June update from lead organisation for this project

Upcoming Climate Café sessions
Climate Cafés are simple, hospitable, empathetic spaces where fears & uncertainties about our climate & ecological crisis can be safely expressed. They are led by volunteer facilitators trained through Climate Psychology Alliance and the Cornwall Climate Café Community of Practice project.

For more information and details of upcoming sessions please visit
https://bit.ly/ccan-wellbeing

Upcoming training for Climate Café facilitators – North & East Cornwall
Free workshops on ‘Holding & Facilitating a Climate Café’ for volunteers wishing to join the Cornwall Climate Café Community of Practice:

• Sat 14th September – Camel CSA, Wadebridge: https://bit.ly/cc-training-north
• Sat 19th October – Tregovenek, Liskeard: https://bit.ly/cc-training-east

Press release of update on this project from the lead organisation:

Climate Cafe facilitators from Helston Climate Action Group and Mid-Cornwall Climate & Eco Hub

Climate Café network to expand across Cornwall
A new ‘Climate Café Community of Practice’ project is about to get underway in Cornwall, to train and resource volunteers to support people in their communities with their fears and uncertainties around the climate and ecological crisis.

Climate Cafés, which have been cropping up worldwide over the last few years, take different forms. Some are focused mostly on action, but these Climate Cafés are about providing a safe and supportive space for people to come and express their feelings and emotions.

Helston Climate Action Group have been running Climate Cafés since November 2021, but have noticed over the last year that people have been travelling considerable distances to attend and – increasingly – asking for help setting up a Climate Café. This prompted Helston Climate Action Group to join with other Cornwall-based organisations to apply for funding to train and support volunteers to set up Climate Cafes in communities across Cornwall.

Anyone over the age of 18 can come along to a Climate Café session to talk about their feelings and emotions in a safe, supported space held by trained facilitators. Volunteers can train online to be facilitators through Climate Psychology Alliance, a UK based organisation. But people in Cornwall can now access in-person training based on the same CPA content through the new partnership project, which includes Transition groups in Penwith, Constantine, Falmouth and Bude, Cornwall Climate Action Network (a network of grassroots organisations), Volunteer Cornwall, Cornwall Mind, RJ Working and the University of Exeter.

Nick Jarvis, 42, from Helston, is taking part in the Climate Café facilitator training as a way of sharing his “grief, sadness and anger” around the climate crisis. He said:

“I don’t know exactly what is ahead of us with climate change, but I do know that listening to, caring for, and supporting each other will be vital through all of the challenges ahead.
“Before I found the cafes I had been carrying these feelings alone, and it was easy to feel like nobody else cared in the same way that I do. I now know that there are other people in my community who also care deeply, and many of them feel alone too.”

The Cornwall Climate Café Community of Practice project is funded through The National Lottery Community Fund, distributed through Transition Together.

Katharine Lewis, who is a member of Helston Climate Action Group and Cornwall Climate Action Network, says running Climate Cafes has helped sustain her in her work on climate change, and has seen many people coming to the Climate Cafés benefit too.

“Often people come who don’t have anyone to talk with about the climate crisis. The relief of walking into a space and hearing other people share similar concerns is really palpable. It really helps people feel connected and less alone. It helps us to become more resilient and more connected to ourselves, each other and the natural world around us”

she said.

“What is also wonderful is seeing people step into a facilitator role and discovering that this is something they can offer, in the midst of all the work we need to do to address the climate & ecological emergency.”

Climate Cafés are typically attended by six to twelve people, however, there are also plans to build an online wellbeing space on the Cornwall Climate Action Network website for volunteers hosting and facilitating Climate Cafés and those seeking support.

Peter Lefort is from the University of Exeter, one of the project partners.

“The mental health impacts of climate and ecological breakdown are not limited to activists, or young people. The emerging need amongst those who are already coming to Climate Cafes are an early warning indicator for the coming epidemic of climate anxiety” he said. “This project is not only aiming to keep up with the demand for safe, facilitated spaces to explore these impacts, but also to model a joined up Cornwall-wide approach that will inevitably be needed much more broadly in the coming years.”

The first workshop for volunteer facilitators in Cornwall took place in West Cornwall on Saturday 6th April, and the workshop will be repeated in Central, North and East Cornwall later in the year with another planned for Truro in early June. Facilitators will have access to monthly supervision sessions, and support and resources to establish a Climate Café in their community.

Please email wellbeing@ccan.earth if you would like to stay up to date or to join a facilitator training workshop.