Saturday 24th October sees an exciting new project taking place in Leeds called Engage+Change.  This event, or rather series of events highlighting climate change issues, and coincides with www.350.org ’s International Day of Action on Climate Change.

Across the city at a number of venues and locations there will be fun, engaging and educational activities taking place; from theatre to free fruit, films to flashmobs, there is something for everyone!  And what’s more, everything is FREE!

For more information visit our website http://engageandchange.wordpress.com/ or email listen.to.leeds@googlemail.com

And if your group would like to get involved there is still time!  We welcome any activity related to climate change that is fun and informative, so please get in touch!

Transitional Living in a time of collapse

Christian Ecology Link Weekend

Speakers: Rev. Sam Norton and CEL members involved in transition towns

The weekend takes place at Green gables in Scarborough on the North Yorkshire coast. We will find out about the transition town movement in Scarborough and elsewhere, discover what church involvement there is with these initiatives, and explore how our faith fits in with ideas of transition with the Rev. Sam Norton.

Early bird price if booked before 31 October: £104, £120 from November.

For more details please contact: CEL Information Officer, 3 bond Street, Lancaster LA1 3ER.

W: www.christian-ecology.org.uk
T: 08454598460
E: info@christian-ecology.org.uk

South Parade Baptist Church, Leeds, LS6 3LF

People living in poverty have something to say – but it’s not often heard by the powerful. It’s a message about how their lives, homes and families are being shattered right now by the changing climate.

World leaders will meet in Copenhagen this December to agree a new global climate change deal. It’s critical that we deliver this message from our poorer neighbours. Join Tearfund at this climate justice evening, ahead of The Wave on 5 December, to take action and pray as part of the global church’s response to climate change.

No previous experience or knowledge is required, just a concern for justice and a desire to take action, pray and get your church involved.

It’s free and we’ll even provide some tea or coffee and tasty cakes!

RSVP to enquiries@tearfund.org. It’s ok to just come along on the evening but letting us know beforehand ensures we provide enough cakes.

www.tearfund.org/justice

This is the second in a three part series of lectures taking place at Sheffield Cathedral.  These lectures explore the practicalities of political planning for climate change.

On Wednesday 21st October at 7pm Ann pettifor, perhaps most well-known as co-founder of Jubilee 2000, will be showing us how we can reshape our economic system so that it works for sustainable development rather than against it.

Tickets cost £2 per lecture (Con. £1), all three lectures £5 (Con £2.50).

They are available in three ways,

1) by post from:  

J Alder,

Diocesan Church House,
95-99 Effingham St,

Rotherham S65 1BL
(enclosing sae and cheque made payable to ‘Sheffield Diocesan Board of Finance’). 

Tel 01709 309133;
2)  in person from the Blue Moon Café, St James Street, Sheffield S1;
3) on the door. 

 The Tickets are remarkably cheap because the lectures have been sponsored by Sheffield Campaign Against Climate Change, The Diocese of Sheffield and Sheffield Cathedral.        

The third and final lecture will take place on 11th November at 7pm on the issue of politics. 

October 6th sees the first in a series of lectures exploring the practicalities of planning for climate change taking place at Sheffield Cathedral.  The Forst of these lectures is on energy and is led by Alison Cooke, Chair of the Institute of Mechanical Engineers.

This is her response to the Future Climate Project, and will demonstrate how it is possible to make realistic decisions about meeting our future energy needs without using fossil fuel.  She will offer a cool, careful and hopeful exploration of the choices we have to make concerning the best mix of energy sources in terms that we can understand.

Tickets cost £2 per lecture (Con. £1), all three lectures £5 (Con £2.50).

They are available in three ways,

1) by post from:

J Alder,

Diocesan Church House,
95-99 Effingham St,

Rotherham S65 1BL
(enclosing sae and cheque made payable to ‘Sheffield Diocesan Board of Finance’).

