Love from the children of Manchester
A letter to Manchester drivers
Sarah, a six-year-old in Manchester, has written this letter out of concern for her friends and family who have asthma. The letter is being left on public boards and displayed on digital billboards across the streets of Manchester, to amplify Sarah’s voice. If you’d like to take part, scroll to the bottom to download the letter.
Air pollution in Greater Manchester is dangerously high. With the stalling of the Clean Air Zone and slow progress on measures to reduce pollution from traffic, it is clear that we need a renewed focus on tackling this public health crisis.
We have analysed figures from CBI Economics and discovered that over the last 17 months since the Clean Air Zone was supposed to be introduced, 219 potential deaths and 496 potential days in hospital could have been prevented.
The danger of diesel
Diesel vehicles are the main source of road-based nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions in Greater Manchester. NOx and NO2 inflame lungs and are closely linked to childhood asthma and wheezing. In Manchester, ownership of diesel cars has risen 8.3 per cent since 2019, whereas in many other places in England, diesel ownership has been reducing. This indicates a low awareness of the damage that diesel emissions are causing to our health.
Childhood asthma hospital admissions
Air pollution can irritate your airways and make your asthma symptoms worse. In 2021/22, child hospital admissions due to asthma in parts of Greater Manchester were more than three times the national average. Tameside has the worst rate in the country with 438 admissions per 100,000, compared to 131.5 for England as a whole. In Oldham, the figure was 337.6 and in the borough of Manchester 226.9.
Phasing out diesel
Sarah and all the children of Manchester deserve more than this. Mums for Lungs are standing up for them by calling on the Mayor of Greater Manchester to set a vision and publicly commit to phasing out diesel cars by 2030. We need Greater Manchester to be at the forefront of a commitment to clean air, with an accountable plan.
The phase-out of diesel vehicles at the local level can be fast-tracked by:
running awareness campaigns
investing in public transport and sustainable travel infrastructure
introducing emissions-based parking tariffs
introducing a workplace parking levy, with revenue raised to go directly towards improving public transport
What can we do as individuals?
We can
choose not to replace your car with a diesel vehicle
turn off your engine when stopped or parked
drive less, especially for short distances
Get involved in our letter campaign
If you’d like to join in and put up Sarah’s letter in your area, you can download it below. Please share a picture of you putting the letter up, and tag us on social media @mumsforlungs on Twitter (X), Instagram and Facebook.
Join us in our campaign to Ditch Diesel, and get in touch with our Manchester group if you’d like to find out more.