This has been another tremendous year of progress for Moorlands Climate Action - our membership has continued to increase, we’ve taken on even more projects and we’ve achieved some noticeable firsts.
Our first Youth Conference, timed to coincide with COP 30 in Brazil, was launched on 11 November, bringing together students from across the Moorlands to learn more about green careers, decarbonisation, adaptation and biodiversity. Our Youth Action team worked really hard to pull this conference together and, with over a dozen organisations taking part, it is a great example of what a small group of people can do when they are determined – see our next newsletter for a full report.
Another first was the invitation for Moorlands Repair Café to represent Staffordshire at a conference in the House of Lords, to promote the campaign for more support for the Recycle, Repair, Reuse message. One of our repairers, John, had a great afternoon talking to MPs and government officials, as well as other Repair Café teams from around the UK.
In partnership with local town councils, libraries, Waste Savvy Staffordshire, OUTSIDE, Move More and local police, the Chain Reaction project has continued to encourage more people to take up cycling. Our Repair Café team has welcomed a number of new volunteers who have allowed us to provide support for the first bike repair workshops in Cheadle and Biddulph.
The Plastic Free Leek project has continued to sign up new members, including schools, and we were delighted to hear we had our first Silver Award winner – the Lion House Tea Rooms.
This all sounds brilliant, and it is, BUT…we now have a County Council that voted to rescind its own Climate Emergency declaration and cancel targets for Net Zero. The government’s Planning and Infrastructure Bill is posing a serious threat to nature. Trump is promoting fossil fuel expansion and, here in the UK, Reform are calling for an end to the ban on fracking.
All these hurdles make our work more important than ever. Moorlands Climate Action needs to be part of the growing coalition of groups across the planet who call for change – while there is still time. We’ve shown what’s possible when a community comes together, but we can’t let up now. There’s more work to do, more voices to join, and more ways to protect our world for everyone.
So, 2025 was packed with progress, new projects, and more people getting involved. Even with the setbacks all around us, our passion hasn’t faded. Let’s keep moving forward, keep inspiring, and keep fighting for climate action—while we still can! And why not join us at our upcoming AGM?