Tel 01709 309133;
2) in person from the Blue Moon Café, St James Street, Sheffield S1;
3) on the door.

The Tickets are remarkably cheap because the lectures have been sponsored by Sheffield Campaign Against Climate Change, The Diocese of Sheffield and Sheffield Cathedral.

The other lectures take place on Wednesday 21st October and Wednesday 11th November and cover the issues of Money and Politics.

Do you want to make a wave for climate justice? Well now is your chance!

On Saturday 24th October in York at 10.30 am there will be a Wave around the Minster organised by Cafod.

This is an event open to all who are passionate about making real and effective decisions on climate change, so join us in our wave around York Minster to tell our government that our climate is in their hands. THEY MUST ACT NOW!

This is a peaceful protest. Supporters are asked to congregate on Dean’s Park adjacent to the Minster at 10.30am. The event will only last an hour.

Please wear something blue and even better, bring something to bang and make a noise with!

There will be speakers from Christian Aid and Cafod.

For further information contact CAFOD on 01904 671 767 or email: middlesbrough@cafod.org.uk

Come & join us for a flashmob relay race on Light Night!

Leeds TIDAL invites YOU to join us for a flashmob relay race as part of the city’s evening arts spectacular Light Night on the 9th October 2009. The aim is to create a great spectacle in the city centre that we can use to enagage ordinary people in climate change and the Copenhagen climate talks.

How will it work? Everyone will assemble at 5:30PM at The Common Place. Then we’ll split into three teams; the Copenhagen Hopers, the Carbon Polluters, and the Eco Warriors. Once in our teams, we’ll walk together to Briggate, take our positions, and race! During the proceedings two commentators will articulate the teams’ progress, and give key messages about climate change and Copenhagen in the process. We’ll also have volunteers on hand to talk to members of the public about the race and distribute information about how people can get involved in climate activism.

The race is open to all ages, abilities, genders and levels of fitness. We aim to create a spectacle, not host a ’serious’ race. It’s all a bit of fun, so come on and join in!

To find out more, please check out the Leeds TIDAL website.

Greenpeace are showing A Time Comes, a short film by documentary film maker Nick Broomfield, which examines the feelings and thoughts of Greenpeace activists who occupied the chimney at the coal fired power station at Kingsnorth in Kent in October 2007. There will also be other short films showing international Greenpeace events and activities.

The event will also include talks and discussion about nonviolent direct action and the coal campaign with Jo and Chris, experienced Greenpeace activists from Manchester and Sowerby Bridge.

To RSVP, contact local Greenpeace coordinator Ian on 07789 763193 or at innocentian@aim.com

Calling all supporters to come and join us on Saturday 24th October from 10.30 – 11.30am to Make a Wave for Climate Justice around York Minster to raise awareness of the upcoming UN talks in Copenhagen in December where world leaders will gather to decide on global action on climate change, which affects the poorest people in the world first and hardest.

Gather in Dean’s Park, adjacent to York Minster from 10.30am, wear or bring something blue to wave.
Let us know if you are planning to come along either by email: middlesbrough@cafod.org.uk or by phone: 01904 671767

Gather in Dean’s Park, adjacent to York Minster from 10.30am, wear or bring something blue to wave.
Let us know if you are planning to come along either by email: middlesbrough@cafod.org.uk or by phone: 01904 671767

The Wave Express is a 500 seat charter train organised by CAFOD, Christian Aid, Friends of the Earth, Leeds Justice and Peace Commission, Stop Climate Chaos and TIDAL.

It will be travelling from Bradford, Leeds and Doncaster to London King’s Cross. Unfortunately, due to Network Rail’s scheduling system we don’t know exact timings yet, but will leave Bradford at roughly 7am and London at roughly 6pm.

Tickets cost £30 full fare and £20 for the unwaged and people on low incomes. Under 5s travel free (there are a limited number of under 5 places so please phone 0113 3917917 or email thewaveexpress@leedscopnet.info to book a place).

