Call to share air pollution experiences

The South Leeds Alliance for Clean Air is appealing to families living in LS11 with children suffering with respiratory illnesses to share their stories.

The call follows last month’s article in South Leeds Life showing the dangerously high air pollution in South Leeds.

According to official government data Beeston and Holbeck featured many of the areas with the worst air pollution in Leeds, and the highest ‘particulate’ pollution was in the two communities each side of Cross Flatts Park.

Air pollution negatively affects the most vulnerable members of our community: our children, the elderly, and particularly those with pre-existing health conditions. It’s estimated to cause up to 36,000 early deaths in the UK every year.

The campaign wants to hear from families about the challenges that respiratory conditions present, and how it affects their quality of life. How it feels to live in the area with the worst air pollution in Leeds, and what practical changes they would like to see to address this.

The Alliance will gather these stories into a report, which will be used to highlight issues around air pollution, and to make the case for decisive local action.

Charlie Nicholls, a Beeston resident and one of the coordinators for the Clean Air Alliance, commented:

“This is a scandal, a public health crisis, and we need to take every opportunity to raise it as an issue, to stir up public discussion, and seek proper action to create a healthy and safe place for us all to live.

“We look forward to hearing from local families as their stories will enable us to put a human face to this huge challenge we face together.”

Families are invited to get in touch to find out more, and to participate, by emailing southleedscleanair@gmail.com or through the Facebook page: www.facebook.com/southleedscleanair

Families are asked to make contact with the group by the end of this month and have meetings or phone interviews scheduled for January. Participants will be invited to share photos of themselves if they can – but will also be welcome to remain anonymous if they wish.

The Alliance was formed to raise awareness and push for action on air pollution across LS10 and LS11.
The local volunteer team are always looking for new people interested in helping out, and new partnerships – they are especially interested in working with schools to develop their campaign in 2023. Contact them to get onboard.

 

This post is based on a press release issued by The South Leeds Alliance for Clean Air

 

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One Reply to “Call to share air pollution experiences”

  1. Hi,I don’t have kids but I live in beeston and have COPD and the area I live in is a smoke free zone and there are several households close to me using log burners illegally burning wood,paper etc one guy in the next street to me is a self employed joiner who is obviously bringing wood offcuts and some old bits of wood home and some is old stuff with old lead paint on it which has a distinctive smell,I have reported two of them to the environmental health who said they would write to them asking if they were burning other than smokeless fuel but I never heard back from them and they are still doing it especially in winter and the smoke hangs low in the air and I can’t have a window or door open for a bit of fresh air because it affects my breathing dramatically

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