Charlotte Dagless, a local woman from Farmborough, is hosting an event in the hope of kick-starting an environmental movement for change.

‘Day One’ is an initiative that aims to bring people together to talk about the environment and how individuals can do their bit to help address the climate crisis.

Charlotte is proposing that people come together at Farmborough Village Hall at a special event in March.

She tells The Journal: “My long term goal is to get the village thinking about renewable energy and to allow people to see the bigger picture.

“I appreciate that people may fear the situation. As it is so big, it is hard to know what to do, and where to begin, so I want this to be the start of something more positive for everyone.

“I think that people are understandably too busy to have time to think about this issue. It is overwhelming, as it involves so many different aspects of life on a global scale.

“It was only in February last year that I started to understand it myself. I then got really involved, because I could not believe what was actually happening. I watched documentaries and read books about climate change and realised the importance of taking action.

“The event that I am holding will enable people to get involved by giving them an opportunity to take action. It is free and easy to attend.

“It will involve a speech by a professional to give us a reminder of the position that we are in now, as well as a quiz to enable people to interact with one another and learn more about the possibilities for tackling this issue at a local level."

World-leading scientists have said that we have twelve years to cut emissions in half in order to prevent catastrophic climate change impacts later this century.

At the beginning of last year, the UK announced plans to phase out all coalfired power plants by 2025 in the aim of reducing fossil-fuel emissions.

Charlotte commented: “It is really hard to convince people who do not want to hear about climate change, but the UK is the best positioned place to deal with it.

“I want to see Governments focusing on this issue in every decision that they make, and to see them take it a lot more seriously.

“The scale of change we need to make as a society is huge, but we can start at home and in our community.”

Experts are saying that if change does not happen imminently, then our sea levels will rise, which will impact billions of people by 2050; the Arctic could see ice-free summers, heatwaves will become more frequent and severe around the world, affecting billions of people, increased risks of flooding, as well as detrimental effects to our wildlife habitats.

Charlotte spoke from a personal level on the impacts that climate change will have. She says: “I do not want my children to grow up seeing the detrimental effect that our actions are having on the planet and ask why was nothing done about it?

“This is a massive injustice for their future.

“I feel fortunate to have the time to focus on this problem, so I want to do what I can to help.”

Eventually, Charlotte would like to host further events to involve more people in the movement for change, in the hope that people will gain a better understanding of what can be done locally.

“We are putting a Facebook page and website together, so that people can learn about and share the event with others.

“Everybody is welcome, whether you are local or not. I am hoping that there will be a buzz around this event, so that it grows to other areas, which in turn will give people an opportunity to deal with climate change.”

The event will be held on Saturday, 7th March, from 3 p.m.–5 p.m.at Farmborough Village Hall.

For more information on the event, visit: www.dayoneevents.co.uk