Campaigning

It may be easy to overlook the power of the humble bus but they’re a vital tool for cleaner air in our cities. There are major issues with Glasgow’s transport system that we urgently need to fix to tackle toxic air in the city. Maddy from the Clean Air team explains why the fight for better buses in Glasgow is a fight for clean air too – and how you can get involved.

Someone dies from a lung condition every five minutes in the UK. And millions more live with debilitating symptoms. Our new report, written with PwC, reveals the huge financial cost of lung conditions to the UK economy. It shows how increased investment in lung health research could lead to huge savings and increased productivity, and protect the future of the NHS.

Today, the Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) expands to cover the whole of Greater London, protecting millions of Londoners from toxic air. This milestone follows the tireless work of thousands of campaigners calling for cleaner air. Olivia, in our clean air team explains the impact the expansion will have on our children who are currently breathing in dangerous levels of air pollution. Plus how we’re helping to raise awareness of air quality around London schools.

On Saturday 15 July we hosted our first ever Clean Air Campaigner Conference. We brought together campaigners from Manchester, Glasgow, the West Midlands, West Yorkshire and Liverpool, who care about tackling toxic air pollution in their communities. Sophie from our clean air team shares some of the day’s highlights.

Our latest research shows that people with lung conditions aren’t being diagnosed quickly enough. Lauren, an IT trainer from Nottingham, was diagnosed with asthma in 2010. Here she tells us how difficult it was to get her diagnosis. And we lay out our recommendations to improve diagnosis for lung conditions in the UK.

At the start of this school year, in September 2022, we launched our pilot project to teach pupils in London schools about the dangers of air pollution. Project lead, Amy talks us through the project and what we’ve achieved in our first year.

Our latest research showed shocking inequalities in lung health across the UK. Laura from our Policy team tells us more about it and gives our recommendations for tackling it.

From January to March 2023, we ran our largest ever survey asking you about your care and experiences of living with a lung condition. Anna from our Data + Insights team explains what the survey was and how your responses are helping us fight for better lung health for all.

We wanted to find out how out how our supporters manage their asthma at work. We surveyed 2000 of our supporters to find out more about how they handle their asthma at work. Laura from our Policy team talks us through what they told us.

To celebrate Clean Air Day 2023, Asthma + Lung UK was part of an exciting and thought-provoking project which used the art of pottery to highlight the dangers of Glasgow’s toxic air. Maddy, our Regional Campaigns and Policy Officer, is here to tell you all about Glasgow Smogware.

You might have seen that we have recently run a campaign to End the Lung Health Lottery. We looked into how lung conditions affect people differently across the UK, and found big differences in outcomes for respiratory conditions in different parts of the country. Here, Andrew from our data + Insights team tells us how we did it, what we want to see, and how you can explore the data we used in the campaign yourself.

Glasgow’s Low Emission Zone (LEZ) will go live on 1 June 2023. If you live or work in Glasgow, you may be wondering what this means for you. Maddy, our Regional Campaigns and Policy Officer lays out what you need to know about the LEZ and why it’s such a vital step towards cleaner air for the city.