Published: 13 November 2023

This wonderful film is a spinoff project from Save Our Wild Isles that brought together young people from across the UK to tell their story through film, and take action for nature. Over a hundred young people took part in the workshops and the completed film will premiere on YouTube on Monday 27 November. It showcases the action being taken by young changemakers, and their vision for the future of our world.

We are thrilled to be able to join with some of the filmmakers and participants in hosting a screening at the Foxlowe Arts Centre at 7:00pm on Wednesday 29 November. It will be introduced by our panel of participants (Alana Wheat, Ed Daly and Xander Wood), who will share their stories on the project, and followed by a Q&A session, possibly also including the producer, Ben Sandbrook.

So, watch the trailer, make a note of the date and look out for our publicity on Facebook and elsewhere. If you can share and like the posts, so much the better.

Published: 13 November 2023

Rishi Sunak may have gambled on using opposition to Net Zero as a vote winner but inside Moorlands House a consensus still exists on the need to act decisively to decarbonise key sectors such as housing.

The Moorlands ranks very low on energy efficiency by national and regional standards: just 25.6% of houses have an EPC rating of C or above, compared to 41% for England and 36% for the West Midlands. The Moorlands also ranks badly on fuel poverty: 16% of households fall into this category compared to 13.2% for England and Wales.

The resources available to district councils in this area are painfully thin – instead of the long-term funding needed for such a multi-faceted project, authorities are forced to rely on irregular grants. These are small compared to the size of the task, the windows for obtaining and delivering the funding are tight, and the money is often hedged about with difficult restrictions.

SMDC has two new pots of money to deploy in this area. One is HUG 2 (the Home Upgrade Grant Phase 2 – not our green arts festival). This £1.5m fund runs until March 2025 and will be used to offer energy improvements to houses that are not connected to the gas grid. These measures include heat pumps, insulation and other measures.

The scheme is run through Staffordshire Warmer Homes – a route which has worked well on some schemes, less so on others. MCA have long argued that SMDC should be more pro-active in ensuring that energy efficiency schemes are fully taken up.

This is one of the subjects that the re-formed SMDC Climate Working Group is focussing on. In the previous round of working groups – in which MCA took part – members were largely left to themselves, and the results were patchy. Even those that produced definitive outcomes were ignored.

Read more: Spotlight Autumn 2023 - Making Moorlands Houses Warmer

Published: 12 November 2023

Earlier this month, four MCA members took our stall, by bus, to the Stoke-on-Trent Sustainability Summit, organised by Stoke Central MP, Jo Gideon. It was themed around ‘three pillars of sustainability’ focussing on the ‘importance of environmental action, economic vision, and social responsibility to restore a healthy planet, economy, and society’.

It was good to hear so many excellent speakers, some of whom we already know and value, and also to see these important issues being integrated in the discussions – not that we agreed with everything that was said, although mostly we did. We were particularly interested in the discussion about the need for clarity on policy to allow workers in the new Green industries to be trained up rapidly. 

As with all these events, the conversations outside the main hall were equally important. It was good to see old friends and colleagues but also to make new contacts and look at future opportunities to collaborate.

Our mascot, Baldrik the Beaver, came with us and was very happy to renew his acquaintance with Friends of the Earth, meet others working in wildlife restoration and get to know Jo Gideon, who did such a fantastic job both organising and chairing the summit.

Published: 09 November 2023

It was great to be able to share a stall with Staffordshire Climate Matters, North Staffs Friends of the Earth and West Midlands FoE at the Staffordshire Climate Expo and Sustainability Conference held at Keele Hall in September. 

Lots to see and learn, interesting people to meet and many old and new friends.

Huge credit to the Globe Group for organising such a tremendous event.

Published: 09 November 2023

You'll be pleased to hear that Mike did get over the shock in time to talk about what MCA stands for - Making a Difference, clearly, and in our case on climate action.

It was thrilling to get this award against very strong competition and towards the end of a very busy year.

Watch out for the award's appearances in future issues and on FaceBook.

Published: 07 August 2023

Despite the PM’s supposed enthusiasm for the beautiful game, he seems to have scored an own goal in deciding to approve 100 new North Sea oil and gas licences, claiming that this action is still “entirely consistent with our plan to get to net zero” and inspiring a deluge of both national and international criticism, not least from experts in his own party. MCA was encouraged to hear the response of Chris Skidmore, author of the Net Zero Review, who asserted that the move would put the UK “on the wrong side of history” and push voters at the next election to favour “parties that protect, and not threaten, our environment”. Polling data certainly seem to support this assertion.

Closer to home, the new administration at Moorlands House seems keen to be on the right side of history, particularly in the context of climate action. They are currently updating the Climate Change plan and will publish in September a short list of immediate actions, alongside the separate Plan for Nature.

It looks like SMDC will strengthen the push to reduce the council’s own energy consumption, e.g. Biddulph leisure centre solar panels and heat pump, plus solar panels for Brough Park leisure centre in Leek, but we hope they don’t lose focus on the wider energy usage of the district. Net Zero is ultimately all about energy and NOT using fossil fuels to generate it.

In that respect it’s good for the council to act as a flagship but more needs to be done to tackle fuel poverty and climate emissions in existing homes. To its credit, SMDC, working with the Staffordshire Warmer Homes partnership and also under pressure from MCA and the former opposition, has produced a baseline that provides detail and targeted actions on the district as a whole. Another aim is to improve the existing liaison with Your Housing, who we understand have already begun to take energy efficiency much more seriously but are battling with the inadequacies of government funding and legislation, as well as the complicated nature of their housing stock. We're glad they've made a start and look forward to seeing the promised deeper cooperation with SMDC.

Read more: Spotlight Summer 2023 - Fiddling the Figures while the...