Returning to Bude- Young people on climate change

As our work with the brilliant Bude Climate Partnership continues, we’ve been back on the prowl for stories. This time from young people on climate change themes. We are adding to the collection of the 9 digital stories we’ve already made with the community here. These local digital stories provide starting points for exploring the Bude area’s heritage, culture and environment, empowering us to protect it for future generations. We’ll also be working on toolkits to accompany each story to help delve deeper into the themes covered by the stories and support positive action.

Lauren and her passion for slow fashion

You’re given a name, an address and a little taster of information, but you are never really sure what is going to happen when you sit opposite someone to record their story. As soon Lauren answered the door, we knew that we were in for a treat. Lauren was excited to share her fabulous story and we hardly needed any of the prompts we had prepared. Lauren has had a fascinating journey to get to where she is today and clothes and fashion have played a pivotal role.

Laurens interest in fashion started young. She shared early memories of clothes and the brands she coveted. Remember ‘boob tubes’ and C&A? Lauren’s interest in fashion continued when she left school and she found herself in the HR department of a jewellery company. It was fascinating to hear the inner workings of the fashion industry and how trends were set and clothes and accessories treated. Lauren talked candidly about how her eyes were opened to the devastating effects of what is now known as ‘fast fashion’. Realising that these values did not align with her own, and becoming more aware of the climate emergency, Lauren left her job and moved to Bude. A further exploration of the sustainable values attached to ‘slow fashion’ and a need to find somewhere to sell her unwanted clothes led to the incubation of an idea.  And that was Green Threads.

Green Threads Cornwall sees Lauren hosting indoor Slow Fashion markets. Here, stall holders sell their quality unwanted clothes and accessories and slow fashion designers and makers have a platform for their sustainable creations. Lauren has plans to widen the scope of these markets throughout Cornwall but if you find yourself around Bude on November 18^th do pop into the Parkhouse Centre and get yourself a sustainable bargain!

George and his connection to nature

It’s not often that Storylines gets to conduct a recording in a caravan in the middle of a rewilded field. But it was here we sat and listened to George, surrounded by native plant species, with the constant hum of insects and calls of song birds. George has lived on Bakesdown Farm, not far from Bude, with its eco campsite since he was 3 years old. Over the years he has witnessed the land being transformed from a bleak agricultural terrain to a vibrant, diverse environment with ponds, tree cover and thriving wildlife population.

It was a real privilege to listen to George, just fresh from doing his GCSE’s, talk about his reverence for nature. Through his daily walks around the farm he has learned and witnessed so much. From the new species that have appeared on his farm, to the benefits of taking time to sit and watch, George finds awe of nature. One of the things that George is particularly proud of is the impact that this transformed land and the way of life that it offers has on visitors. It’s inspiring to hear how visitors are amazed at the speed with which change can happen and the immense benefits to wildlife and nature and ultimately humanity. It was a very inspiring and sobering chat with this wise young man, who left us with some very profound words…’a lot of little actions put together, they can make a big difference really’.

What’s next…

Over the next 3 years we’ll continue to build up our bank of digital stories and toolkits  from young people on climate change. These will be placed online and used within their community engagement. By sharing our pasts and imagining a vision of our future we can start creating the resilient and sustainable communities we all want to see.