About Us

Climate Cafe MK was founded in 2019 by me, Lynda Gilbert, and two friends who were as concerned as I was about the impact of the climate crisis on people’s lives. As a therapist, I’d started to come across people who were experiencing some profound emotions such as eco-anxiety, despair and guilt. When I heard about Climate Empathy Cafes being held online, I said, “Why not hold something like this in a real cafe in Milton Keynes?”

The first two were held in November 2019 and January 2020 respectively at Camphill Community Cafe in Willen Park, and were very well-attended. The first one focused exclusively on co-listening and sharing feelings, but the feedback we got was that people also wanted information about how to make a difference, so our second cafe event also featured a talk by Kirsty Forshaw on Planting Up, a community garden project.

The pandemic put a stop to further cafe events at that time, but as restrictions lifted I felt the time had come to relaunch the Climate Cafe. I established a team of 7 people to plan a Green Fair in Great Linford on 13^th November 2019, with speakers and a workshop as well as stalls and the compulsory cafe area for refreshments and networking. My vision now is for the Cafe to become an outreach event, bringing information to as many communities as possible within Milton Keynes, as well as keeping the original focus of a forum in which to share thoughts and feelings about the climate crisis. Our idea is also stimulating interest in other areas, such as Olney, where we hope there will be a cafe event next year.