How can I get a ticket?

There are two ways of booking your tickets, either by post or online.

For online bookings go to our secure online payment facility

For postal bookings please print off a booking form and send it with a cheque made payable to TIDAL and a Stamped Addressed Envelope to:-

The Wave Express, Leeds TIDAL, 20 New Market Street, Leeds, LS1 6DG

Please Note:-

• The tickets will be allocated strictly on a first come, first served basis. Reservations will not be accepted without cheques or online payment.
• If all the seats are taken, we will close the online booking facility. Any cheques received after this date will be placed on a reserve list. We will let you know the status of your booking so that you can make alternative arrangements or not. We strongly urge you to book early.
• You will receive your tickets around 2 weeks before 5 December.
• We will not be allocating specific seats.
• There will be no catering facilities on the train. Please bring your food and drink, no alcohol please.
• You are responsible for your transport to and from the stations. For information on how to get to the stations go to www.nationalrail.co.uk.
• Under 16s must be accompanied by a responsible adult. Under 18s must have written permission of a parent/guardian.
• The closing date for bookings is 28th October. The train is likely to be very popular so please book early to avoid disappointment.

So what are you waiting for? Either go to our secure online payment facility or print off a booking form.

Any questions please call 0113 3917917 or email thewaveexpress@leedscopnet.info

Voices for a new vision of community: A People’s Enquiry

Date: Saturday 10th October, 10AM – 5PM
Location: Gandhi Hall, Leeds Metropolitan University, Headingly Site

Featuring local and national speakers, interactive workshops and open space.

Join us and add your voice as we engage with the question, “What kind of local community and local economy do we want to create in this region, and as a model for the wider world, as we respond to the challenges of the 21st century?”

Speakers include Andy Goldring (Permaculture Association), Rachel Unsworth (University of Leeds), Irena Bauman (Bauman Lyons Architects), John Battle (MP for Leeds North-West) and many more.

No charge, booking essential!
www.schumacher-north.co.uk

On the 1st August Leeds Hyde park will be holding its 13th annual one day free festival on Woodhouse Moor LS6. This is a day of music events and live performances as well as competitions of various stalls and workshops.

The aim of Unity Day is to bring together the diverse community of LS6 to rejoice in their differences.

Leeds WDM, Oxfam and SCC Leeds/TIDAL will be holding stalls there highlighting the issues of climate change, trade justice, development and what YOU can do to make a difference. 

Come along and have your face painted blue if you would like to support Oxfam’s latest climate appeal ’til you are blue in the face’.

A group of us here in Bradford are planning to cycle to London for the march on 5th December.  We’re planning to take a week off work, starting on Monday 30th November, stopping for a night each in Sheffield, Nottingham, Peterborough, Cambridge, and ending up in Walthamstow on Friday 4th December:

Bradford (30/11) → Sheffield (1/12) → Nottingham (2/12) → Peterborough (3/12) → Cambridge (4/12) → Walthamstow , London → The Wave

Our intention is to find people who can put us up in each stop off place, and also to hopefully hold a networking and awareness raising event in each town, maybe involving a screening of Age of Stupid, which is the film that motivated us to do this in the first place.

At present we are about 10 people, but it is our hope that more people might want to join us along the way – maybe just for one leg of the journey, or maybe even join us and then stay with us until we get to London. Even better would be if people who live nowhere near our route might be inspired to set up their own Climate Chains ride from their own town/city into London. Wouldn’t it be great if there were numerous groups of Climate Chains all converging on London during that week!

We need:

• participants in the ride
• finding bed or floor space for each night,
• places to store our bicycles,
• fodder (in return for donations?),
• people to help put on events in the cities we stop at,
• help with publicity

We may need a bit of organisational or individual sponsorship, but apart from the above mentioned things, we don’t really need a lot of money, and we certainly don’t want to raise any more money than we actually need to use.

