A week of action for a fairer world

What was the response like?

We were pleased to see that all the events were well attended and that people were encouraged to embrace change. One talk that drew a lot of attention was by podcaster and author Jen Gale on her book The sustainable(ish) living guide. The ‘ish’ seemed to make all the difference, encouraging small changes in daily life that are within most people’s reach, without weighing people down with guilt. We reached a wider audience by inviting shops in the village high street to dress their windows in a green theme. This not only engaged the retailers but also appealed to shoppers passing by.

Here’s what two Lindfield residents had to say about the events:

‘The talks during Great Big Green Week were really informative and inspiring, and I was impressed by the range of events that had been organised by Fairer World Lindfield.’

‘Lots of people will have had their thinking on climate change altered or refined by attending the events run by Fairer World Lindfield during Great Big Green Week.’

How did you use your events to shape your community?

One of our aims for Great Big Green Week was to build on the engagement with policymakers we’d undertaken in the last two years. We’ve used many different approaches including emails, letters, phone calls, online and face-to-face meetings to engage with all levels of government. Hope for the Future, a climate action charity, ran a training course for us on lobbying policymakers, which emphasised the importance of building personal relationships.

For our opening event, we invited two Lindfield parish councillors to give a talk on their latest climate action plan. We also held a tour of a local organic sustainable dairy farm, which was attended by our MP as well as five representatives from county, district and town councils.

How did church and community groups get involved?

Throughout the week, we engaged with local community groups and churches who were all supportive of our activities. A few years ago, our church, All Saints Lindfield, formed a group called ‘Caring for God’s Creation’, which links with the village community on climate action. Since it started, the group has organised talks by Ruth Valerio from Tearfund and Ruth Bushyager, Bishop of Horsham, to help the church family learn how to put their Christian faith into action. There is now a page on the All Saints website dedicated to resources and events on the Christian response to the climate and ecological emergency. As Christians, we feel it is imperative to take responsibility for the problems we have caused to the people in the Global South, particularly as we strive to live out Jesus’ call to love our neighbour.

As a climate action group, we try to encourage people to use their voice, whether that be through writing to global companies or local councillors. One action came from eight-year-old Esme, a local resident, who attended a surgery with her MP to raise her concerns about climate change and planning issues. Esme has now been invited to be the representative for seven- to 11-year-olds for Mid Sussex at the Children’s Parliament and took part in a debate last October.

What’s next?

We are hopeful that our future activities, particularly our monthly climate cafe events, will help people engage further in the environmental and social issues of the climate and ecological crisis. We hope to inspire people to take action for justice by asking the question, ‘Is it fair that those in the world who have contributed the least to this problem will suffer the most?’