A bit of history about how Time for Change started off and how we operate.
Where we started
Image: Mary-Lou Aitchison
Time for Change started off as a youth group in Mid Argyll, in June 2019. We organised several events in 2019 such as an evening of talks about electric cars and rewilding, a 2-day Sustainability Jam, and a climate hustings before the 2019 General Election.
Image: Mark Carter
The Time is Now
In June 2020, we joined The Climate Coalition’s campaign The Time is Now, which coordinated constituents from all over the UK to meet with their MPs to talk about climate change. We met with our MP Brendan O’Hara, and at the meeting we connected with other like-minded people from across Argyll and Bute. We invited them to join our group, and from there our momentum started to grow. We organised meetings with our constituency MSP, Michael Russell, and our regional Green MSP, John Finnie, both of which were attended by over 40 constituents. We have kept up these relationships and frequently contact our representatives to ask them to vote for or against certain Bills in Parliament. We have also established a relationship with Argyll and Bute Council and have been in frequent contact with them about their new Decarbonisation Plan.
2021
2021 was a huge year for Time for Change. Over the year, we grew our membership by 50%, launched this website, and voted in our constitution and steering committee. We hosted 2 environmental hustings in preparation for the Scottish Parliament elections, which had over 70 attendees each. We then continued to build relationships with our newly elected MSPs throughout the year. We also held regular meetings with our local councillors and council leader, asking them to roll out carbon literacy training for all councillors, divest their pension fund from fossil fuels, and declare a climate emergency (which they did on September 30th). We continued to strengthen our relationship with our MP Brendan O’Hara, who was nominated SNP Lead for COP26. We hosted an online Climate Summit as part of Climate Fringe Week, with 8 expert speakers in the food, energy and transport industries, and over 100 attendees. Then we held three protests across Argyll in Lochgilphead, Oban and Helensburgh during COP26 itself in solidarity with those striking for climate justice in the streets of Glasgow. We also filmed and edited a short film, ‘Argyll & Bute’s Hopes for the Future’, which we showed in the COP26 Green Zone as part of SCCAN’s stall.
Our Constitution
Our Steering Committee
Time for Change is entirely volunteer-run. Each of our members has an equal say in any decisions we make, but we have a small Steering Committee who oversee and coordinate the internal and external organisation of the group.
Chair
Secretary
Treasurer
Angela Anderson
Laura Bennitt
Tricia Grey
Lucy Hollingworth – Web Editor