Working with faith centres in Sandwell to improve air quality via behavioural change
In response to the ongoing challenge of improving local air quality in Sandwell, the air quality team were successful in receiving an Defra Air Quality Grant in 2021. The grant was used to engage with faith leaders and their communities across the borough. The aim being to raise awareness about air pollution, including the main types and sources and encourage behavioural change that would benefit the health of the participants and their local communities.
As Sandwell is a super diverse, multi-cultural and multi-faith borough, with some of the largest and well-attended faith centres in the country, we wanted to support our faith-based organisations in leading the way towards community-driven improvements in air quality. This is an important issue as ethnicity is strongly correlated to air pollution exposure as recent research demonstrates that ethnic minorities are more likely to live in polluted areas. As there is a significant representation of people who are either black, Asian or minority ethnic (BAME) within Sandwell’s faith communities, working to reduce their exposure to air pollution is a priority.
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YEAR ONE January 2022 to December 2022 |
YEAR TWO January 2023 to December 2023 |
| The Balaji Temple, Oldbury | The Salvation Army, Cradley Heath |
| The Guru Nanak Gurdwara, Smethwick | The Centre for Oneness, Wednesbury |
| Jamia Masjid, Smethwick | Holy Trinity Church, Smethwick |
| St Francis of Assisi, Wednesbury | Oldbury Mosque, Smethwick |
| St Matthews, Tipton | Cradley Heath Community Link, Cradley Heath |
| Shri Pashupatinath Mandir, Rowley Regis | Guru Har Rai Gurdwara Sahib, West Bromwich |
| The Wesley Centre, Wednesbury | Shah Jalal Mosque, Tipton |
| Yemeni Community Association, West Bromwich | Wednesbury Baptist Church, Wednesbury |
Each centre received a low-cost air quality sensor called a “Zephyr” for a year, which was located outside their centres. The information relayed from the 'Zephyr' was displayed on a TV screen inside each centre on an air quality dashboard. The dashboard could be accessed via computer, tablet or smart phone, allowing users to see air pollution in their local area at a glance.
The faith centres also received an 'air pollution tool kit', containing information about the types of indoor and outdoor air pollution, funding and grant opportunities, methods of community engagement, sustainable forms of transport and ideas for campaigns and initiatives. Centre members were also asked to complete a questionnaire pre and post the project to assess what they had learn about air quality and any behaviour changes made as a consequence of the project.
A final evaluation report was submitted to Defra in July 2024 which can downloaded via the link below.
Sandwell's Faith Communities for Clean Air - Project Review July 2024
Sandwell Council would like to say a huge thank you to all the faith centre leaders and their community members who gave up their time to support this project and to make it such a success.
Although the project has officially been completed, Sandwell Council's Air Quality Team are planning to maintain and build on the work done so far to enable everyone to benefit from cleaner air.
Take a look at the project's monthly newsletters and Sandwell's latest Air Quality Newsletter.