Bel Jacobs, Adrian Fisk and Anna Hyde at the Islington Climate Centre

THE high street must adapt to help people “learn how to live in a new era,” according to the activists behind a campaigning climate centre.

Anna Hyde and Bel Jacobs, co-founders of Islington Climate Centre (ICC) in Angel, are currently on the hunt for a new base after a spell in a unit in the Angel Central Shopping Centre. A new business is moving in at the end of the month.

Ms Hyde said the centre had “done loads of great stuff working with loads of great partners”, offering film nights, games, repair workshops, clothes swaps and exhibitions among many other activities.

ICC also partnered with the Islington Tribune and Camden New Journal to put together our North London COP in November.

“The whole thing about it is that different people relate to different parts of the climate crisis,” said Ms Hyde.

“Some people really get the repair thing because they hate waste and that pulls them in. Some people love film and that’s what draws them in. Some people love workshops because they love being creative, and things like toy swaps engage families.

“We engage, we inform and connect – we’re a physical hub. There’s so much great stuff going on in the borough, and for people to have a place to drop in is really helpful.”

Ms Hyde said the climate centre has shown it can “build community. We know what we’re doing and we can build on what we’ve done this year.”

Meanwhile, Ms Jacobs said she was “incredibly grateful” to the shopping centre for allowing ICC to use the unit for free over the past 10 months.

“They’ve allowed us to establish ourselves – we had an opportunity other climate centres didn’t have,” Ms Jacobs said.

Other climate centres around the country have a “different model,” Ms Jacobs said, where they “pay more or less rent according to different landlords.”

She says all empty units on the high street could be used more effectively if they were handed over to community and climate groups until paying tenants can be found.

According to the think tank Onward, there are currently 13,500 empty high street shops across the capital – a vacancy rate of just over 10 per cent.

“There are still lots of empty units around – after the pandemic, retail hasn’t picked up and the challenges retail are facing aren’t going away. I can’t think of a better way to populate an empty unit than with a climate centre,” Ms Jacobs said.

Activists are hoping ICC will remain in a central location, she added. “There was some discussion about finding a unit a bit further out but a climate centre in a mainstream area is difficult to beat – you’re bringing something traditionally regarded as marginal into a central area. That suggests it’s as important as going to the cinema or going shopping.”

She said the climate centres popping up around the country could herald a new age for the high street. “The high street is going to have to change. The model is being challenged on all fronts: the cost of living crisis, the climate crisis. People want to look to their high streets to learn how to live in a new era.”