Clean Air Day

The Breathe London Community groups organised several activities individually including hosting local workshops, organising walks and collaborating with Mums for Lungs and the Global Action Plan.

Dr Kayla Schulte spoke at an Oxfordshire county council CAD event about the AWAIR project. The team have also been conducting feedback workshops as part of the AWAIR pilot to evaluate and improve the impact of co-created public air pollution information days. There has also been a recent installation of an AWAIR sign at the Gipsy Hill station and Peckham Theatre. See photos.

Professor Frank Kelly CBE was invited to a number of Government events:

On 17^th June, Frank was invited to be a panellist at Westminster City Council’s Air Quality Action Plan Launch Event. Frank Chaired a panel discussion which included experts and representatives from Public Health, Clean Air London, Commercial Cooking, Grosvenor, Mums for Lungs, Westminster City Council talking about the challenges, opportunities, and collective responsibility we share in delivering clean air for all. The launch was on the Air Quality Action Plan 2025-2030 which is a roadmap with the aim of achieving World Health Organization air quality guidelines by 2040.

On June 18^th, Frank was part of a panel at a Trade Union event in London with the focus on ‘How can we protect workers from air pollution & other climate risks? This was organised by the University and College Union (UCU) and the Trade Union Clean Air Network (TUCAN). Frank was on a  panel which included the UCU Environment Policy Officer, along with Wandsworth Cabinet Member for the Environment and and Air Quality Lead, NEU Policy Officer and Healthy Air Coalition representatives to discuss the topic. Frank also did a 10min presentation.

On 19^th June, Frank  joined a walk from Great Ormond Street Hospital to Parliament to deliver a letter which had over  400 signatures, as part of a campaign focusing on amplifying voices across the health sector to highlight the serious health impacts of air pollution and call for urgent action to clean up our air. The walk was led by Dr Camilla Kingdon, Consultant Paediatrician and Chair of the Healthy Air Coalition, Professor Stephan Holgate and clean air campaigners Rosamund Adoo-Kissi-Debrah and Jemima Harshorn. There was 20 parliamentarians lined up to meet the group in Parliament Square to receive the letter.

On 24^th June, Frank was invited to a roundtable discussion at the Swedish Embassy, hosted by the Ambassador of Sweden with discussion around, ‘A Breath of Fresh Air – How Collaboration is Improving London’s Air Quality’.

On 25^th June, Frank was invited by Baroness Sheehan, Chair of the House of Lords Select committee for Environment and Climate Change, to attend an exclusive screening of a new drama starring Sir David Suchet called the Last Gasp. The screening focuses on the scandal of gas flaring and it’s contribution to global warming, and how people who live near toxic flares can have their health affected. There is a link to fatal childhood leukaemia and other cancers. The screening took place in the Houses of Parliament. Frank was also part of a panel of invited experts from the worlds of health, climate litigation and methane abatement to discuss how flaring damages health and the barriers stopping its reduction. This invitation arose from Frank being the health advisor on the award-winning BBC documentary, ‘Under Poisoned Skies’