Henley Probus Talk: Greener Henley initiatives and climate change

Henley Men’s Probus held September meeting last Tuesday and welcomed Kate Oldridge and Giles Trendle of Greener Henley to give a talk.

Working together their presentation focused both on the group’s local initiatives and the worldwide impact of climate change. They explained that Greener Henley is a small charity that is busy getting others involved to include schools, organisations, businesses and individuals in Henley and the surrounding area. Greener Henley, traces it’s roots to the Wildlife Working Group which started in 1993, was formed in 2008 and became a registered charity in 2024. It is not political in any way and prides itself with how it works with all community entities regardless of political persuasion. Greener Henley works very closely with all local schools, currently 20 schools involved, and has recently run a science fair at Henley College.

Giles explained a good deal of the history of the effects of the carbon dioxide in the earth’s atmosphere and highlighted that research in the subject went back as far as the mid 1800s. He cited studies in the 1970s and 1980s which warned about the potential increase in global temperatures and the impact that would have on mankind. Kate explained about all of the initiatives that Greener Henley are involved in with local schools helping them to achieve the goals set out in the national curriculum. She further told us about the project aimed at individuals to set aside one square meter of land dedicated to growing wild flowers and said that there has already been 1,500 people signed up to the scheme with a target of 5,000.

Giles talked about the current weather phenomenon of El Niño and the fact that the current cycle is predicted to be the most intense ever. Both Kate and Giles encouraged everyone to take the opportunity to watch a screening of The People’s Emergency Briefing which has been shown locally a number of times and will be shown again at various venues over the next few months. Members were encouraged to do all that they could individually in order to alleviate the effects of climate change and make a Pledge for the Planet as a way of focusing on even a single aspect of how we could do our bit to help. Following the presentation there were a number of very thought provoking questions during the Q&A session by club members.