Who are Mums for Lungs?
About
We are a network of people who care about air pollution. Mums for Lungs was established in Brixton, London in 2017, when a number of us were on parental leave together. We became aware of the toxic levels of air pollution on the UK’s streets while walking around with our babies, and decided we wanted to do something about it.
Join Mums for Lungs
Image: Ruth Board
Most of our members are ordinary people with no specialist background in air pollution who volunteer their time to campaign. Everyone is welcome - we began as mums on maternity leave but have grown to become a network for everyone - you don’t have to be a parent to get involved and we have volunteers all over the country.
You are welcome to join one of our virtual monthly meetings. We’re a friendly bunch and enjoy a good chat over a cup of tea or a glass of wine. We’re also very happy to chat and give advice over the phone – please contact us if you need help or support.
“This is an excellent initiative. We need an army of Mums for Lungs if we are to tackle London’s toxic air, which is stunting our children’s lungs and scarring health for a generation.”
What we do
Image: Sarah Pull
Our movement has grown rapidly in the last few years. We’ve been joined by many more mums, dads, grandparents, and people without children. We’ve also established new branches in Greater Manchester and Redbridge in London. Our meetings are regularly attended by people from all over the country. We are united in our commitment to deliver clean air for everyone — for our children and for future generations.
Core Members
We rely on an extensive network of volunteers, all of whom give up their spare time to spread the word about the dangers of air pollution.
-
![]()
Jemima Hartshorn
Founder and Director
-
![]()
Jane Dutton
Digital Communications Manager
-
![]()
Ruth Fitzharris
Campaigns Assistant and Spokesperson
-
![]()
Claire McDonald
Schools Lead
-
![]()
Liz Godfrey
Manchester Co-ordinator
-
![]()
Sharon Erdman
Volunteer Co-ordinator
Clean Air Wins
The fight for clean air has seen some important wins in recent years. Here are some of the highlights.
School Streets
As of early 2024, there are over 600 School Streets across London, and around 200 across England. Mums for Lungs has been behind this initiative from the early days - we could never have imagined this number of schemes when we started work on it in 2018.
Photo credit: Bessemer Grange, Southwark - Etta Collier
Banning the sale of new diesel and petrol cars
In 2019 the government’s target for ending the sale of new internal combustion engine vehicles was 2040. We believed that this date was too late for the current generation of children and babies. Along with other campaign groups, we called for this date to be brought forward. We were delighted in late 2020 when the government announced the ban would come into force in 2030, and very disappointed when this was rolled back to 2035 three years later.
Photo credit: Julian’s Primary School, West Norwood
- Anna Goodman
Active travel
Key to cleaning the air and encouraging a generation of healthy kids is to reclaim our street space and make walking, cycling and active travel options easier. During the Covid 19 pandemic, we saw a number of new cycle lanes, widened pavements and street greening introduced in London. Mums for Lungs wants a revolution in the way we move around our cities, making it safer and easier for us to get out of our cars.
Photo credit: Clean Air Street Party, Herne Hill 2019
- Ellen Foster Price