Community stories
Explore #airquality in real time & compare with daily + yearly trends in your area. Check out the new visualization tools & stay informed about the air we breathe!
We are thrilled to announce the launch of our latest resource supporting Londoners in their quest for cleaner, healthier air: a comprehensive video guide on accessing and understanding air pollution data from Breathe London.
This project has really caught the imagination of the whole community. We’ve had an extraordinary response from local knitters coming together to help knit the data, including complete beginners.
We are thrilled to be a recipient of the ‘Breathe Node’ for our community. Our sensor, which is positioned on the busy High Road in Willesden Green.
Discover new ways to take action on air pollution!
Explore our co-developed list of actions & recommendations for carers, teachers, businesses, health workers and more!
Breathe London Community Groups
Discover how groups across London are using Breathe London Nodes to advocate for healthier, greener communities.
“We're delighted to get involved and provide real-time hotspot air pollution monitoring data to those most at risk on community main roads, to enable them to make informed decisions that could lower their air pollution exposure, reduce their risk of heart disease, cancer and respiratory illness and their children's risk of asthma and stunted lung growth. This will improve quality of life and life expectancy. We hope this program helps to ensure everyone has access to real-time information for their community road pollution hot spot, where on a day to day basis we have our highest air pollution exposure.”
“CCARA is excited to be involved in the Breathe London Community Programme. The Breathe London sensor will produce robust data on air quality in Beckenham, supporting us to improve public awareness and understanding about air quality issues.”
“We are keen to get involved with Breathe London to help Westbourne residents understand the impact that air pollution has on their lives and to help us all take action to reduce air pollution in our area.”
“The group are excited to be part of the project to deepen their understanding about pollution and the quality of our environment and learn what impact the green space we help care for makes on the data!”
“Havering Cyclists are the London Borough of Havering’s representatives for the London Cycling Campaign. We recently joined with Havering XR, Havering Friends of the Earth and Havering Quakers to form a Climate Coalition Group with a great interest in Havering’s Climate Change Strategy, as well as contributing to the newly formed Green Forum.”
"Our Sustainable Merton Citizen Science Project works collaboratively with the local community, dedicated volunteers and the local council to raise awareness of the importance of air quality, and to help monitor NO2 emissions through a network of NO2 diffusion tubes managed by volunteers. The Breathe London Node will collect continuous real-time data allowing us to monitor "hot-spot" areas allowing us to design and propose interventions to address issues in specific areas for the immediate benefit of the wider community. We aim to use the data to help raise awareness of air pollution, improve public knowledge, and share the data with our partners within the project and the wider community."
“Together, R-Urban and LiC have been working together between our two sites for the last couple of years. With our collaborative work exploring themes of urban food growing, circular systems and localised biodiversity improvements, and having previously undertaken research projects linked to air quality, we’re excited to further explore and understand the conditions that we work within, as well as working on air quality improvements on our estate – with the quantitative data to back it up! Our programmes are largely delivered through free educational workshops with a wide range of local residents, and we look forward to introducing ideas and learnings from this to the sessions!”
“Measuring air quality in one of Islington's busiest spots will provide crucial information we will use in our campaigns and other actions to reduce air pollution in the borough.”
"Our community is in the invisible grip of air pollution. Every breath we take, which carries life, also bears a toxic burden of air pollution. By monitoring the air we all share, we can illuminate this burden on our community and provide ourselves with the opportunity to mitigate vulnerable residents' exposure to the carcinogenic particles and gases that permeate our air.”
“The Breathe London project has so far supported dozens of communities TO understand the air quality around them and given them the understanding needed to improve the air they are breathing. At Clean Air for Beck Square, we’re delighted to be joining this movement and to start learning the challenges our area faces. We hope to be able to use our findings to educate other residents to better protect themselves from toxic air but also to start advocating for more action from local government and businesses to tackle pollution. We want this to be the moment that we made the changes we needed to protect ourselves, each other and the next generation.”
“We are very concerned about the air quality on our high traffic streets – our narrow residential streets are lined with high terraced houses so we’re very close to the traffic which creates a pollution corridor. We hope to use the results of the Breathe London node as a talking point with residents and to raise awareness of the importance of clean air, as well as influencing Ealing Council to improve air quality and residents’ lives in our neighbourhood.”
“We are keen to measure the impact of the trees and plants on air pollution, and to help ourselves and our neighbours reduce the impact and production of pollution. We are building 36 new flats alongside the river Ravensbourne in Lewisham on what was a bare brownfield site and will be planting trees and shrubs, hanging baskets outside each flat, vegetables and fruit, as well as living green roofs and screens of climbing plants. The Breathe London Node will help us measure what difference these might make.”
“We want to understand the current levels of air pollution in Fitzrovia and work with local clinicians and scientists to help objectively examine the impact this is having on users of the nursery and playground, as well as the tenants of our residential and commercial properties. As part of the Breathe London programme this will inform a debate about what action can be taken to improve air quality in Fitzrovia and support the Camden Clean Air Action Plan.”
