2026 BFCCA Climate Summit review

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 The 2026 Bracknell Forest Community Climate Summit was held at the Kerith Community Church on Wednesday, the 8th of July 2026.

The conference theme this year was Community Climate Stories, and we showcased what our local community have been doing to live more sustainably, including our Net Zero Hub Community Story Exhibition.

Leading our conference was Bruce Cave, CEO and Partner of our summit sponsor, Easthampstead Park (eastpark.co.uk), who gave the opening keynote talk on how he and his team have brought this fantastic hotel into the 21st century with sustainability at the heart of its business model. 

Our Agenda for the day was a rolling programme of talks, complemented by displays and a market fair featuring stalls from voluntary organisations and businesses showcasing their work. 

 Our talk and speaker line-up included:

For our Everyday Climate Action Session.

• Home Energy Experience - Electrotech Gurus

A group of electrotech residents will share their honest experiences of electrifying their homes and cars.

• Sustainable Travel - Heather Wright

Heather is an executive coach and certified Deep Time Walk facilitator who will share her approach to making travel more sustainable and why you should walk and cycle more.

• Nature in your Garden

Barbara Polonara is a Wildlife Officer with Berks, Bucks & Oxford Wildlife (BBOWT) Trust who also runs the Wild Bracknell Facebook Page. Barbara will be talking about how you can bring nature back to your garden.

• Reducing Waste at Home

Cllr Nick Allen will share his home waste tips.

For Local Organisations and Sustainability Session

• Neighbourhood Climate Action

o A series of short talks about local climate and environmental initiatives from the Bracknell Natural History Society, Crowthorne Parish Council and Bracknell Town Council.

• Starting a Repair Café

o Afternoon Session - A talk by Crowthorne Repair Café Founder, Georgie Morris, on how Crowthorne Reduce our Waste Group started Bracknell Forest’s first Repair Café.

o Evening Session – A talk by the Bracknell Repair Café team about their initiative to create a repair café at St Andrew’s Church at Priestwood. 

• Climate Ambassadors

Gemma Bailey from the University of Reading will give a talk about an initiative by the Dept of Education to help local schools and colleges create their own climate action plan with the help of local volunteer climate ambassadors.

• Sustainability in Health Care

Kate Townsend, Sustainability Lead at Berkshire Healthcare Trust, will talk about how the NHS is decarbonising its operations

All the summit talks will be presented as stories as part of our Community Story project which seeks to share climate, biodiversity and sustainability activities by local Bracknell Forest Residents, Communities and Businesses.

In addition, we had a market fair in the Kerith Community Church and Carpark that included stalls from BFCCA, BBOWT, Bracknell Forest Borough Council waste and recycling and transport teams, Brew Coffee Bar, Dr. Bike (Bicycle Repairs), Eco Rewards, Ethical Reading, Green and Active (Involve), Easthampstead Park Hotel, Jayne’s Vegan bakes, Your Home Your World, InstaGroup, Abri Housing and Suez Group.

We would like to express our thanks to our summit sponsors, speakers and stall holders who supported this year summit. See you next year !