Football and sport don't perhaps at first glance seem like a natural 'in' for climate action. But did you know..?- Over 100,000 grassroots football matches are cancelled every year due to bad weather such as flooding- Over 80% of football fans want are concerned about climate change- 65% of football fans want their clubs to take more climate action It was such a joy to get the opportunity to chat to Katie Cross all about Pledgeball - an award winning sports sustainability charity who do an amazing job of empowering sports fans to take action for climate and nature, often framing it around the idea of 'protecting where we play'.I wouldn't count myself as a football fan, but I took so much inspiration away from this episode and from Katie.  So many clever ways of taking something that people are passionate about and using it as a way in to talk about climate and how it's impacting on that thing that they love, and then harnessing the power of the community that they are already involved in to take action, and to see how their one action contributes to a much greater impact.Even if you're not a football fan, I think there will be lots to take away from this episode - some way to take a little bit of the work that Plegdeball are doing with football, and in sport more widely, and apply it to the communities that you're already a part of. 

Katie Cross

• Katie Cross- Linked In
• Pledgeball- Website- Instagram- Linked In- Facebook- You Tube- The Pledgeball podcast- Add your club (or school, or workplace etc)- Sustainable Travel Charter
• Ep 154 - Leading by example - does it matter? With Steve Westlake (podcast ep)
• David Wheeler
• Climate Outreach- Britain Talks Climate and Nature
• EFL Green Clubs
• Carbon Literacy- Carbon Literacy with me!
• Ep 175 - Climate Play (including Lego Serious Play) - podcast with Lisa Hawthorne
• Ep 193 - The power of swapping with Sam Drury Shore

Reading FC's kit with the warming stripes on the sleeve