From London to Manchester to Preston, one woman from Carlisle has spent the last couple of years trying to make a difference.

Fiona Prior, from Carlisle, put her fine art degree on hold in order to spend one year dedicating her time to raising awareness and making changes that will help the natural world.

Her focus isn’t just on the broader issue of climate change; she is concerned about things on a local level too.

“The climate crisis is my main drive with everything in my life and biodiversity loss which is also linked to the climate crisis,” she said.

“Nature in general and sustainability, all of the eco themes globally and locally.

“I’m a real socialist at heart, I think, and if you want to see a change then it is actually up to you, it’s not up to anybody else

“We all need to work together to force change and I’m not sitting back anymore.”

For Fiona, who is a former teacher, something had never sat entirely right with her.

There were a lot of influences that helped her become "more aware", she mixed in different circles and attended talks hosted by Extinction Rebellion and local academic Jem Bendell.

“My son also has been a massive influence because he is very politically aware,” commented Fiona.

“He has woken me up - recommending books for me to read, talking over the telephone, sending me video clips."

Fiona has packed a lot into the two years since she began taking part in activism.

She has travelled to London for the national Extinction Rebellion protests, taken part in HS2 marches and anti-fracking protests in Lancashire, and raised awareness about issues impacting Cumbria.

Although there are challenges, there have also been some unexpected benefits to Fiona’s campaigning.

She commented: “My favourite part is the sense of community.

“We’re separated from each other, from our local communities.

“It’s like I have been reawakened to realise that my neighbours are really important, and my local town is really important, and my friends are really important.

“I think that has been a fabulous offshoot of this.

“It has really opened my eyes to where I live.”