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Improving air quality inside schools for inclusive, sustainable, equitable education
Our Mission
Safe Air Schools: for health, well-being, attendance and achievement
Our mission is to create healthier, safer, and more inclusive learning environments by improving air quality in schools and playgrounds. Through evidence-based guidance, practical solutions, collaboration, and advocacy, we support schools and communities to protect health, enhance learning, and reduce inequalities because every child deserves to breathe healthy air.
Image: Passivhaus Class Hounsome Fields, Hampshire
Core Values
Equity: every child deserves safe, healthy learning environments.
Sustainability: we support solutions that protect health today and safeguard the future.
Practical action: we focus on achievable steps, now, next and moving forward.
Evidence-led: we promote practical, informed solutions grounded in the best available science.
Collaboration: we work with children, families, schools, researchers, charities, organisations and policymakers.
Image: Biophilic Classroom, Putney High School, London
About Us
Nathalie Pearson BSc (Hons)
Founder
Nathalie is the Founder of Safe Air Schools. Drawing on more than 20 years of experience as a physiotherapist, including work in respiratory wards and intensive care, she brings a strong clinical perspective to indoor air quality advocacy.
Her journey into air quality began at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, organising blankets for her daughter's school so classroom windows could remain open more comfortably, helping to improve ventilation while keeping pupils warm. She introduced the school to CO₂ monitoring before the rollout and, over the following three years, produced newsletters, information packs, and leaflets to raise awareness of the importance of indoor air quality.
Nathalie is a founding member of a UK children's charity and dedicated three years to full-time voluntary work advocating for children and families affected by SARS-CoV-2. Recognising the need for greater awareness and in-person education, she introduced clean air advocacy, an initiative that continues to today.
Her experience working alongside clinically vulnerable communities has shaped her approach to advocacy, and her contribution to the UK COVID Inquiry reflects her commitment to safe, inclusive, and equitable education for all children.
Lottie, aged 9
Junior Ambassador
Lottie was attending preschool at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. She was unable to complete the usual transition to primary school, including school visits, meeting classmates, and saying goodbye to her nursery. Her first meeting with her reception teacher took place at home, on the family driveway, under social distancing measures.
During lockdown, Lottie helped make scrubs for Hampshire hospitals and GP surgeries. She has since developed an interest in indoor air quality in schools, learning about CO2 and air-quality monitoring, helping build DIY air filters, and delivering an indoor air-quality assembly at her school.
In 2025, Lottie travelled to the United Nations in New York to participate in the event Healthy Indoor Air, A Global Call to Action representing children alongside Safe Air Schools. There she met experts including Professor Lydia Morawska, Dr Bronwyn King and our own air quality expert, Sotirios.
As Year Safeguarding Lead. Lottie teaches her friends about indoor air.
Sophie, age 13
Junior Ambassador
Sophie was attending junior school when the pandemic began. Her lockdown experience included helping to make scrubs for Hampshire hospitals and GP surgeries with her sewing skills now advanced for her age.
In 2020, Sophie became friends with children living with Long Covid including some of the first in the world to become affected. In 2022, Sophie travelled to London with them in solidarity as they delivered letters to 10 Downing Street calling for recognition and support. She now has Hampshire friends living with Long Covid who can no longer attend school.
Sophie has engaged with her senior school over the past three years. She has taken part in air quality initiatives inside the school, monitored air quality, liaised with the school to support improvements and built DIY air filters.
In 2024, Sophie produced a video for World Ventilation Day which trended on social media, raising awareness and educating the public.
In 2025, Sophie joined Lottie in representing children alongside Safe Air Schools at the UN event in New York. She presented Youth Advocate and speaker, Violet Affleck, with a book written by children living with Long Covid to ensure their voices were heard.
Our Experts
Distinguised Professor Jose-Luis Jiminez
Jose-Luis Jiminez is a Distinguished Professor and aerosol chemist. Among the results of his work The World Health Organisation acknowledged that the Sars-Cov-2 virus is airborne. His work has not only inspired future researchers but significantly impacted the field of atmospheric aerosols and saved lives.
Distinguished Professor Jose-Luis Jiminez is one of 40 leading scientists from around the world who have joined forces to recommend setting levels for three key indoor pollutants: carbon dioxide (CO2), carbon monoxide (CO) and PM2.5 – particles so small they can lodge deep in the lungs and enter the bloodstream; as well as standards for ventilation rate – the number of times per hour that the entire air volume of an area is changed.
They have set out the standards framework in an article published in the prestigious journal Science featured in this short clip.
Sotirios Papathanasiou
Air Quality Expert
Sotirios Papathanasiou is an internationally recognised air quality expert and WELL Building Standard advisor. He is the founder and lead author of GO AQS (Global Open Air Quality Standards), an initiative dedicated to advancing equitable clean air standards worldwide.
For over a decade, Sotirios has written a widely respected monthly blog, offering practical, evidence-based insights into healthier indoor air. He is also the author of several books on air quality for both adults and children, making the science of clean air clear, engaging, and accessible to all.
Sotirios joined global leaders, policymakers, scientists and health experts as a featured speaker at the "Healthy Indoor Air: A Global Call To Action" event, an official High-level Side Event on the 80th session of the UN General Assembly. The full footage can be accessed by clicking on the image below.
Hilda Palmer
Expert Advisor
Hilda is a long-standing health and safety campaigner who has spent decades supporting families affected by workplace harm. Through her work, she champions safer working conditions, justice for those affected, and stronger protections for all. In 2020, she was recognised as Safety and Health Practitioners’ Most Influential Person in Health & Safety for her unwavering commitment to making work safer for everyone. She is a Journal of Public Mental Health Literati Award Winner (2024) and winner of the Fred and Anne Jarvis Award (2023), which honours outstanding commitment to education.
