Hope needs to make more headlines – and this week it did

Headlining hope is important. For our work at Climate Outreach, centring people and the progress we’re making is key to changing the climate story from one of powerlessness to one of possibility. That’s why we’re one of many organisations backing A Million Acts of Hope, shining a light on people doing great things nationwide. 

Here are a couple of the initiatives I visited and captured during the campaign’s week of action, and the hopefuls driving them.

Meet Mary King. A keen cyclist and parent, she decided to start the New Cross Bike Bus in Lewisham to give local children, including her own, the opportunity to bike to school with their friends and family. Normalising parents cycling with their kids was a key driver for Mary. 

Mary was inspired by other people in her area organising or joining bike buses with the support of organisations like Solve the School Run and Lewisham Cyclists. The bike bus drops groups off at three different primary schools, injecting community into the commute and bringing safety in numbers. 

“Every time I find myself leading the bike bus down the local roads, it fills me with hope to see how happy the children are and how kind and patient the local drivers are. When they see the bike bus approaching they slow down or even stop and let us pass by. Most of them can’t resist smiling at the sight of all the kids on their bikes.”

James, a parent, says: “The bike bus gives me hope because cycling is great fun – and it’s a lot of fun doing it with our kids.”

Meet Michael. He’s just completed 330 volunteering activities with GoodGym, a charity that connects local communities with good causes. That’s a good deed every week for over six years! 

Annick and Michael at the Brixton Windmill Allotments

Michael’s 330th good deed took place at the Brixton Windmill Allotments. I chatted with him as we pulled up forget-me-nots to make way for a new vegetable patch. By day, Michael works as a library assistant at University College London, but he dedicates a massive portion of his free time to Lambeth-based projects—from winter litterpicks to food bank drives.

“We’re often outside volunteering during darker evenings in the winter. Wear a headtorch and you’re all good!” 

The group organiser, Yianny, makes it all happen by finding and promoting events where Lambeth locals can team up. Typically, volunteers meet at a central point, run to the site together, complete the task, and run back, encouraging sustainable travel and exercise and removing barriers to volunteering. Community is so clearly at the scheme’s core. 

‘Hope beats hate’ has been headlined in The Mirror during the campaign, introducing Mary Hustler, a stalwart at a community food scheme in Bradford on the Buttershaw Estate. 

It’s places like these where hope happens and communities come together all the time; we just don’t usually see it. 

There’s a radical minority who want us to believe that connection and empathy aren’t commonplace, so more stories celebrating the people who show up are not just welcome; they’re needed.