People's Emergency Briefing - Event Report
Published: 18 October 2026
This report summarises the People's Emergency Briefing (PEB) community screenings held at Axminster Guildhall by Axminster Town Council on August 3rd 2026.
The event brought together residents, community leaders and elected representatives to explore the challenges posed by climate change and biodiversity loss, while also highlighting practical solutions and opportunities for positive action.
The event took place across two free-to-attend screenings, with approximately 130 people attending in total. This represents strong community engagement. The screenings were followed by facilitated round-table discussions that enabled participants to reflect on the film's messages, share their reactions, and identify actions they could take locally and which were most important nationally.
Event Details
Event: People's Emergency Briefing Community Screenings
Date: Monday, August 3rd 2026
Venue: Axminster Guildhall
Host: Axminster Town Council
Presenters: Fiona Anderson and Bernie Steadman (Axminster Climate Action Group)
Attendance: Approximately 130 people spread across two screenings
Format: 50-minute film followed by a facilitated discussion.
Purpose of the Event
The purpose of the screenings was to raise awareness of the climate and nature emergency, share the latest scientific evidence on climate change and biodiversity loss, encourage informed public discussion, highlight practical solutions available to Government, communities and individuals and support the People's Emergency Briefing campaign's call for a national public broadcast informing the general public about climate change and the actions required to address it both nationally, locally and personally.
The event was considered a great success and well received by those in attendance, who spoke positively of their experience and about having had an opportunity to meet and discuss the subject as a community. The Council has also received a lot of positive feedback in the weeks after the event, and has received new volunteer requests to participate in the Axminster Climate Action Group, Community Orchard and Footpath Steward Schemes. We are confident that other climate- and nature-focused organisations present will also have received new volunteer requests, as the enthusiasm to take positive action was evident at both sessions.
The Council committed to collating all comments made during the discussion part of the event and including all of the common themes in an event report of which this is an excert. you can read the full People's Emergency Briefing Event Report People's Emergency Briefing Event Report here.