Saturday 26th October
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Report written by Ben Foster
After a run and bus dash to Brunswick Parish church, I met up with Dan and Gordon from Ardwick Climate Action. Along with some visitors from Didsbury and Fog Lane, and Jade from Ancoats, we got kitted out with gloves, litter pickers, and bin bags to do a combined litter pick and grand tour of some of their 11 sites.
Overall we managed to collect 12 bursting blue bin bags plus a lonely mop.
More interesting was the tour and stories, including them closing the A6 several years ago to stop the traffic while planting trees, and the 15,000 bulbs planted around their sites. Several schools in Ardwick have had shrubs, trees, and hedges planted to reduce noise and pollution (ivy was noticeably blackened facing the road). In the future, they hope to instigate safe school streets and more pedestrian crossings across the A6 to help with the school run. Much of their funding has been through the council and the mayor, with Andy Burnham recently visiting for a similar whistle-stop tour.
An additional aspect was their art installations, some of which have made it to the Manchester Museum, to raise awareness on air pollution. and the environment. One current masterpiece was a series of blue umbrellas (representing the sky) with recycled bottle tops to represent PM 2.5 air particles.
After a final stop at their community allotments, we bade our farewells and look to be back next month.
Ardwick Climate Actions' mission is to protect our local environment through grassroots advocacy that engages the local community. Our work encompasses the renewing of green spaces, monitoring pollution levels, climate advocacy through community engagement. Ardwick is one of the most deprived areas in Manchester, and much work is needed to reengage and sensitise the community back to nature and the climate crisis that affects all its residents.
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Engaging with nature and environmental sustainability