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Monthly Meeting March 2026
On the recording at:
- 01:15 updates on Lichfield meet up 15 May, York Festival and National Emergency Briefing
- 15:57 Ian Hawker presents his News Highlights (slides)
- 31:47 John Stott presents on UK Electricity bills: What are they made of? (slides)
- 01:17:15 Linda Creed provides a refresher on the Climate Matters page of the website
Monthly Meeting February 2026
On the recording at:
- 00:30 Ian Hawker presents his News Highlights (slides)
- 17:27 updates on Lichfield meet up 15 May, Summer School 2027, National Emergency Briefing
- 25:08 members displaying their products relating to B Corp
- 30:56 Michelle Sutherland presents on What is a B Corp? Why does it matter? (slides)
Monthly Meeting January 2026
On the recording at:
- 01.02 updates, which includes: ideas for the summer - Zoom meeting 5 February at 16:00; the WhatsApp Group; National Emergency Briefing film and the York Festival
- 11:47 Mary Garbett demonstrates how to access the Climate Matters website and the page concerning What We Can Do
- 14:02 Ian Hawker presents his News Highlights (slides)
- 34:32 Rae Ritchie presents on using our values to help decide what we can do when everything feels urgent (slides)
Monthly Meeting November 2025
This is a partial recording of the November meeting and at:
- 02:30 Ian Hawker's Climate News Highlights (a copy of the slides are (here)
- 12:45 Brenda Ainsley reports on the results of the members' survey (Sept 2025) incl. suggestions for speakers and topics (a copy of the slides are (here).
- 20:35 Joe Grimm speaks on the Climate Matters Facebook page and Mary Garbett explains about information and resources available to members via the group's webpages on the Third Age Trust's website.
- 27:50 Brenda Ainsley on the National Emergency Briefing held this week in Westminster Hall at which she and Ellie Brooks represented the group. Jenny Wilson reports on her having attended a meeting with Ian Cassidy, CEO of the Third Age Trust, on future plans for the U3A.
- 36:49 Brenda introduces Ian Hawker and his presentation on the COP30 held in Belém, Brazil, November 10th to 21st. There is a copy of the full set of slides (here).
- 47:00 The recording ends prematurely.
Monthly Meeting October 2025
On the recording at:
- 02:15 Linda Creed presents a whistlestop tour of the Tool Kit
- 14:44 Brenda Ainsley reported back on the questionnaire (summary)
- 18:52 Ian Hawker presents his News Highlights (slides)
- 39:20 John and Rachel Yates present Climate Anxiety
- 01:28:50 Jenny Wilson rounds off the meeting
Monthly Meeting September 2025
On the recording at:
- 01:40 Jenny Wilson provides information about the Scottish Jamboree, the Oxford meet up and articles in the u3a Matters Magazine.
- 11:00 Ian Hawker presents his News Highlights (slides)
- 34:43 Angela Terry's presentation - adaptation and mitigation strategies, behaviour change, and how to mainstream climate solutions
Monthly Meeting August 2025
On the recording at:
- 01:34 Ellie Brooks provides information about the Scottish Jamboree taking place today, the Oxford meet up on 11 September and the Jamboree in York planned for 1-3 July 2026
- 07:24 Ian Hawker presents his News Highlights (slides)
- 34:02 John Baxter (Subject Advisor) presentation '6 Reasons to do nothing about climate change', how to tackle doomists and deniers (slides).
Monthly Meeting July 2025
On the recording at:
07:36, Ian Hawker presents his News Highlights (slides)
Followed by presentations by Climate Matters members regarding engaging with your community:
- 29:30 Heather Haydock – Tiny forests (slides)
- 38:10 Brenda Ainsley – Plastic free towns (slides)
- 43:42 Linda Gatley – GoodGym (slides)
- 51:00 Helen Howard – Village eco group (slides)
- 56:44 Christine Thompson – Contacting local councillors (slides)
Monthly Meeting June 2025
On the recording of the meeting
- 07:50, Ian Hawker presents his News Highlights (slides)
- 28:20 presentation by Ian Hawker on AI and the consumption of electricity (slides)
Monthly Meeting May 2025
On the recording:
- 01:37 Ellie Brooks gave a brief description of what occurred at the Summer School
- 07:30 Anne provided a summary of feedback she received from the Summer School
- 16:11 Monthly highlights from Ian Hawker (slides)
- 33:05 David Dundas's presentation - Why Hydrogen
Monthly Meeting April 2025
On the recording:
31:35 Chris Blackman - environmentally friendly cruising
40:30 Helen Howard - the choice between traveling to the Isle of Wight by electric car or train
47:40 John Yates - flight-free travel (slides)
57:50 Anne MacGarry - train travel (slides)
Monthly Meeting March 2025
The recording includes Ian Hawker's News Highlights and a shortened presentation from Jean Francis on the topic of "Last Wishes" for our final journey.
