Bristol
Ruth Brooker,
Bristol Representative
Founder, Director and Creative Campaigner
Ruth is the Representative of Clean Air for Kids in Bristol. Ruth is a features writer and creative campaigner. To contact Ruth, click here to send her an email.
Five actions to help us bring Clean Air to Bristol Kids
Residents write to the Council Leader
Write to your child’s school
Write to your Councillor
Write to your MP
Schools write to the Council Leader
Ask your friends, neighbours and family to write as well
The more people that write, the better the chance of success we will have.
Our Children Deserve Clean Air – Let's Make It Happen in Bristol
We ensure that our children drink clean water, we provide them with nutritious food, but unfortunately, the air they breathe is all too often polluted and dirty.
Breathing poor quality air is a well-known risk to children’s immediate and long-term health. It is now well understood that air pollution outside, is a problem, but indoor air can be up to five times more polluted. The pollutants that can be present in our indoor air include invisible nasties such as mould, fungal spores, pollen, bacteria and airborne viruses such as measles, flu and Covid-19.
Schools are where children spend most of their time, but, with densely packed classrooms, this is where they are most likely to pick up sickness, which results in absence for them as well as diminished performance in exams.
But it doesn’t have to be like this. We know that existing clean air technologies remove the pathogens that cause illness from the air. Classrooms rely on natural ventilation alone, which is not enough to ensure that children breathe clean, fresh air whilst they are learning. It needs additional filtration.
By simply adding an air filter to each classroom and regularly opening windows, the number of coughs, colds, and Covid-19 infections that kids and their teachers catch at school and take home to their families and others could be significantly reduced. It would also increase attendance rates.
We want clean indoor air in schools to be managed, and funded, by the local authority. We are asking the County Council to prioritise investment in the health of our children by funding effective air filters for all the schools that it oversees.
Will you help us? Will you write and send a letter for us? See below for all you need to help us get clean indoor air for the kids in Bristol’s schools.
For Residents to write to the Council Leader
Anybody can contact the elected representatives at Bristol City Council. If you agree that Bristol kids should breathe clean air when they are in school, we’d be delighted if you would write to the leader or the chair of the Committee that covers the city’s schools.
You can write or email the leader of Bristol City Council using these details:
Councillor Tony Dyer
(Southville ward Councillor)
c/o Green Group Office
City Hall
PO BOX 3399
Bristol
BS1 9NE
You can write or email the chair of the Children and Young People Policy Committee at Bristol City Council using these details:
Councillor Christine Townsend (Chair)
(Southville ward Councillor)
c/o Green Group Office
City Hall
PO BOX 3399
Bristol
BS1 9NE
Cllr.Christine.Townsend@bristol.gov.uk
If you would like to write your own letter or email, you can make use of any information on this website. Or you are welcome to use our template letter, perhaps personalising it to your own circumstances and position. Add your name and email below to receive the template.
For Residents to write to your local Councillor
If you live in Bristol and support children being able to breathe clean air when they are at school, please will you write to your elected ward councilors at Bristol City Council to ask them to support the initiative.
You can find the name and contact details of your ward councillors here. Please write to all of them.
If you would like to write your own letter or email, you can make use of any information on this website. Or you are welcome to use our template letter, perhaps personalising it to your own circumstances and position, and maybe also including that you have a child or children in Bristol schools if you do. We would be grateful if you write to your councillors whether or not you have school-age children.
For Residents to write to their Member of Parliament
If you live in Bristol and support kids in schools being able to breathe clean air when they are at school, please will you write to your Member of Parliament to ask them to support the initiative.
Here is the list of MPs covering Bristol
Bristol Central
Carla Denyer (Green Party)
carla.denyer.mp@parliament.uk
Bristol East
Kerry McCarthy (Labour)
kerry.mccarthy.mp@parliament.uk
Bristol North East
Damien Egan (Labour)
damien.egan.mp@parliament.uk
Bristol North West
Darren Jones (Labour)
darren.jones.mp@parliament.uk
Bristol South
Karin Smyth (Labour)
karin.smyth.mp@parliament.uk
If you prefer to write them a letter, the address for all of them is the same:
House of Commons, London SW1A 0AA
If you are not sure which of the Bristol MPs is your Member of Parliament, you can find that out here:
(And if you don’t live in Bristol, you can still write to your MP using our template letter)
If you would like to write your own letter or email, you can make use of any information on this website. Or you are welcome to use our template letter, perhaps personalising it to your own circumstances and position, and maybe also including that you have a child or children in Bristol schools if you do. We would be grateful if you write to your Member of Parliament whether or not you have school-age children. Add your name and email below to receive the template.
For Parents to write to their child’s school
If you are a parent of a child or children at a Bristol school, please will you write to the school’s Head Teacher, any of the teachers at the school, especially those you know, and/or to the School Governors to ask them to take steps so that their pupils breathe clean air.
If you would like to write your own letter or email, you can make use of any information on this website. Or you are welcome to use our template letter, perhaps personalising it to your own circumstances and position. Add your name and email below to receive the template.
For Schools to write to the Council Leader
If you are a Head Teacher, teacher or school governor and you want to have clean air in your school, please will you write to the leader or the chair of the Committee that covers Bristol schools to tell them and to ask them to help.
You can write or email the leader of Bristol City Council using these details:
Councillor Tony Dyer
(Southville ward Councillor)
c/o Green Group Office
City Hall
PO BOX 3399
Bristol
BS1 9NE
You can write or email the chair of the Children and Young People Policy Committee at Bristol City Council using these details:
Councillor Christine Townsend (Chair)
(Southville ward Councillor)
c/o Green Group Office
City Hall
PO BOX 3399
Bristol
BS1 9NE
Cllr.Christine.Townsend@bristol.gov.uk
If you would like to write your own letter or email, you can make use of any information on this website. Or you are welcome to use our template letter, perhaps personalising it to your own circumstances and position. Add your name and email below to receive the template.
Remember to ask your friends, neighbours and family to write as well, and please tell us when you have written, and if they reply :)
The more people that write, the better the chance of success we will have.
Our Vision is to provide cleaner indoor air to benefit the health of all children
Ventilation
Opening windows lets stale indoor air out and the external air flow in
Filtration
Removing particulate matter and pathogens from the room air using air filters
Legislation
Campaigning for better standards for indoor air quality
Do you want Clean Air for Kids in Schools?
If you support our campaign for clean air for kids in schools, please send us a message.
If you want to learn more about the benefits and the solutions, please get in touch.
If you want to help, fill in the form and tell us.
And if you want to advocate for clean air in your own child’s school, we’d love to hear from you. We can help!