October 8 is Clean Air Day, the UK’s largest air pollution campaign, which aims to engage thousands of people at hundreds of events, and reach millions more through the media. Over the last 7 months, we’ve seen big changes in the air quality in London. For some, fewer cars on the road meant periods of exceptionally clean air, but the change has not been consistent and not everyone has experienced the benefits. On Clean Air Day, we are reaffirming our commitment to work with organisations to improve air quality across the city for everyone.
We have awarded grants of over £113,000 to organisations who run innovative programmes to improve air quality. Global Action Plan, the hosts of Clean Air Day, are using our grant to run the Clean Air Hub website with the shared goal to create universal access to free, easy to understand and scientifically robust information so everyone can play a role in addressing air quality. We support City Harvest, a charity tackling food waste to reduce hunger and carbon emissions, who will use our funding to increase the size and reach of their food distribution programme. We have partnered with Trees for Cities, a green charity who are monitoring and mitigating pollutants in the air on primary school grounds. We have also supported Thrive, a charity who use gardening to bring about positive changes in the lives of people living with disabilities or ill health, to deliver their therapeutic gardening programme. Through working with these partners we appreciate, now more than ever, the importance of getting out in fresh air for our mental and physical health.
Clean Air Day celebrates those acting to improve the air we breathe and inspire others to play their part in cleaning up our air. Further information about Clean Air Day can be found here and information about our environmental programmes, including those above, can be found here.