Episode Summary

"I know for a fact I've got two more at home."

The woman standing outside Gavin's ski shop holds five pairs of ski pants. It's Brexit day—the one that never happened—and instead of drowning in political despair, Gavin's running a "Fix It, F**k Brexit" event.

People are donating their excess gear, getting things repaired, and planting trees. Nine grand raised in a day. But it's the five pairs of ski pants that stop him in his tracks.

This is Courchevel, a playground for millionaires, where you can eat lobster at the top of a mountain if you're that way inclined. Where shops like Prada line the high street. Where Gavin Fernie-Jones spent years running two ski shops, unwrapping products from their plastic cocoons only to bin the packaging immediately. The rep who fights water pollution on weekends tells him straight: "The brands know skiing will die from climate change. They're making money while they can."

Then his dad cycles into the back of a parked vehicle. Ten days in a coma. The family makes the decision. The life support machine goes quiet.

"As a white man born in the UK in the '80s, you have a ton of privilege and a ton of certainty," Gavin says. "In that moment, none of this was certain anymore."

What follows isn't a redemption arc—it's messier than that. It's Gavin walking away from the consumer story he'd been absorbed into. Creating One Tree at a Time, a community space built from waste.

Launching the Re-Action Collective—70 tiny organisations out-innovating the entire multi-billion pound outdoor industry. Not through venture capital or strategic plans, but through repair workshops, shared knowledge, and the radical act of not charging membership fees.

The moment they stopped asking "What am I getting?" and started asking "What can I give?"—that's when the magic happened.

Now there's a film called Actionism travelling the world through community screenings. An 18-year-old named Ellie is finding her way from climate anxiety to collective action. A magazine. A movement. All built on one principle: it's easier to act your way into a new story than to think your way there.

This isn't about scaling. It's about finding the others.

Timeline Highlights

* [00:04 ] Bernie's setup: "What a lot of people say about Citizens is it gave them the language they were looking for"

* [04:33 ] "I grew up at an outdoor activity centre called Lockerbrook"—nearest neighbour a mile away, village 13 miles out

* [06:53 ] The French Alps revelation: "Wow, you can live and work here"—20 years later, still there

* [09:28 ] Glacial melt and forest fires—watching climate change in real-time from the ski shop window

* [11:17 ] The wolf walking through the village, caught on WhatsApp

* [14:04 ] Spring-fed water with E. coli levels "through the roof"—but they'd been drinking it for years

* [23:37 ] The brand rep's confession: "We know skiing is going to fail. We're making money until then"

* [25:20 ] Dad's cycling accident—10 days in a coma, the moment certainty vanished

* [27:54 ] "Fix It, F**k Brexit"—the event that raised nine grand and revealed five pairs of ski pants

* [31:04 ] One Tree at a Time opens—"What should we create?" asked the community, not decided for them

* [34:38 ] The fee paradox: dropping membership costs, everyone shifts from "What am I getting?" to "What can I give?"

* [44:26 ] Actionism gets its name—"The art of finding the others and taking collective action"

* [49:48 ] 100+ screening requests worldwide—Green Party New Zealand wants it in schools

The Consumer Story That Nearly Swallowed Him

"Everything would come into the shop wrapped in plastic, single-use cardboard, and we would take it off and bin it immediately."

Gavin didn't set out to run ski shops in Courchevel. With an art degree in his pocket and qualified as a climbing instructor since the age of 18, he came to the mountains. But ski resorts have a way of absorbing you into their logic. Prada on the high street. Advertising plastered across ski lifts. Lobster at altitude.

The brands were honest, at least. When Gavin started asking about sustainability, one rep—a fly fisherman who spent weekends suing councils over water pollution—laid it out: the companies know skiing's days are numbered. Climate change will kill the industry. The plan? Extract maximum profit before the inevitable.

Meanwhile, Gavin's watching glacial melt reveal how much ice has already gone. Forest fires. Rain when it should be snow. The very landscape that brought him here is transforming beneath his boots.

When Certainty Dies, Possibility Emerges

"I just went, well, none of this is certain."

The phone call comes. Dad's in a coma after cycling into a parked vehicle. Ten days of waiting. Then the decision no family wants to make.

For someone raised with the privilege of certainty—the UK in the '80s, white, male, the prescribed path from grades to job to house—this moment shatters everything. Not dramatically. Quietly. A fault line through assumed futures.

"Once that self-awareness starts to happen," Gavin reflects, "there's a long, old journey that you go on that has many highs and lows."

The Day Brexit Didn't Happen (And Nine Grand Got Raised)

"Our community cares. They're looking for a way to try and do something."

Instead of drowning in political despair on the Brexit day that never was, Gavin organises "Fix It, F**k Brexit" outside the ski shop. Donate your old gear. Get things repaired. Plant trees.

The woman with five pairs of ski pants becomes the moment of revelation. People have too much stuff. They want to do something meaningful. The £ 9,000 raised proves both points.

This becomes One Tree at a Time—a community space on the high street where the community decides what happens. Built from waste. Funded by Gavin initially, shaped by everyone.

The Re-Action Collective: 70 Davids, One Goliath

"We've completely out-innovated the entire multi-billion dollar industry from 70 small, tiny organisations."

When someone asks how to scale One Tree at a Time, Gavin resists. This isn't about replication—it's about emergence. Enter Heather, and the birth of the Re-Action Collective.

Seventy organisations reimagining the outdoor industry through repair, reuse, and regeneration. No membership fees. When big brands come knocking—"Can we join?"—the answer is clear: "That's not what we're trying to do here."

The moment they drop fees, everything shifts. "What am I getting?" becomes "What can I give?" Guides appear on running alternative high streets. Workshops proliferate. Knowledge flows freely.

Ellie's Story: From Climate Anxiety to Collective Action

"An 18-year-old with such self-awareness and such energy and creativity."

Ellie Meredith is 19 now. When she left school at 18, the adults around her weren't talking about what mattered—climate change, social anxiety, the future she'd inherit. So she went looking for the others.

The film Actionism tells her journey through the Re-Action Collective. From paralysing anxiety to purposeful action. Now she's undertaking an apprenticeship at Manchester University, employed by Re-Action, and is embedded in collective work.

Michael, the filmmaker, throws out "Actionism" as a working title. It sticks. "The art of finding the others and taking collective action."

Why Community Screenings Beat Netflix

"Rather than put it online where someone could watch it passively, we wanted to bring communities together."

Over 100 screening requests worldwide. New Zealand's Green Party wants it in schools. Each screening includes discussion, sometimes repair workshops, and always connection.

People watch together, then ask: "This is great, but I'm not in the outdoor industry. What can I do?" That's where the Actionism storytelling platform comes in—sharing projects from food to education to playful streets in Leeds.

Acting Your Way Into a New Story

"It's easier to act your way into a new story than to intellectualise it."

The word "story" instead of "system" changes everything. "When you say you need to change the system, I feel quite powerless," Gavin explains. "If I want to change my story, I can."

Repair workshops during film screenings. Sewing while discussing. Hands busy, minds open. The conversation flows differently when you're fixing something together versus sitting in rows, passive.

Links & Resources

Gavin's Work

* One Tree at a Time - Community space in the French Alps

* Re-Action Collective - 70 organisations reimagining the outdoor industry

* Actionism Platform - Storytelling space for collective action

* Actionism Film - Request a community screening

* Actionism Summer Connect – August Online Meetup

The Systems That Shape This

* Citizens by Jon Alexander - The book that gave us the language

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