We have a blog which we will update at various times between now and December with key info, and we hope to be able to update it along our route as well. And of course, if other groups are inspired to do a similar thing, we can include their info on there too.. The blog (including a link to our Google Group) is at this page:

http://climatechains.blogspot.com/

A group of us here in Bradford are planning to cycle to London for the march on 5th December.  We’re planning to take a week off work, starting on Monday 30th November, stopping for a night each in Sheffield, Nottingham, Peterborough, Cambridge, and ending up in Walthamstow on Friday 4th December:

Bradford (30/11) → Sheffield (1/12) → Nottingham (2/12) → Peterborough (3/12) → Cambridge (4/12) → Walthamstow , London → The Wave

Our intention is to find people who can put us up in each stop off place, and also to hopefully hold a networking and awareness raising event in each town, maybe involving a screening of Age of Stupid, which is the film that motivated us to do this in the first place.

At present we are about 10 people, but it is our hope that more people might want to join us along the way – maybe just for one leg of the journey, or maybe even join us and then stay with us until we get to London. Even better would be if people who live nowhere near our route might be inspired to set up their own Climate Chains ride from their own town/city into London. Wouldn’t it be great if there were numerous groups of Climate Chains all converging on London during that week!

We need:

• participants in the ride
• finding bed or floor space for each night,
• places to store our bicycles,
• fodder (in return for donations?),
• people to help put on events in the cities we stop at,
• help with publicity

We may need a bit of organisational or individual sponsorship, but apart from the above mentioned things, we don’t really need a lot of money, and we certainly don’t want to raise any more money than we actually need to use.

We have a blog which we will update at various times between now and December with key info, and we hope to be able to update it along our route as well. And of course, if other groups are inspired to do a similar thing, we can include their info on there too.. The blog (including a link to our Google Group) is at this page:

http://climatechains.blogspot.com/

Doncaster played host to a successful Climate Change Rally last Saturday (11th July), organised by members of the coalition including CAFOD, Tearfund, Christian Aid, Operation Noah and Doncaster Minster.

Over 400 people joined the climate change march. Donny the Dog, Doncaster Rover’s lucky mascot, clowns, school children, factory workers and local groups of social justice organisations made a spectacle parading through the town centre on Saturday morning.

Ed Miliband, the MP for Doncaster and Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, was handed hundreds of origami ARKs from Operation Noah which demanded a fair global deal at the UN Climate Summit at Copenhagen later this year.

Climate change is an issue of justice. Poorer countries that have not caused global warming face the prospect of devastated crops and housing due to floods and drought. A fair Copenhagen deal needs to safeguard the rights of these countries to develop sustainably with financial support from richer countries.

Ed Miliband has called for a “populist push” on the issue of global warming and wants to make this issue another “Make Poverty History.” On Thursday 2nd July, he highlighted the importance of faith groups in the struggle against global temperature rising above 2 degrees C:
“Operation Noah typifies the involvement we need from everyone – including faith groups – in the run up to global climate talks in Copenhagen. The faith community has an essential role to play in mobilising their members in the fight against climate change to secure the planet for future generations. That’s why I hope to see the people of Doncaster come out in force for the events planned next week and help encourage other towns across the country to get behind the Government’s plans to reach an international deal in Copenhagen which is ambitious, effective and fair.”

Mark Dowd of Operation Noah responded:
“The Copenhagen summit is arguably the most critical gathering that has ever taken place in human history. The evidence that climate change is accelerating is there for all to see. There is genuine urgency now among climate scientists that we are at a ‘make or break’ point. This crisis needs to unite many groups in society and make our leaders aware that we demand action, not just words. “

The day finished with a picnic jamboree in the shadow of Operation Noah’s travelling ARK and an uplifting service with plenty of environmental and creation related liturgy.

There are photos at jalbum and at St Aidan’s Church.
The event has been covered in The Star newspaper and Operation Noah.