A collaboration between the University of Reading and Reading Football Club to highlight the threat of climate change has prompted a nomination for a Pride of Reading Award.
The pair have been nominated for Putting Reading on the Map after their team-up won headlines when ‘climate stripes’ on Reading’s shirts were explained to millions watching the team’s clash with Manchester United on ITV in January.
The university has been nominated for designing the stripes and Reading FC for adding them to their kit, which has helped win world-wide recognition for the campaign which aims to graphically represent the extent of global warming.
A series of vertical-coloured bars, from blue to red, show the progressive heating of our planet in a striking image.
The climate stripes were created by Professor Ed Hawkins at the university in 2018 and show starkly how global average temperatures have risen over nearly two centuries.
Sam Matterface, the lead commentator for ITV, explained the design in the first half as more than two million people tuned in to the match at Old Trafford.
Sadly, Reading lost 3-1.
ITV’s tweet was re-tweeted to football fans around the world and the stripes got a mention on TV’s prime time Good Morning Britain
More than a million people had downloaded graphics from the site within a week of its launch in 2019.
Television weather presenters, scientists and campaigners worldwide continue to wear and share them on social media – using the hashtag #showyourstripes – each June on the summer/winter solstice.
The stripes have appeared on the main stage at Reading Festival, on badges worn by US senators, at school climate strikes, and on electric cars, trams and trains.
There are various images customised for cities and countries all around the world.
The Putting Reading on the Map award is sponsored by Jacobs the Jewellers and The Purple Turtle.
