ON THE CAMPAIGN TRAIL Keep Our Air Clean

We speak to four fantastic women, all working for positive change on issues that matter to them

Icampaign for Friends of the Ear th on the transpor t side of climate change, and the link with air pollution,” says Jenny Bates. “For air quality purposes, the UK is divided into 43 zones and 36 of them are still failing on legal limits for the toxic gas nitrogen dioxide, which were supposed to be met 10 years ago.

“People have appreciated the better air quality we’ve had since lockdown – also how much better it is with less traffic to be able to walk, cycle and enjoy our outdoor spaces. Now we need to tr y and maintain that and ensure we don’t return to the same or worse levels of traffic.

“The government must invest much more in making walking and cycling safer and easier. Councils have been encouraged to put in temporar y schemes to reallocate road space for this; we need these to be permanent.

“To help get people out of their cars, public transpor t needs to be the easiest and cheapest thing to do. That’s where the government needs to be spending the money, rather than the £27 billion that is destined for a roads programme that will generate additional car use.

“Even so-called ‘clean vehicles’ still emit the most deadly fine par ticles of air pollution, so they are not the complete answer. The idea of ever-expanding road networks and more traffic, more runways and aeroplanes is just not tenable.

“Air pollution hits the most vulnerable hardest, including the elderly, children – who can grow up with reduced lung function if living in a poor air area – and also the most disadvantaged, who tend to live where air pollution is worst yet are less likely to own a car and contribute to the problem. Around 40,000 early deaths per year are attributed to poor air quality. It puts people at increased risk of conditions such as cardiovascular disease and lung conditions, which can make them more susceptible to the ef fects of Covid-19.

“There has never been a more impor tant time to take action.” friendsoftheearth.uk/climate-change/ coronavirus-green-and-fair-recovery-plan

things about ageing because the bad things are actually causing harm.

“From all this has grown the social movement Age Proud, to reframe the narrative around ageing to a positive one. And now I want to move on to self-ageism. I think that we are all internally ageist, because we have been indoctrinated with the idea, right from being children, that it is not good to be old and that you have got to stay young.

“When people say I look young for my age I say, ‘No, that’s what I look like at this age!’ People saying that mean it as a compliment, but what they are actually doing is to badmouth the word ‘age’. We are doing it to ourselves and we are letting people do it to us. So that is what I am campaigning about next!” grandmawilliams.com