HELENSBURGH could play host to a “climate change festival” later this year as part of a week-long series of environment-themed events in the lead up to a much anticipated global conference.

The rescheduled COP26 event will be held in Glasgow at the start of November with many of the main world leaders expected in the city - and Argyll and Bute Council has already revealed it plans to attract some of those big names to Helensburgh for an event to mark the occasion.

But before that, Climate Fringe Week runs from September 18-26 and several local groups have begun preparations including Plastic Free Helensburgh (PFH), Cardross Climate Action Network (Cardross CAN) and Time for Change Argyll and Bute.

At the latest monthly meeting of Helensburgh Community Council PFH member Sarah Davies told attendees that some events were already planned, but warned that the town would have to act fast to organise other activities, or risk missing out.

Ms Davies told the virtual gathering: “There will be events happening all across the UK and in Scotland it’s called Climate Fringe Week.

“Local community groups are being asked to organise activities around the climate conference, so PFH are looking at seven different areas that climate affects: food, energy, fashion, environment, family, waste and transport.

READ MORE: Could global leaders be on their way to Helensburgh during COP26?

“We already have some community organisations signed up, we’re working with others and we’ll be working with our plastic free champions who are our businesses in Helensburgh to provide things during the climate week.

“Robin Currie, the leader of the council, spoke recently about the decarbonisation plan and everything that Argyll and Bute is doing, so one idea we had was to get someone from the council to come and tell us what their plans are and what they’re doing.

“We could also invite Brendan O’Hara to come and talk about what the Scottish Government is doing and what he’s doing in terms of the planning for COP26, as he’s our local MP.

“The reason I’m bringing it up now is because it’s nationwide, and if we don’t start booking things in now we’re not going to get people to do it.”

After asking whether the area should be doing something notable to mark the occasion, community council convener Norman Muir said: “We are very close to Glasgow, there will be a whole bunch of hoods there with idle hands and perhaps money to spend and we could maybe take some of it off them if we can think up a nice project, perhaps involving the youngsters.”

Rosie Sumsion, member of the Scottish Youth Parliament for Helensburgh and Lomond, joked: “We wouldn’t want to be environmentally friendly if we couldn’t make money from it!"

READ MORE: Cove Park to become one of seven 'Climate Beacons' ahead of COP26

She added: “It would be nice to do something that’s maybe a bit more interactive.

“We’ve talked a lot about the fact that climate change is an issue that people are really interested in, there’s going to be a lot of chat around COP26 and I feel like there’s potential for us to do something bigger that would get people visiting, some kind of activity or workshop or something that would engage people at different levels.

“Looking back at when we did the food festivals they’ve been really popular and they’ve brought people to Helensburgh.”

Events planned so far for Climate Fringe Week in Helensburgh will cater for all ages and include scavenger hunts, art, social events, and talks with information on green parenting, food, active travel, energy, fashion, and recycling.

Sarah added: “It is quite an ambitious task to be organising a week-long event but with the support of our local businesses and community groups we hope to showcase all the great work that is already happening.

“We hope to encourage others to take the first step or go further in lowering their carbon footprint, making Helensburgh a cleaner and greener community.”

Search ‘Plastic Free Helensburgh’ on Facebook for more information on the group or email plasticfreehelensburgh@gmail.com.