Campaigning

Last week, communities across England voted for their new Metro Mayors. Here in the Clean Air team at Asthma + Lung UK, we’ve been busy making sure that mayoral candidates understood the need to protect everyone’s lungs from toxic air. Read on to hear what we’ve been doing across the UK to keep the pressure on for clean air in our communities.

Road traffic is one of the leading sources of air pollution in the UK’s towns and cities, and urgent action is needed to clean up the way we travel. However, some communities are disproportionately affected by toxic air and are being excluded from policies designed to tack air pollution. Chloe from our policy team talks us through our new work with IPPR and Transport for All showing how clean air zone policies can be implemented to ensure no one is left behind.

On 2 May, communities across England will head to the ballot box to vote for their new Metro Mayor. Here in the clean air team at Asthma + Lung UK, we’re campaigning for mayoral candidates to protect everyone’s lungs from toxic air pollution.

This October, we hosted our first Birmingham Clean Air Community Conference. In partnership with the Clean Air Justice Network, the event brought together inspiring people from all over the city to fight for clean air. Maddy from the Clean Air Team tells us all about this fantastic day.

E-cigarettes, also known as vapes, can be a useful tool to help quit smoking, but they don’t come without risks. Laura from our policy team discusses the challenges of disposable vapes and what the government needs to do about them.

Ten-year-old Nancy, who has asthma, was delighted to go to No 10 to help hand in our petition calling for the Government to set up a Cleaner Travel Access Fund. Here she tells us what it was like going to Downing Street and why she wanted to support our campaign for cleaner air.

Respiratory care in the UK is in crisis. People with lung conditions are suffering – and even dying - needlessly. That’s why we’ve launched a new campaign to ensure people living with lung conditions get the care and treatment they desperately need. Our CEO, Sarah Woolnough, explains why we need to do more to get the government’s attention, and how you can help.

It may be easy to overlook the power of the humble bus but they’re a vital tool for cleaner air in our cities. There are major issues with Glasgow’s transport system that we urgently need to fix to tackle toxic air in the city. Maddy from the Clean Air team explains why the fight for better buses in Glasgow is a fight for clean air too – and how you can get involved.

Someone dies from a lung condition every five minutes in the UK. And millions more live with debilitating symptoms.  Our new report, written with PwC, reveals the huge financial cost of lung conditions to the UK economy. It shows how increased investment in lung health research could lead to huge savings and increased productivity, and protect the future of the NHS.

Today, the Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) expands to cover the whole of Greater London, protecting millions of Londoners from toxic air. This milestone follows the tireless work of thousands of campaigners calling for cleaner air. Olivia, in our clean air team explains the impact the expansion will have on our children who are currently breathing in dangerous levels of air pollution. Plus how we’re helping to raise awareness of air quality around London schools.

On Saturday 15 July we hosted our first ever Clean Air Campaigner Conference. We brought together campaigners from Manchester, Glasgow, the West Midlands, West Yorkshire and Liverpool, who care about tackling toxic air pollution in their communities. Sophie from our clean air team shares some of the day’s highlights.

Our latest research shows that people with lung conditions aren’t being diagnosed quickly enough. Lauren, an IT trainer from Nottingham, was diagnosed with asthma in 2010.  Here she tells us how difficult it was to get her diagnosis. And we lay out our recommendations to improve diagnosis for lung conditions in the UK.

At the start of this school year, in September 2022, we launched our pilot project to teach pupils in London schools about the dangers of air pollution. Project lead, Amy talks us through the project and what we’ve achieved in our first year.

Our latest research showed shocking inequalities in lung health across the UK. Laura from our Policy team tells us more about it and gives our recommendations for tackling it.

From January to March 2023, we ran our largest ever survey asking you about your care and experiences of living with a lung condition. Anna from our Data + Insights team explains what the survey was and how your responses are helping us fight for better lung health for all.

We wanted to find out how out how our supporters manage their asthma at work. We surveyed 2000 of our supporters to find out more about how they handle their asthma at work. Laura from our Policy team talks us through what they told us.

To celebrate Clean Air Day 2023, Asthma + Lung UK was part of an exciting and thought-provoking project which used the art of pottery to highlight the dangers of Glasgow’s toxic air. Maddy, our Regional Campaigns and Policy Officer, is here to tell you all about Glasgow Smogware.

You might have seen that we have recently run a campaign to End the Lung Health Lottery. We looked into how lung conditions affect people differently across the UK, and found big differences in outcomes for respiratory conditions in different parts of the country. Here, Andrew from our data + Insights team tells us how we did it, what we want to see, and how you can explore the data we used in the campaign yourself.

Glasgow’s Low Emission Zone (LEZ) will go live on 1 June 2023. If you live or work in Glasgow, you may be wondering what this means for you. Maddy, our Regional Campaigns and Policy Officer lays out what you need to know about the LEZ and why it’s such a vital step towards cleaner air for the city.

Smoking is one of the biggest causes of preventable illness and death in the UK, is estimated to cause 1 in 4 cancer deaths and causes many lung conditions. The government has recently announced plans to make Britain smoke free by 2030. Laura from our Policy team talks us through the new proposals and what they could mean for lung health in the UK.

Joseph, Head of Devolved Nations, Asthma + Lung UK takes us through the new Wales Environment Bill and the impact it will have on air pollution in Wales.

Olivia from our clean air team sets out everything you need to know about the upcoming Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) expansion in August. Find out what this means for clean air in London and why we need you to continue making your voice heard.

We are calling for the government to address stark inequalities in lung health across the UK with our recently launched End the Lung Health Lottery campaign. If we want to stop people dying avoidably from their lung conditions, these health inequalities need to be urgently addressed.

The NHS England Long Term Plan, set out in 2017, determines what the health service prioritises and invests extra money in. Respiratory is one of the main clinical priority areas in it, which will help slowly improve services and care for people with lung conditions. Read about what it could mean for you.

Last week, Chief Medical Officer for England Chris Whitty, published his annual report for 2022, which this year focussed on air pollution. In the report, he makes recommendations on how air pollution should be tackled by national government, local government and businesses. Chloe from our policy team takes you through the report and what we think needs to happen now.

We believe everyone has the right to breathe clean air, so we’ve been campaigning for years to tackle air pollution. But if you don’t drive a car, what are the alternative ways to travel? Sandra Green is a campaigner for Car-Free Birmingham at Possible. Here she shares seven tips on how to try out going car-free – and ensuring you have adventures along the way.

Sarah Woolnough, our CEO, sets out what we know about the autumn COVID booster so far, the changes we want to see and what we’ll be doing about it in the coming months.