A teacher from Bedminster to walk Bristol’s 28 bridges in a day to raise funds for MEER to help people in Africa cope with the impacts of climate change
Rose Taylor, a geography teacher at Chew Valley School, will cover 28 miles during the challenge which will include bridges across the city, finishing at the iconic suspension bridge in Clifton.
The mum of two will be joined by friends to support her on the day and all the funds they raise will go to MEER – a community interest group that is using reflective technology to help keep homes cooler in some of the world’s hottest countries.
They do this by using mirrors made from recycled materials to reflect heat back to space and lower earth surface temperatures and the subsequent impact of climate change. On a local scale, this simple technology is allowing the communities the most vulnerable to the heating effects of climate change a chance at survival.
MEER has a number of projects globally including in Sierra Leone, West Africa – a country particularly vulnerable to climate change as a result of its proximity to the equator and resulting in extreme heat. This is exacerbated by the extreme poverty in which many people live, so day to day life can become impossible as temperatures continue to rise year on year. Residents find themselves unable to stay inside during daylight hours due to this extreme heat and the basic homes they live in.
The roofs that MEER are providing enable localised cooling which reduces the temperature inside these homes by about five degrees Celsius.
Rose said: “With temperatures rising across the planet, we are experiencing uncomfortably hot summers in the UK so it is hard to imagine how hard it must be to cope with rising heat in some of the hottest places on earth. The simple but effective technology that MEER delivers is making a real difference to people’s lives. All of the money we raise on walk will be going to MEER to help deliver these amazing projects.”
Rose’s fundraiser is part of a wider initiative by the Chew Valley School Climate Team which is also raising funds for MEER.
To donate to the challenge go to gofund.me/00edb39f