
Fundraising and Action Network

Our next meeting on 26 Nov 2020(7:30 to 9.30 PM) will be a little different to the usual format in that the first half of the session will be dedicated to a guest appearance by Anna Hughes, Director of Flight Free UK. Whilst there will be a certain amount of preaching to the converted, Anna is keen to tell us about the Flight Free 2021 pledge campaign. The presentation will be about 20 minutes and will be followed by a Q&A session.
After a short break we will then squeeze the business-as-usual matters into the second half of the session.
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Come along for a sociable evening, getting together to discuss fossil fuel divestment and how to write convincing letters to politicians and then getting straight down to some communal letter-writing to Hexham MP Guy Opperman. Fossil fuel divestment is a growing movement devoted to getting public institutions like local government pension funds, universities and religious institutions to stop funding climate change by investing in fossil fuels and reinvest in ethical climate solutions. MP Guy Opperman, who is also UK Pensions Minister, recently started opposing divestment, saying that we should instead ‘nudge and cajole’ fossil fuel companies into shifting their business practices. But, despite years of investors voting and encouraging companies to become more climate friendly, there has been very little action – the 5 biggest fossil fuel companies put only 3% of their 2019 expenditure into renewables.We want to write to him and arrange to meet with him as constituents to show our support for full divestment from fossil fuels. As pensions minister, Opperman has national influence on this and we as local constituents are uniquely well placed to change his mind. Join us for a Zoom call where we will learn more about fossil fuel divestment and Guy Opperman’s position on it from a member of the Divest Parliament campaign, who will also share tips and tricks for how to write convincing letters to MPs. We’ll then stay together on the call to write some letters, share our thoughts, and chat.
A socially-distanced family bike ride is happening on Saturday 11th July to raise awareness of the need for better cycling infrastructure (cycle lanes and cycle paths). Sounds good to us! Meet at the Old Bus Station in Hexham at 11am for a ride from Hexham to Corbridge and back.