Climate Challenge
Climate Change – You can make a difference!
This article was written by Bolsover Drama Group for the
NODA magazine.
That’s what the 50 plus members of the Youth Section of Bolsover Drama Group believe and
they aim to let the people of Bolsover know how that difference can happen.
The Youth Section received a grant of £6,650 from Defra to assist them in their project.
This was one of only three awarded in the East Midlands. The aim is to raise awareness of climate
change by making a DVD about climate change and to deliver a free copy to every household in the
Bolsover area – that’s approximately 18,500!
The DVD will use youth members to try to expose, through interviews, just how little is known about
climate change amongst local adults. They will then go on to ‘paint it black’ explaining what
we are doing to our local and national environments. By looking at the local effects in the
area of Bolsover they hope to make it pertinent to residents and therefore increase the impact.
We will show that every person is responsible and that every person can help to reduce the impact
of carbon emissions – the carbon footprint.
Our youth members have conducted questionnaires and interviewed people in the community.
The results from these will form the baseline of the project, allowing them to measure the
success of the project during later interviews. The skills of filming the DVD and interviewing
have been developed. The youth members have attended workshops on climate change and how to develop
the project. There will be a short play written and performed by the members on the DVD. Professional
studios in Nottingham are teaching the members to edit the films and put them on to DVD.
In addition to the DVD the group has set up its own web-site. Youth members are being involved
and trained in its development, maintenance and management. The site will explain the project
in detail and show the progress being made. There will also be a trailer of the DVD and we would
offer a free copy of the DVD to anyone interested, wherever they are in the world, if they cover p&p.
This project has received much interest from local radio, local newspapers and Councillors.
The Youth members have shown great enthusiasm, imagination and maturity. They have benefited from
and enjoyed the training given and the skills they have developed in areas normally outside the
domain of a drama group – filming, editing, web-site design and interviewing. They are keen to
make a success of the project because it is they who will face the consequences.