Monthly Meeting February 2025
On the recording:
The meeting starts with updates on the publicity for the group on climate-related topics published in the Third Age Trust's magazine, U3A Matters, the Toolkit on the IGO website for the use of climate change groups, the use of social media by the Climate Matters group, reports on the Summer School and the discussion on the film viewed recently by the group, "6 Inches of Soil". At 19:45 minutes Ian Hawker presents his News Highlights for February 2025 and at 29:30, the speaker, Rebecca, from the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland starts her talk on "The Time is Now".
Monthly Meeting January 2025
On the recording:
The meeting starts with Ian Hawker's News Highlights and at 9:00 minutes, Ellie Brooks gives an update on activities and plans of the group. At 22:30 minutes Brenda Ainsley advises on the layout of the new website and at 28:00 Ann MacGarry gives a presentation on the "Ecological Footprint".
Monthly Meeting November 2024
On the recording:
The meeting starts with a report from Ellie on the bookings and programme for the Summer School in May next year in Warwick University. At 13:30 on the recording Jenny introduces Ian Hawker who gives a presentation on COP29 recently concluded in Baku, Azerbaijan.
Monthly Meeting October 2024
On the recording of the meeting:
- the first part of the recording covers the reports on various activities and projects that members are engaged in
- starting at 10:55, Ian Hawker presents his News Highlights
- the main speaker was Rachael Wakefield on "Regenerative Farming". Her talk starts at 28:45, and at 1:06:05 there is the Q&A session.
Monthly Meeting September 2024
On the recording:
- at 0:07 Jenny Wilson on the March for Clean Water.
- Catherine Budgett-Meakin on the social meetup in London.
- Ellie Brooks re the Summer School 2025, Friday, 9th May to Monday, 12th May, in Warwick University; more about the 2025 Summer School and the booking form.
- from 9:45 to 41:25 Jolyon Maugham from the Good Law Project on Climate Disinformation and Dark Money.
- from 42:43 to 53:14 Ian Hawker's News Highlights.
Monthly Meeting August 2024
On the recording of the meeting:
- at the start Catherine Budgett-Meakin gave us details about the group having a social meet-up in London.
- starting at 2:45 Jenny Wilson provided information on the Summer School in Warwick in May next year.
- at 3:50 Nick Ward showed the Tool Kit.
- at 9:45 Brenda Ainsley spoke about the list of podcasts on the website.
- at 15:55 Ian Hawker gave his Climate Change News Highlights.
- the main speaker at this meeting was Rosemary Randall. Her talk "Having better conversations about climate change" starts at 27:35.
Monthly Meeting July 2024
On the recording of the meeting:
- starting at 3:00, Ian Hawker's News Highlights
- at 27:15, three members of Climate Matters, Terry Joiner, Catherine Budgett-Meakin and Clive Teague, speak on their responses to the need for climate action.
Monthly Meeting June 2024
On the recording:
- starting at 9:40, Ian Hawker's News Highlights
- at 26:17, Chris Goodall on dealing with the more difficult sources of emissions.
Monthly Meeting May 2024
The recording of the meeting starts part way through Brenda's presentation Talking about Climate Change. Ian Hawker's News Highlights were not recorded; follow this link for the slides.
Monthly Meeting April 2024
On the recording of meeting:
- starting at 6:06, Ian Hawker's News Highlights
- at 37:30 Healthy Ageing in a Changing Climate, a talk by Ryan Woolrych of Herriot-Watt University.
Monthly Meeting March 2024
The recording of the meeting is in two parts: Part 1, Part 2. Ian Hawker's News Highlights start at 05:13; Isles of Scilly and Climate Change by Linda Wornes and Versha Jones starts at 38:00.
Monthly Meeting February 2024
On the recording:
- starting at 03:37, Ian Hawker's News Highlights.
- at 21:16, York Festival by Jenny Wilson.
- at 31:47, Summer School 2025 by Ellie Brooks.
- at 43:11, Climate change and investment by Mark Shackleton.
Monthly Meeting January 2024
On the recording:
- starting at 02:30, Ian Hawker's News Highlights.
- at 28:40, Summer School 2025 by Ann MacGarry.
- at 47:16, Outputs from COP28 by Ian Hawker.
Monthly Meeting November 2023
On the recording of the meeting:
- starting at 02:10, News Highlights by Ian Hawker
- at 06:20, COP28 objectives by Ian Hawker
- at 29:07, Place-Based Decarbonisation by Tom Bedford of Keele University.
Monthly Meeting October 2023
On the recording of the meeting:
- COP28 objectives by Ian Hawker starts at 00:26
- News highlights October 23 by Ian Hawker starts at 04:30
- Council score cards by Terry Joiner starts at 30:20
- A fair and just transition by Jeff Rogers starts at 42:30.
Monthly Meeting September 2023
On the recording of the meeting:
- News Highlights by Ian Hawker starts at the beginning
- starting at 29:08, Review of Summer School by Ellie Brooks.
Page owners: Jenny Wilson, Eleanor Brooks