The latest screening of the People’s Emergency Briefing at St Dunstan’s Church Hall was followed by a fascinating discussion.

Many attendees at the event on 6th October described the film as really interesting, and, at times, scary. One typical comment was, “while there are parts I’ve seen before, having it all brought together was really powerful.” As with our previous screening – lots of people were surprised it wasn’t released more ‘widely in the public domain’. Some felt the government does not want the public to know the full content because they will be forced to do more. 

Many agreed that since the film was made in the spring, recent events such as the record-breaking summer heatwave and the appalling disaster in Nepal, show just how quickly the situation is changing. 

There was also some discussion about how we can engage all parts of the community: young, old, well-off and struggling. How can we get this in a language that people will listen to?  

Longer reflections included:

• "I was a firefighter and the number of heath fires etc is getting greater without any increased resources".
• "Now, as a gardener, I see the devastation all the time.”
• “How can we educate our children about this without terrifying them?”
• “Climate education needs to be on the school curriculum.”
• "Renters have little control over their environment and this needs to change."
• "Reform and the Conservatives say one thing, and you and the other parties say another, it’s confusing."
• "I get so frustrated by the astroturf and paved-over driveways that are increasingly being installed in the area."

If you would like to get more into the details, you can watch the full briefings given by the experts featured in the film. Each video is around 12 minutes long and focuses on a key issue like food security, energy, national security, extreme weather, etc. 

There are still spaces available for our next screening this Saturday at YourSpace in Sears park at 11:30am. Please do come along. 

What's next

We have more actions on the way, a bank of resources, initiatives and "things to know" to support you. Keep an eye on our news page for updates, and sign up for our monthly newsletter.

Thanks, too, to everyone who has volunteered to help. If you'd like to get involved and haven't yet, just get in touch and let us know.

Who we are

Cheam Climate Action brings together like-minded individuals and groups in Cheam to raise awareness of the climate and nature crises, and to work collectively to create the conditions for our local community to thrive in the face of them.

Our first initiative is a series of People's Emergency Briefings in the local area this autumn. From there, we hope to build momentum, bringing people together to develop plans and actions we can all take to tackle and adapt to the climate and nature crises.

The Cheam Climate Action team