In the last two months we’ve gained key supporters for our Let’s Get Moving campaign, including Birmingham Central Mosque, All Saints Church Kings Heath, and Birmingham LGBT.
Through the campaign, we’re calling on Birmingham City Council (BCC) to invest in infrastructure that supports active transport as a means of tackling air pollution, and promoting health and well-being among Birmingham residents.
The campaign has struck a chord with Birmingham-based faith and community groups who have serious concerns about the quality of the city’s air and the impact this has on the health and well-being of Birmingham’s million-strong population.
These groups were being asked to put their name to the campaign by allowing us to use their names and logos on our campaigns materials so that BCC recognises the diversity and the breadth of the support for the campaign. We’ve asked if groups can put Let’s Get Moving campaign materials in their building’s public spaces. We are also working with these groups on increasing awareness of air pollution and how we can combat it by making sustainable choices in our own lives by arranging workshops or talks for their communities.
We have been in talks with other faith groups, community groups and local neighbourhood forums about air pollution and Let’s Get Moving, with an ambition towards building a Birmingham Clean Air Alliance. We’re are talking with several key community and faith groups and hope that Let’s Get Moving will have significant support from across Birmingham by the time we submit our petition for increased investment in active transport to Sir Albert Bore at the end of the summer.
Alliance building is an integral part of BFoE’s work as we try to gain momentum and support for action on air pollution by the council. By demonstrating that we have a broad base of support from major faith and community groups across Birmingham, we hope to show BCC that Birmingham expects it to take sufficient long-term measures to tackle the problem.
As regular readers will be aware from previous articles on this issue, air pollution contributed to around 520 premature deaths in Birmingham last year, and is a major contributor to respiratory illness. The UK government is currently being taken to court by the European Commission for illegal levels of Nitrogen Dioxide in Birmingham and 15 other cities across the country.
This is why we’re calling for Birmingham City Council to build on the success of the funding they got from the Cycle City Ambition Grant, and invest £10 per person per year in cycling and walking for at least 10 years.
With BFoE racking up key supporters including the major faith congregations and Birmingham LGBT, Birmingham City Council will have to acknowledge the call for action on air pollution.
If you are a faith or community group in Birmingham and you’d like to put your name to the campaign for clean air, please get in touch with us at info@birminghamfoe.org.uk or call us on (0121) 632 6909
You can find a full list of supporters here To find out more, please visit us at birminghamfoe.org.uk or tweet us at @Bham_FOE.