“We admire the ethos of Breathe London, your evidence-based approach, and your effort to empower communities using modern creative tools. We've met a bunch of lovely passionate visioners via Circle and enjoy being part of this broader group.”
“We wish to maintain the basic parameters that have made living in Northwood an enduring pleasure for us and our neighbours.”
“The Breathe Node will be an incredibly important resource for Willesden Green Town Team in our drive towards tackling air pollution in Willesden Green. Whilst we know anecdotally that the area suffers poor air quality as a result of heavy traffic congestion, construction and other light industry, we are lacking more scientific evidence. The Breathe Node will provide data that will enable us to better understand the problem, lobby for change and tackle it more effectively through our greening and other targeted projects, for the wellbeing of the entire community.”
“Because I believe many people are not aware of the importance of clean air and how air pollution can harm our health.”
“We are very excited to have been chosen to participate in the Breathe London Programme. We are concerned about the health impacts of high levels of air pollution and are keen to gain a better understanding of the air quality in our area. Having a Breathe London node will provide us with this valuable data. Our aim is to share this data with residents to raise awareness of the effects of poor air quality and to take action to improve our air quality if needed.”
“Our community would like to better understand the potentially underestimated significance of charcoal burning and other particulate emissions on air quality and health. Our initial community investigation suggests that the problem of pollution from under or unfiltered emissions have been underestimated. The receipt of an air monitoring node presents a great opportunity to gather crucial data and receive invaluable insight and guidance by air quality experts at Imperial College. We hope this will raise awareness of the effects on public health of charcoal burning emitted by restaurants, and to help us to lobby our local council to act in light of the evidence, with the potential to improve air quality by means of filtration.”
“In just two words : ‘social justice’. Our area is high on the list of ‘socially deprived’ neighbourhoods, and historic legacy of sir pollution. We hope to gather data to influence planners and developers into creating a better environment where our environment comes FIRST … for a change!”
“We are so excited to be part of the Breathe London Programme. Having an air quality node at Ray Lodge School will be hugely beneficial for both the children and staff at the school as well as local residents, as it will enable us to understand more about the quality of the air in our local neighbourhood and take action to improve it with mitigation measures if needed.”
“We are very excited to be involved in the Breathe London Community programme. Our aim is to gain a better understanding of the air quality around Lancaster West, as part of the wider work we’re doing to become the UK’s largest eco-neighbourhood, and net-zero carbon by 2030. We’ll use this to talk to the community about air quality, building understanding of the things that impact it and the effects that poor air quality can have. Longer term, this will help us to identify and deliver nature-based solutions that will improve air quality, tackle inequality and promote good health.”
We’re campaigning for safer streets for all in Tower Hamlets. We want to gather evidence on emissions and air quality to show that low traffic neighbourhoods are improving air quality and making our streets safer to walk, talk and play on.
Our community is especially concerned about the health impacts of the high levels of air pollution in close proximity to the NW7hub, the Library and the large Millway Medical Centre. Most concerning are its effects on schoolchildren, elderly residents, and on others at this site of a substantial pedestrian footfall. Reliable data on the air pollution levels at Mill Hill Circus will be vital for us to lobby for, and the Council to implement, mitigation measures to help minimise exposure to dangerously high levels of nitrogen dioxide and particulates.
The availability of hard data offers a powerful rationale for action. We also hope this work will forge a long-lasting local commitment and relationship between health, education and our environment.
We share Breathe London’s desire to democratise air quality monitoring and a Breathe London Node helps us do this by providing a tangible, ‘hard data’ point of entry for us to start a local conversation about cleaning up Bromley’s air.
As our name implies, we are keen to play our part in reducing harmful emissions to provide a better and safer environment for our members and the general public.
HyPER works with all residents to create a sense of community in the Hyde Park Estate, based on the principles of respect, inclusivity and good citizenship. Membership is free and open to all residents of the Estate. We co-ordinate our activities with Westminster Council, the Paddington Neighbourhood Forum, Business Improvement Districts including local businesses and the Church Commissioners, in order to make our neighbourhood a cleaner, greener, healthier and safer place. We will work to reduce through-traffic, create more pedestrian spaces such as piazzas, and enrich the neighbourhood with family-friendly events.
The Breathe London Network is an air quality sensing community made by Londoners for Londoners. Anyone can join.
For individuals
Anyone can join the Breathe London Network. Join a network of people passionate about improving air quality across London.
For community groups
Small, affordable and backed by Imperial College London, the Breathe London Node can empower communities to monitor and take action.
For business
Businesses and estates are joining the effort to help improve air quality for all. Find out how your business can get involved in the fight for cleaner air.
For local government
Small, light and affordable with tight integration with the London Air Quality Network; the Breathe London Node is a perfect complement to regulatory monitoring.