BLOG: Milly’s Story: The Power of Community Climate Action
“When there’s community impact, the feeling of powerlessness that climate change can bring is reduced.” How a local story of climate awareness can inspire people to truly understand the global climate crisis and take action in their communities.
The impacts of climate change can be seen on our TV screens, weather forecasts and news across the world. Prolonged heatwaves, droughts, flooding and melting icecaps are all recognised warning signs.1
But for some, the red-hot flags do not instantly correlate to what is on their doorstep.
How can people respond, adapt, and protect their communities from impacts of climate change if they don’t first learn about environmental decline happening closer to home?
Milly Marr, 18, shares her experience of reconnecting people with their local area and raising awareness of the impacts of climate change on the River Esk in the North York Moors during her time volunteering on the REConnect programme.
REConnecting others
“During my first year of college in the summer before A levels, I participated in a community engagement programme called REConnect, funded by The National Lottery Community Fund, as part of my work experience.
“The placement was with Groundwork North East and Cumbria through Career Ready, a programme where people from underrepresented areas are given opportunities to gain employability skills, develop their CVs and receive career guidance from mentors.
“The main point of the REConnect programme is to preserve the River Esk and raise awareness amongst people in the local area including tourists, of climate change impacts on the Esk, such as water pollution and species decline. A lot of people come to Whitby and don’t see the actual river, just the harbour and sea.
“We held a walk across the beach and along the river, events at shows and other activities to get people interested. During the community engagement, we did some events at libraries around the area. We’d go on nature walks with the kids and talk to the parents towards the end of the session. This was a way of accessing people who weren’t already interested in understanding their local climate impact in other ways so that they could learn.
“We spoke a lot about nature connectedness. Often it was the people visiting from inner city areas who were most interested in learning about impacts to the river whereas some local people living in the area weren’t as engaged. It was almost as if, because the river is on our doorstep, it’s a second thought. We don’t really stop to consider what’s actually going on.”
A local issue… and cause
“People often wanted to find out more. They were quite shocked about what was happening locally. Because climate change is seen as a global crisis, it’s easy to forget that there are impacts in smaller areas.
“When people told us they couldn’t do anything because climate impacts are a bigger issue, we explained how small actions are still helpful. It is a big and scary issue. But caring for your local environment and getting outside to engage with nature are small steps that can make a collective difference.
“That was what we focused on and encouraged primarily throughout the project. For people to go outside and understand nature so they could learn to care for it.
“Informing people that they could take action in simple ways means they were more prepared to do something. Planting some native wildflowers in your garden and picking up some litter when you’re on a beach makes a big difference to the local area.”
The power of community
“When there’s community impact, the feeling of powerlessness that climate change can bring is reduced. Working with other people amplifies the positive impact because people aren’t going to say ‘oh, well, I can’t do anything’ if they’re seeing other people getting involved as well.
“The whole point of the programme is to get people to understand and engage, so then hopefully those people will take a deeper look and help out themselves.
“It’s so much more than adapting to climate change. It’s also being with like-minded people, being outside and engaging in a healthy lifestyle. It’s a big mental health thing. A lot of things would improve if people engaged in programmes like REConnect because they all go hand in hand.”
Notes to editors
For more information please contact: media@groundwork.org.uk
About Groundwork
Groundwork is a federation of charities with a collective mission to take practical action to create a fair and green future in which people, places, and nature thrive. We support communities and businesses to build capacity and resilience in order to tackle hardship, achieve a just transition to net-zero and help nature recover in a way that reduces inequality and leads to healthier, happier lives for all: www.groundwork.org.uk
About REConnect
River Esk Connect (REConnect) is a five-year partnership programme launched in September 2024 and delivered by the North York Moors National Park Authority, Groundwork North East & Cumbria, Yorkshire Wildlife Trust and the Yorkshire Marine Nature Partnership. By reconnecting people with the River Esk and its surrounding landscape, the programme aims to inspire local communities to value, protect and care for the area’s unique natural environment, while increasing understanding of the impacts of climate change and the actions needed to help nature thrive.
REConnect is funded by The National Lottery Community Fund until August 2029.
National Lottery players raise over £32 million a week for good causes across the UK. Thanks to them, The National Lottery Community Fund distributes over £600 million a year through over 13,000 grants. The funder plans to invest over £4 billion of funding into communities by 2030. It supports projects across the whole of the UK to turn their truly life-changing ideas into reality.
www.groundwork.org.uk/north-east-and-cumbria/reconnect/