Crumpsall Youth Climate Leaders
Many young people want to contribute to climate action and greening their local area, but simply don’t have the knowledge, support or tools to make it happen. In Our Nature are on a mission to make climate action accessible and achievable for young people of all ages and abilities!
In August 2021, young people from Crumpsall Park youth club came together to form a Climate Leaders group. The group of young people would agree on, and work together to develop specific environmental projects over the next few years.
13 boys and girls took part over the years, ranging from between 10 and 17 years old. The Climate Leaders group met regularly outside of their general youth club, developing their idea.
In early February 2023, thanks to funding from In Our Nature and Esme Fairburn, the Crumpsall Climate Leaders met with The Centre For Sustainable Energy online to agree a plan and timetable for working together. The plan included:
February – Introduction to the planning system (Zoom)
March and April – Practice using the PLACE planning tool
May – Crumpsall Park Youth Consultation
July – Bringing together results and next steps
August – Meeting with the Park Ranger
September – Park audit across Greater Manchester
October – Final plans and impact
Groundwork’s Youth Team worked with the group on a weekly basis, bringing in The Centre For Sustainable Energy and other experts where needed.
Throughout the programme the young people learned how climate and planning naturally sat together. The Climate Leaders learned about a toolkit the Centre For Sustainable Energy had developed and started to make plans for a pubic consultation about Crumpsall Park.
In May 2023 the young people began their consultation and engaged with over 300 local people! Harnessing their local knowledge they were able to connect with other local people using the park. They were comprehensive in their approach and provided details that an external group of professionals would have found challenging.
The young people presented their findings to the Park Ranger who was extremely pleased, however suggested the young people don’t put a full re-design together for the park, unless they were able to fund the changes, as their experience suggested this would disengage the wider community. Using the consultation responses and the feedback from the Park Ranger, the young people decided to focus on one thing at once.
Later in 2023 the Park Ranger sourced some funds to spend in the park, she immediately engaged with the Crumpsall Climate Leaders recognising they were best placed to advise on where it should be spent. The young people suggested having the visitors centre re-painted, as their consultation showed that graffiti in the park was an eye sore.
The Crumpsall Climate Leaders have ambitions to share the results of their consultation and their vision with local groups and influencers. The young people have pledged to lobby and fundraise in order to make change happen.
John Swallow, the Youth Social Action Lead for the group, added:
“The young people have been an absolute inspiration. It was magical watching them undertake the consultation – the connections they made were great. I’m confident they’re going to make a real difference to the local area.”
