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Jenny, our Community Organiser for the past 12 months, left this month to start her PhD at Sheffield University. Her research into resilient decarbonisation will look at methods of responding to and preparing for climate change. Her work could contribute to the abandonment of significant fossil fuel use.
Jenny was essential to MCA right from the start. Her enthusiasm buoyed us, and her organisational skills drove us forward. Jenny worked incredibly hard over and above her contracted hours: she sorted out our calendars, meetings and reports; helped with courses, Slack training and with writing some of our funding bids. Jenny also collated our MCA response to SMDC and so, so much more. Throughout it all she has encouraged and supported us, whether as individuals, within our groups or MCA as a whole. As one of our members said, “She will be a hard act to follow”.
Given our inability to meet face to face, we contacted everyone on-line to tell them of Jenny’s departure. This August, Mike emailed all MCA members who were invited to contribute a leaving message to Jenny and return it via email. All messages received were collected and combined in a booklet for Jenny. Many of the messages speak of her hard work, her willingness to help, her encouragement and the vividness of her personality.
As a thank you for all she has done for MCA over the past year, we also received donations which were combined to give Jenny a National Gardens Gift card. Jenny was delighted with her gift and said ‘Thank you’ to everyone.
We will be sorry to see Jenny go but know we will stay in touch, particularly as she will be only three moors, two valleys and a gritstone edge away in Sheffield. We look forward to seeing the results of her research, which will continue her commitment to helping the planet – and her beloved Moorlands.
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Moorlands Climate Action has broadly welcomed the renewed commitment of Staffordshire Moorlands District Council to addressing the pressing issue of climate change, despite what it sees as essentially a wasted twelve months until now.
“We have obviously been disappointed with progress, or lack of it, since SMDC declared a Climate Emergency over a year ago,” says Nigel Williams, chairperson at MCA. “We have made it clear where we felt the problems lay.”
But we are heartened that key councillors such as James Aberley and Nigel Yates are moving determinedly to put the right structures in place to ensure a more collegiate and accountable approach in the future.”
Putting the Sub-committee on a sounder footing should mean that decisions are made in a more energetic, transparent and evidence-based manner.”
Working groups will be set up in key areas such transport, energy and buildings with direct input from groups such as MCA and Staffordshire Wildlife Trust. Reports from these and the sub-Committee will then be sent to the SMDC Cabinet.
“Follow-up action can be monitored and scrutinised in the way that all local authority processes should be, and usually are,” said Nigel Williams.
MCA member Maggie Pollard added: “We welcome the fact that there will be a renewed emphasis on the central issue – the need to reduce carbon emissions in order to avoid a catastrophic rise in global temperatures. Measures such as reducing the use of single-use plastic drinks containers, while laudable in themselves, are a very small part of the central task.”
She said that the teenagers and twenty-somethings who are increasingly engaged in climate change issues have been put off in the past by endless talk and few tangible results: “They want action, not words.”