Climate Change Summit – April 2023

Kate joined CSE in January 2022 as an intern to the Local and Community Empowerment Team. Kate is Green Mentor for the Green Influencer programme for 10–14-year-olds, and also supports the Bright Green Future leadership programme for 16 to 19 year olds. Kate has experience as a local campaign organiser with the Australian Youth Climate Coalition and as a student life coordinator for international students in university accommodation. Prior to joining CSE, Kate was a qualitative researcher on an Australian governmental review into mental health. She completed her undergraduate in Politics & International Relations at University of Wollongong (Australia), where her dissertation analysed media portrayal of school strikers.

Megan joined CSE in September 2017. A major part of her role has been mentoring young people through the Bright Green Future and Green Influencers youth environmental leadership programmes. Megan also works on projects supporting communities with their energy projects and local councils take action on climate change through the Town and Parish Climate Action Day events. She manages grant schemes within the Local and Community Empowerment Team, and designs and facilitates face-to-face and virtual workshops that support the community energy sector, community groups, young people and councils.

Clare is the Acting Project Coordinator for The Great Collaboration, an online toolkit and outreach project to support parishes and their communities respond to the climate and ecological emergency. She is part of the Steering Group for Herefordshire Green Network and leads on HR and policies. In the past Clare has been a trustee at the Centre for Alternative Technology and set up an environmental and social enterprise in HMP Ford. She is also active in her local community environment group.

Andrew was the part-time parish clerk at Longhope, Gloucestershire for 8 years from 2012 to 2020, and now carries out consultancy work for LCC Associates under the banner of The Community Works.

He has worked in the public, private and voluntary sectors, and has over twenty-five years’ experience in regeneration programme and project management, in both rural and urban areas. He has successfully led teams in community-based regeneration in market towns, city centre and the urban fringe, in all of which he developed and delivered partnership projects with community groups and outside organisations.

Andrew describes what he does as “Helping People to Help Themselves”, with particular reference to improving the place where they live or work. He is currently working with NALC and other organisations and networks to gather good practice in response to the impact of climate change.

Since publishing his Local Regeneration Handbook (Sage Publications October 2017 – available from the SLCC bookshop) Andrew has continued to share and develop good practice through networking, published articles and training courses. His people skills and varied work experience make him very comfortable working with new groups and individuals, and he is very happy to talk to any parish, town or community council – or other local group – about their plans and concerns for the future.

Richard co-founded Save Our Shropshire in July 2021. He gained Carbon Literacy certification in 2020, and pledged to get involved in the fight against the effects of Climate Change. His enthusiasm builds on the power of education to bring about transformational behaviour change.

Prior to that he had set up his own consultancy for manufacturing companies in 2002, which helped big and small businesses change their systems, processes and culture. Clients saw phenomenal improvements in the way that they performed. Prior to that he worked with similar consultancies involved in delivering facilitation and education.

Between 1978 and 1990 he worked for ICI Agrochemicals in a global marketing tole, and in a project team which transformed the business performance of the division. After university he worked in industrial marketing with Tube Investments Ltd.

He gained an MSc in Business Studies from London Business School.

Allan co-founded Save Our Shropshire CIO (SOS) in July 2021, a charity dedicated to increasing people’s understanding of Climate Change. SOS provides education to Householders and Parish/Town Councils to enable them to make lifestyle changes to achieve a net-zero carbon future in Shropshire.

Allan had a 31-year career in the Police Force until 2015. Alongside his service, he provided 3-day courses in drink/drug driving and rehabilitation, to bring about behaviour change.

Since retirement in 2015 he has been actively involved in his passionate concern for the environment. He co-founded the Edgmond Wildlife Trust to increase biodiversity and protect the parish where he lives. In 2017 he created a hedgehog preservation organisation. He became a parish councillor and then was elected to become chair of the council in 2019. He was also elected to become vice-chair of Shropshire Association of Local councils, holding the portfolio responsibility for climate change matters. Allan has presented to councils extensively on their responsibilities under the Climate change Act 2008.

He gained an MBA from Wolverhampton University.

Chris Church is a parish councillor in North Hinksey near Oxford. He is a former chair of the Low Carbon Communities Network, co-founded Community Energy England and was a trustee of Friends of the Earth from 2014 – 2020. He has been training on community engagement and climate issues for over 10 years and wrote the Community Development Foundation’s ‘Better Places, Better Planet’ guide to local environmental action