saturday July 2 2022 at The HUB, High Street, Cambourne, CB23 8AJ. 25 people from diverse ethnic backgrounds living across Cambridge attended the event. Facilitated by Liberty Ndao who did a presentation about the zero carbon streets in Cambridgeshire and how the government wants to use them as inspiration for the sustainable places of the future. He said according to statistics, transport makes up 44% of Cambridgeshire carbon footprint so rapid change is needed if the country is to play its part in helping the UK reach net zero by 2050. He said as we join the fight to tackle climate change, we should be aware that the Cambridge and Peterborough Independent Commission on climate has made it clear that if action is not taken quickly to reach the target, global and local impacts will be severe.
Workshop 5: The fifth workshop took place on Saturday August 20 2022 at Story’s Field Centre, Eddington Avenue, Cambridge, CB3 1AA. 35 people from Cambridge African network group attended the event. Workshop facilitator Liberty Ndao concentrated on how everyone can reduce their energy usage and carbon footprint so less energy is used and so saving our climate. Mr Ndao explained that making small changes to the way people behave at home will help use less energy, cutting carbon footprint and energy bills. He advised participants to put on an extra layer and turn down the heating a degree or two, turn off lights and appliances when they are not in use and replace light bulbs with LEDs or other low-energy lights. A lively question and answer session followed as people wanted to know how reducing their energy use could help reduce their energy bills.
Workshop 6: The sixth and last workshop took place at Nunns Way Pavillion, Cambridge, CB4 2PF on November 26 2022 and was attended by 35 people from ethnic minority backgrounds. Mr Paget Jeche Jeche facilitated the workshop and his main emphasis was on cutting down consumerism and waste. He emphasized that everything we use from the cloths we wear to the TV sets to cars we buy has a carbon footprint on our climate. Therefore, he advised participants to avoid single-use items and fast fashion, and try not to buy more than they need. He advised participants to shop around for second-hand or quality items that can last a long time. He said people should put their purchasing power to good use by choosing brands that align with their new green aspirations as it is part of the fight against climate change.
Public Sensitisation Events: Public events took place at the following venues: 1st event: Open space campaigning, 29 Graham Road, Ochard park, Cambridge, CB4 2WP on 14/05/22 from 14.00 – 18.00. 2nd event: The Arbury carnival, Campkin Road, Cambridge, CB4 2LD on 11/06/22 from 10.00am – 16.00 3rd event: The Grafton Centre, East Road, Cambridge, CB1 1PS from 12.00 – 17.00 4th event: Autumn Festival, Country Park, Cambridge Road, Milton, Cambridge, CB24 6AZ from 11.00am – 16.30
We have organised 4 sensitisation events where we educated and mobilised audiences to take action to confront the climate crisis by highlighting that everyone can play a part by raising their voice, sharing solutions, and advocating for change shaped by different experiences, cultural contexts, and underlying values. During the events, we explained to people how they could reduce food waste by buying only what they cook and eat, preserving extra food, using public transport, cycling, and walking instead of driving cars to reduce carbon emissions. We explained the scale of the climate crisis and how it is important to adopt small personal plans they can take so they join the climate fight back. In one of the events at the Cambridge Arbury Festival, The Lord mayor of Cambridge Cllr Mark Ashton and his wife attended and he praised the Bisong Foundation for its willingness to join the fight against climate change and how the action have increased public support for urgent action. Flyers were distributed during these events.
Benefits of the project: This is the first time we are delivering a project of this nature. We created increased awareness of the ravages of climate change in BAME community and encouraged more people to adopt lifestyle changes like cycling or walking to reduce emissions that destroy our climate. The positive direct effect of adopting changes to fight back the climate change have seen improved general wellbeing of participants as they are engaged in walking and cycling instead of using cars resulting in less fuel emissions.
We are grateful to The National Lottery Community Fund for providing this grant that has helped us to create increased awareness of the ravages of climate in BAME communities across Cambridgeshire and encouraged more people to adopt lifestyle changes to fight back the disasters of climate change.
