About us
Our mission is to inform people of the climate impact of aviation and inspire people to travel by other means.
Flight Free UK is a charity that encourages people to travel without flying. We educate the public about the climate impact of aviation, and give information and inspiration for travelling by other means. We run the Flight Free Challenge which asks people to take one year off flying to reduce emissions, break a habit and try the alternatives.
Flight Free UK was set up in 2018 by Anna Hughes, a behaviour change specialist and long-time advocate of flight-free travel. Prompted by the IPCC '12 year' report, and inspired by the Swedish flygfritt (flight free) movement, Flight Free UK launched its first 'flight free year' pledge in 2019. We collected over 6000 pledges from people promising to take a year off flying, before Covid came along and took the decision out of people's hands. You can read how Covid affected our campaign on our blog. Despite the travel difficulties brought about by the pandemic, we continue to inspire people to travel without flying for the sake of the climate, and our audience and impact grows each year.
We know that individual action alone isn't enough when it comes to responding to the climate emergency, but our campaign is about more than lots of individuals changing their travel behaviour. Our collective action puts pressure on government and industry to make low-carbon travel more accessible for more people. More powerfully, we are heavily influenced by those around us, so as more people choose to stay on the ground, many more will follow.
Our work is part of a wider range of measures that will lead to a reduction in aviation emissions, and we work with groups who work in other areas, for example resisting airport expansion, demanding fair taxation, and exposing government and industry greenwash. We are part of the Stay Grounded Network.
Our positive campaign empowers and inspires people to give flight-free travel a try, for the sake of the climate and for their own benefit as travellers.
What do people say about us?
Flight Free UK made me change the way I travel, and I take every opportunity to pass on the message.
~ Jayne, Leeds
Flight Free UK feels like being part of a community that really does understand and really does care.
~ Sian, Bristol
The team
Anna Hughes
Director
Behaviour change specialist Anna has worked in sustainable transport since 2008, at first focussing on bikes with Sustrans, and now on aviation with Flight Free UK. A lifelong environmentalist, she stopped flying more than 15 years ago. A favourite flight-free trip was cycling the length of France to swim in the Mediterranean at Nice – returning by train rather than cycle home!
Gully Bujak
Communications Officer
Gully is a community organiser and freelance writer based in Hull. She is passionate about the power of words and storytelling to inspire us to imagine new ways of living together on this finite planet. Her dream flight free trip would be to the US, to visit the immense landscapes and learn from the community organising going there.
Jasmine Axon
Social media intern
Hull-based Jasmine enjoys hiking, and is passionate about sustainability and environmentalism. With a BSc in Geography she enjoys discovering the landscapes, communities and cultures that make each destination unique. A dream flight free trip would be the NC500, or taking the ferry from the UK to Spain and on to Morocco for the culture and Atlas Mountains.
Matilda Palmer
Events Manager
Matilda lives in Hampshire and enjoys local conservation and litter picking in her spare time. She is passionate about travel infrastructure to give people more opportunities to travel greener. A dream flight-free trip would be to the north coast of Spain via ferry.
Melissa Taylor
Social media intern
Melissa lives riverside on the Tamar, on the Devon and Cornwall border, in the perfect spot to keep her boat. Also with a BA (Hons) in Environmental Science, she is now taking a career break to move into the environmental sector. A dream flight free trip would sailing across the channel to France and taking her boat through the French canal network to the Med.
Sarah Hopewell
Flight Free Schools administrator
With a background in health psychology and behaviour change, Sarah now works in the transport sector. She's a Green Party town and district councillor in Hertford and has enjoyed many flight-free trips including cycling holidays and trips to Europe.
Simon Davison
Events administrator intern
Based in Leeds, Simon works as a premium hospitality operator at a 4-star hotel. His BA (Hons) in Environmental Studies and Carbon Literacy certification has led him to volunteering with Flight Free UK in his spare time. A dream flight-free trip would be a scenic rail journey to Scotland to explore the rugged mountains, wild lochs, and remote national parks of the Highlands.
Sophie Norstrom
Communications intern
Philosophy graduate Sophie is passionate about understanding the social, political and economic inequalities of climate change. She is based in Edinburgh and enjoys exploring Scottish green spaces by finding new running routes. Her dream flight free trip would be to island-hop around the Stockholm Archipelago by ferry.
Board of directors
We are governed by a Board of Directors that meets regularly to ensure we fulfil our charitable duties and adhere to Charity Commission guidelines.
Maggie Robertson (Chair)
Born in England, brought up in Scotland and Wales, Maggie now lives in Cornwall. She has a teenage son and is married to a polar scientist, which has made her deeply concerned about climate change. She has a Master’s degree in geography and is a former university manager with experience in strategic planning, resource allocation and risk management. She spent her honeymoon cycling in the Dordogne, and her dream flight-free trip would be to explore the Danube Delta by boat.
Lenny Sayers
Classical musician Lenny heads up the Green Team in his orchestra, encouraging the use of sustainable transport such as using the train to tour in Europe. His interest in low-carbon living means he takes his clarinets to work in his bicycle trailer. Lenny's dream flight-free trip would be to tour the Alps on his bicycle, perhaps even cycling all the way there through the Netherlands and down the Rhine through Germany. He did this with his dad when he was 15 and would love to go back.
Steve Westlake
Steve works at Cardiff University and has a PhD in environmental psychology and behaviour change. His research explores the power of leading by example and how this influences the attitudes and behaviour of others. In Greenpeace as a teenager, he then worked for Shell and subsequently MotoGP, flying around the world to every race. Go figure! He believes those career choices were enabled by social and cultural norms that ignore environmental damage – hence his current research interests and belief in the mission of Flight Free UK.
Advisory Group
Our advisory group is made up of industry experts and campaigners: Jamie Andrews, Co-founder, Loco2 (now RailEurope); Daniel Elkan, Founder, SnowCarbon; Natalie Fée, Founder, City to Sea; Cait Hewitt and Tim Johnson, AEF; Maja Rosén, Founder, We Stay on the Ground; Max Wakefield, Director of Campaigns, Possible.