Hilda’s work is rooted in a deep sense of collaboration, care and responsibility, guided by dedication to the well-being of others.
James Neill
Consultant Data Analyst
James Neill is an accomplished leader and consultant data analyst with decades of experience in both. He has a keen interest in education with a broad range of experience including state and private school sectors and also higher education.
Specialising in education and paediatric data, James has ensured that the impact of the pandemic on and between children and their families is realised including contributions to published research. James is committed to factual accuracy, objectivity and the correction of misinformation to ensure the public is not misled.
Dr Natalie Bain-Reguis
Indoor Air Quality & Building Performance Specialist, Environmental Health Researcher & Architectural Engineering Lecturer
Natalie Bain-Regis is an Environmental Health researcher and Architectural Engineering academic. She studies indoor air quality, ventilation, and well-being, and has led teaching and funded research across building services and sustainable design. Current projects include CO2 sensing in Scottish Primary Schools.
She is an Associate Fellow of the Higher Education Academy and a member of CIBSE and the BSI Indoor Air Quality & Ventilation Committee. She also supports clean-air education and STEM mentoring in schools.
National Coalition
Airborne Allergy Action
Airborne Allergy Action highlights the importance of avoiding airborne allergens (like dust mite debris, mould, tree/grass pollen, and pet dander) alongside non-allergenic pollutants and viruses. They raise awareness of how improving indoor air quality can alleviate symptoms of asthma, rhinitis and other illnesses, complementing any prescribed medication.
Airborne Allergy Action also raise awareness of allergens and pollutants in public places such as schools and hotels. They emphasise that identifying and avoiding your child’s allergic triggers at home and school can significantly improve asthma symptoms.
For tips, research and updates visit the Airborne Allergy Action website.
Mothers Rise Up
Mothers Rise Up is a UK-based grassroots movement led by a dedicated group of professional women. They work to secure a safe, healthy future for children everywhere, with a strong focus on ending new fossil fuel extraction, tackling air pollution, and environmental justice. They deploy a positive, creative approach to bring in new mothers and spark critical conversations across political divides.
Clinically Vulnerable Families
Clinically Vulnerable Families (CVF) was founded in August 2020 in response to the risks faced by families when schools reopened without adequately addressing the threat to their families.
Since the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic, the group has advocated for cleaner air in schools to reduce transmission risks. As part of their involvement in the UK COVID-19 Inquiry, CVF has worked to ensure that indoor air quality within Inquiry buildings exceeds the current highest UK standards.
CVF supports, educates, assists, and advocates for clinically vulnerable families across the UK who continue to face disproportionate risks and challenges.
Footage of CVF advocacy on indoor air quality in schools, can be found on our YouTube channel.
Long Covid Advocacy
Long Covid Advocacy (LCA) is a non-profit social enterprise that is 100% volunteer-led. They campaign and advocate for improved understanding and communication about Long COVID, post-acute viral illnesses and their associated conditions. They aim to remove the barriers people with Long COVID and ME face. Their mission is expressed through L.I.V.E: Legislate (citizen protections); Investigate (effective biomedical research); Ventilate (prevention) and Educate (education, public and medical). Fundraising goes to high-quality medical research to enable effective treatment.
LCA asserts that schools are a key vector for COVID-19 transmission and the seed of many Long COVID cases for children, families, and the community. It upholds that schools must be inclusive through equitable access to clean air.
LCA are experts by personal and academic experience and impart a wealth of evidenced information on their website together with a ventilation toolkit for use in schools.
Clean Air Advocacy Ireland
Clean Air Advocacy Ireland (CAAI) is a community of parents, healthcare workers, teachers, students and individuals who care about improving indoor air quality to protect community health and to improve student and patient well-being in educational and healthcare settings. They aim to make essential indoor spaces like creches, schools and hospitals accessible and safe for everyone by advocating for improved indoor air quality.
CAAI's initial focus is on schools and healthcare settings where the most vulnerable - children and immunocompromised people - spend time in often overcrowded, poorly ventilated spaces. Their work is also relevant to other workplaces. Subscribe to their newsletter and follow them for guidance on improving indoor air quality in your environment.
HouseFresh
HouseFresh is an independent consumer publication dedicated to independent product testing with a focus on air purifiers. They don't accept products or sponsorship from manufacturers, opting instead for purchasing products themselves in order to remain unbiased. They go beyond what can be found on marketing materials by conducting experiments in controlled home environments to obtain real-life performance data, including particle removal speed, sound levels generated, electricity consumption and expected annual running costs.
In addition to product testing, HouseFresh also publishes comprehensive original studies on global air quality and provides expert advice on topics related to indoor air, common air pollutants and filtration technologies. They have made it their mission to guide the public through the complexities of air filters and indoor air quality.
They do not run adverts on their website or accept offers to review products in exchange of payment. Committed to transparency and accuracy, HouseFresh empowers readers to make informed decisions based on data.
Inclusive New Normal
Founder Dr Sal Witcher OBE noticed from the outset that the pandemic revealed new needs and clear threats to inclusion. New groups were experiencing inequalities and new drivers of inequality were impacting others. She identified valuable learning and opportunities to tackle longstanding barriers and challenges beyond SARS-CoV-2.
Inclusive New Normal is a social enterprise that aims to promote, develop and facilitate the application of learning arising from the pandemic, from innovations to different ways to work, live and deliver services. Equality, inclusivity and human rights are central to their mission and their coming website is destined to be a valuable resource for all.
Ambassadors
Martyn Reah
Head Teacher
Mark Buckingham
Senior School Teacher
Dr Ciara Steele
GP
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