Over the weekend, parents and worried members of the community gathered in Elthorne Park in Hanwell with climate activist group Parents For Future (PFF) West London to show concern for the government's new energy strategy. Together they made a pop-up wind farm to raise awareness for cheap clean homegrown renewable energy alternatives which are now more than nine times cheaper than gas.

They demonstrated their outrage with the fact that instead of investing in renewables, the government has lifted the ban on fracking and launched more drilling in the North Sea, agreeing to up to 140 new oil and gas fields, a completely illogical response that won't help our energy security or bills. They showed that they won't sit back and let this happen, and that it's time the government put people and planet first. In the middle of a cost of living and climate crisis, it's imperative we focus on real solutions that will bring our bills and emissions down.

The event coincided with the Global Climate Strike by Fridays for Future, of which Parents for Future supports, and was part of UK wide demonstrations by PFF UK including those at Oxford, Bath, Brighton, Parliament Square in London and many more.

The event at Elthorne Park was a fun family-friendly after-school event with many children from local primary schools including Oaklands, Fielding and others attending. They had a great afternoon crafting wind turbines, making signs, enjoying snacks and playing games. By holding their wind turbines up high and tall they showed local MPs, councillors and the community that they literally had the "power in their hands"!

Member of Parents for Future UK, Susan O'Leary, who organised the event in Elthorne Park said:

We hear from parents all the time that they feel stifled and powerless because they don't feel they can make a difference and yet their heart is breaking when contemplating the future that faces their children if immediate action is not taken with regards to the climate crises. By joining here today we hope to enable parents to be part of the change – be parents for a future – and be able to look back and tell their children, they did everything they could.

Local residents and parents commented on the event as follows:

"What a great event! Very well organised, with multiple activities for the children, all of which tied into the underlying theme. This provoked great discussions amongst children and parents, and was a clever accessible way of raising the topic. My son loved seeing how much power he could generate running with the wind turbine he made!" - Genevieve Sitlington

"It was such a fun event and I met lots of lovely parents from other local schools. But it was clear the looming energy price increase is on everyone's worry list. Along with urgent help with bills now, there was an absolute appetite to end reliance on gas in the long term and ensure we can power the UK with domestically produced, clean, cheap renewable energy." - Pritie Billimoria

"The climate crisis can feel overwhelming as a parent, the event was an accessible and fun way to engage children in climate action and help us all in feeling like there are things we can do" - Claire Purchase.

In complete agreement, PFF West London firmly believe that by acting together and sharing, it helps in dealing with the anxiety that comes with facing up to the climate crisis. It doesn't matter if you've never been involved in climate action before. Supporting events such as this is a fun, easy and hugely accessible way to get started with campaigning for a better future for our kids.

To stay informed of what PFF West London are doing, its social media channels are as follows:

Twitter: twitter.com/pff_westlondon

Instagram: instagram.com/parentsforfuture_westlondon/

Also, PFF UK regularly holds Meet n Greet sessions. They are fantastic way to get a quick overview of what PFF UK is about and its aims. Its current campaign is targeting the cost of living, energy and climate crises all of which go hand in hand. The campaign's key demands are: cheap renewable energy, freedom from oil and gas, fair taxing of oil and gas giants, swift help to upgrade homes and for every MP with personal or family investments in oil, gas or coal to step down.